The Eswatini we all envisage

W Eare a nation capable of achieving great things when we work together, so we continue to encourage the spirit of dialogue to address our differences and find lasting solutions to all challenges that confront us.”

These profound words were uttered by His Majesty the King when he officiated at the opening of the fifth and last session of the 11th Parliament of Eswatini.

This was the only time in his speech that the King mentioned dialogue, a word that has been the most used in the kingdom in the last couple of years. However let us not forget that during the 2022 Parliament opening that was the jist of his speech.

However, a close analysis of Friday’s State of the Nation address reveals that the King is preaching reconciliation and forgiveness, as opposed to confrontation and hatred. This could not have been clearer than when he said, “As emaSwati, we were given this country by Mvelinchati to live in and He expects us to love and be tolerant of each other.

“Our diversity and beliefs should not create hate among us but rather show true patriotism to who we are as a people of this great kingdom. We need to co-exist despite our different ways of looking at the development and social landscape.”

He said every liSwati should be guided by the principle of the holy book of loving your neighbour as you love yourself.

That said, we have begun the year with a positive outlook, economically speaking, just as the King said. Eswatini has been recognised as one of the Top Five growing economies, with a GDP growth of 7.43 per cent in 2021.

The kingdom was also ranked second in terms of manufacturing value-added per capita on the African continent.

It has also been ranked sixth in the Africa Industrialisation Index 2022.

His Majesty said domestic and external revenues are beginning to improve, even though the country’s debt levels have slightly increased.

I fully concur with his view that there is a need to refocus the national budget.

The King said it was important to strengthen the collection of revenue internally while pursuing cost-cutting measures.

This is where the nation hopes government or the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) will not take this as a directive to increase taxes for ordinary emaSwati already suffering under the yoke of high electricity, fuel and bread prices, among others.

The issue of taxation has always been thorny in our country because it usually affects the smaller man, so to say.

I am one of those looking forward to Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg’s budget speech in a couple of weeks, to see if the low-income sector of our society will get a reprieve from high commodity prices and user fees.

By user fees, as the reader will know, I refer to charges for stuff like birth certificates, identity cards, etc.

PITY

It is just a pity that when we suggest cost cutting measures to address the cash flow crisis, government responds by freezing the hiring of essential staff like nurses and teachers, while going fullsteam ahead with recruiting security forces.

It is disappointing because it should be basic knowledge, even for first-year economics students, that the best way to improve your economy is to reduce expenses, like cutting down on travel expenses and outsourcing certain services.

That said, it was also gratifying to learn of the construction of five new government clinics in rural areas like Tikhuba, Hlane and Luve.

I really wished the King could have been sterner when instructing government to ensure that hospitals and clinics are provided with the required medication, particularly HIV prevention drugs, high blood pressure meds and diabetic medication to name just a few.

For years, the Ministry of Health has tragically failed the nation in the regard.

It has never taken the stocking up of medical drugs seriously.

The poor in Eswatini keep getting poorer because of situations like being expected to spend the little they earn on expensive medicine in private pharmacies, yet they went to government hospitals for the same reason that they had neither enough cash nor medical aid for private health facilities.

In recent weeks, it has emerged that the ministry has tried but failed to control the theft of medication from the Central Medical Stores (CMS).

TAXPAYERS

Some of the staff members there have free rein on the drugs procured using taxpayers’ funds. No wonder every street corner, even in rundown townships, now has a fully stocked pharmacy.

Well, apart from the way forward on reconciliation efforts, as envisioned by those calling for a national dialogue, most emaSwati wanted to know how the fear ruling the kingdom would be addressed. They hoped for solutions and direction.

His Majesty was obviously alive to this fact when he said he was sure that no one wanted to live in a country where government structures were continuously destroyed, homes burnt down and people’s lives lost. “When a business is burnt down, it means people will lose jobs and the ripple effects of this are huge. That is not the kingdom our forefathers envisaged and fought for,” said the King. He said this was driving investors away.

We are all aware of this. We have already seen an exodus of import car dealers, some of whose business premises were burnt down by protesters in June/July 2021. Even though they did not provide secure and well-paying jobs, many Swati families have been left worse off by their departure.

That is why we do not want a continuation of the current state of fear and hopelessness in the kingdom. The turnaround we envisage is one that will herald a safe Eswatini, with visible policing, a thriving economy and a reliable health system.

Yes, we need to live in harmony with one another but the current crisis will not go away on its own. It will not be ended by those agitating for change, either. The socio-political instability will only stop when we decide to take the advice of people like former President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other friends of the kingdom.

It will end when we start talking, discussing how we are going to forgive one another and build a better, safer Eswatini together. It will end when we dialogue!