Swazi broke, but king has 2 planes

There are only 12 working public ambulances in the whole of Swaziland/Eswatini to serve 1.1 million people, this as the government fails to maintain them and has not bought any new ambulances since 2013.

Director of the emergency preparedness response department under the ministry of health, Masitsela Mhlanga, told media there were 20 broken-down ambulances in garages that were not being fixed, Swazimedia.blogspot reported.

Mhlanga said the problem was being exacerbated by the lengthy time it took for ambulances to be repaired once they were taken in to government garages and, furthermore, they were not being properly fixed.

In one example of the poor state of repair, it was reported last week that an ambulance door was tied with bandages to prevent it from opening while paramedics were ferrying patients to health centres in the Dumako area.

Meanwhile, last week Finance Minister Martin Dlamini told the House of Assembly in the landlocked monarchy that Swaziland was broke, the kingdom was running out of cash and that government suppliers were going unpaid with arrears standing at R3.2 billion.

Despite the financial meltdown the government paid $30 million (R406 million) to buy Swaziland’s absolute monarch King Mswati III his second private jet plane.

“It was delivered days ahead of his 50th birthday on April 19.

“On that day at his party, he wore a watch worth $1.6 million (R21.7 million) and a suit weighing 6kg, apparently studded with diamonds,” Swazimedia.blogspot reported. – ANA