The trade sanctions imposed by the United States because of King Mswati III’s poor record
on human rights will contribute to a slump in the kingdom’s economy, a senior
Central Bank of Swaziland (CBS) official said.
On 1 January 2015, the US
withdrew Swaziland’s trading benefits under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act
(AGOA) after the kingdom ruled by King Mswati as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch refused to accept democratic change.
Swaziland had previously
been able to export to the United States without having to pay tariffs. In June
2015 it was reported that in the six months since the loss of AGOA benefits, at
least
3,000 jobs had been lost in the textile industry, dominated by Taiwanese
companies.
CBS General Manager:
Economic Policy Research and Statistics Bhadala
Mamba told a pensions funds
investment forum in Swaziland, ‘Going forward, economic growth will continue to
slump and pickup around 2017, this is because of shocks in the local economy
because of AGOA.’
The US
had wanted Swaziland to implement the full passage of
amendments to the Industrial Relations Act; full passage of amendments to the
Suppression of Terrorism Act; full passage of amendments to the Public Order
Act; full passage of amendments to sections 40 and 97 of the Industrial
Relations Act relating to civil and criminal liability to union leaders during
protest actions; and establishing a code of conduct for the police during
public protests.
In June 2014, announcing
the withdrawal of AGOA, a White House spokesperson said,
‘The decision to withdraw Swaziland’s AGOA
eligibility comes after years of engaging with the Government of the Kingdom of
Swaziland on concerns about its implementation of the AGOA eligibility criteria
related to worker rights.’
In Swaziland political
parties are banned from taking part in elections and King Mswati choses the
government and top judges. Groups advocating for democracy are outlawed as
terrorists under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Mr Mamba told the forum
that another factor to affect the Swazi economy badly was the closure of the Ngwenya
iron mine.
He did not reveal that this
mine was closed after King Mswati, who owned 25 percent of the mine
withdrew US$10 million from the company to purchase a private jet for himself.
Sihle Dlamini, the King’s representative on the board of directors then stopped
the mine from trading.
Eventually it had
debts of US$4 million when it was legally wound up in December 2014and more
than 700 jobs were lost. King Mswati took the US$10 million loan from the
company less than six months after it started trading which he refused to pay
back when it hit difficulties.
A compensation
claim for at least US$141 million has been prepared by Southern Africa Resources Ltd (SARL), the company
that owned half the mine, against the Kingdom of Swaziland at the International Centre for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID). The Swazi Government owned 25 percent of the mine
and King Mswati also had 25 percent which he held ‘in trust for the Swazi
nation’.
See also
HOW
SWAZI KING DESTROYED IRON MINE
KING COSTS 3,000 WORKERS THEIR JOBS
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