It is a job that demands strength, bravery and curiously a classical education. No previous experience is required.

There is a vacancy for a hangman in Swaziland and the government of the tiny African kingdom has opened the field to applicants from all over the world after no locals stepped forward to take up the post.

According to the justice minister, Paul Kumalo, prospective hangmen and hangwomen have applied from as far away as Britain, Japan and Canada.

The job they are seeking has lain vacant since the 1980s when the last execution was carried out in Swaziland.

Eight await execution

Rising crime and a recent trend among Swazi judges to deliver death sentences has forced the government to reintroduce the practice of hanging criminals.

At least eight prisoners are reported to be on death row. Their sentences have failed to be carried out because no hangman is available to prepare the gallows.

Although applications for the post have flooded in from far flung places around the world it is most likely that the successful applicant will come from Swaziland's neighbour, South Africa.