ǤǤǤ Corruption, unemployment, GBV rife in SADC

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The three main common challenges in the SADC region are unemployment, corruption and gender-based violence (GBV).

This was evident in speeches made by heads of State in prominent events such as Parliament opening and Independence Day celebrations, among others.

Some of these challenges are derived from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) publications and statistics which the Secretariat compiles with the assistance of member State representatives.

UNEMPLOYMENT

The region’s mother body revealed that the average unemployment rate for SADC has fluctuated between 10.2 per cent and 11.3 per cent between the years 2009 and 2020, showing that single-digit figures have been elusive for the region as a whole.

Youth unemployment is a particular problem in member States, given the large youth population.

It is observed that although overall unemployment rates are generally low for some member States, the majority of jobs are informal, precarious in nature and characterised by high levels of working poverty.

This is attributed to the slow pace of structural change in most countries, and premature deindustrialisation in other economies, which has limited prospects of higher labour productivity across all sectors, notably in industry where the share of manufacturing is declining.

Data shows that the SADC labour force expanded from around 104 million in 2009 to just over 142 million in 2019, with lower labour force participation rates for women across all member states, confirming that they face significant constraints to participating in the labour market.

The lowest rates for both women and men are in Comoros at 38.4 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, while the highest rates for both women and men are in Madagascar at 85 per cent and 90.2 per cent, respectively.

Mozambique has the narrowest gap for labour force participation with 78 per cent and 79.6 per cent for women and men, respectively, in 2018. About 18.4 per cent of the adult Mozambican population is unemployed, according to the latest Household Budget Survey. Currently, the unemployment rate in Eswatini stands at 33.3 per cent, and youth unemployment is at a staggering 58.2 per cent.

In His Majesty King Mswati III recent speech during the Opening of the First Session of the 12th Parliament, the King highlighted that it was vital for Members of Parliament (MPs) to address these issues (unemployment) and come up with well-established strategies to achieve good economic growth for the country.

To address these gaps, SADC member States have committed to the strategic objective of achieving increased job creation with decent work opportunities for full and productive employment as highlighted in the 5egional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030.

Emphasis is on an employment-centred approach to growth and development, focusing on the creation of economic opportunities that the poor can access and that provides a return to their labour sufficient for raising households out of poverty.

This approach entails realignment of the macroeconomic and industrialisation policy approaches to deliberately maximise employment outcomes in high-potential sectors, ensuring that employment targeting is part of measures to stimulate growth and accelerate structural transformation.

CORRUPTION

Corruption continues to inflict significant damage to the economic and social development of the SADC 5egion and undermines transparency, accountability and the rule of law.

Eswatini makes the top five most corrupt countries in the region as depicted in the Corruption Perception Index 2023.

According to the index, Zimbabwe is the most corrupt country in the region, rated 149 out of 180 countries, while Mozambique and Madagascar are both rated 145. Eswatini is the fourth most corrupt with a 130 rating and Malawi is the fifth with a rating of 115.

Malawi was rocked by the Cashgate scandal in 2013, which involved the misappropriation of government funds through the transfer of funds from the government bank accounts to private companies in disguise for payment of goods and services.

The fallout from the 2013 ‘cashgate’ scandal continues to cast a long shadow over debates about corruption in the country according to U4 Anti-Corruption Service Centre.

The second five-year National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS II) was launched in 2020, after a seven-year hiatus from the previous NACS, which ended in 2013.

NACS II adopts a participatory, multi-stakeholder approach and its design involves extensive consultations with all three branches of government, civil society, the private sector, faith-based organisations as well as the mass media, youth, academia, and women’s organisations.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau has enjoyed some recent successes in investigating corruption cases and making arrests as indicated by U4 Anti-Corruption Service Centre.

While Zimbabwe has made efforts to counter corruption, it faces significant challenges. For example, political interference and resource constraints in improving transparency and accountability within State enterprises and parastatals are evident as depicted in the Transparency International report.

“Efforts to address corruption in the natural resources sector have been initiated by anti-corruption agencies and the -udiciary, although progress has been uneven and slow in investigating and prosecuting politically exposed persons and recovering stolen assets,´ reads the report.

However, civil society organisations and non-State media play pivotal roles in exposing corruption and advocating for specific anti-corruption measures such as gender-based corruption as stipulated in the report.

On Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Zimbabwe scored 23 on a scale from 0 (‘highly corrupt’) to 100 (‘very clean’).

When ranked by score, Zimbabwe ranked 157th among the 180 countries in the index, where the country ranked last is perceived to have the most corrupt public sector.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, when delivering his speech during the Zimbabwe Independence Day celebration in 2019, said the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) was being reconstituted.