The Swaziland Government’s mismanagement of the economy is now threatening the existence of private companies in the kingdom.
The government is contracting work from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and then is paying its bills late or not at all.
Ambrose Dlamini, President of the Federation of Swaziland Employers and Chamber of Commerce (FSE&CC), said this threatened the existence of businesses.
He was speaking during a breakfast meeting with Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, yesterday (8 December 2010).
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reports him saying, ‘Members of the FSE&CC have expressed concern over the delayed payment and sometimes, non-payment for work done.
‘It is appreciated that government is currently facing a cash flow problem but unfortunately, some businesses, especially the SMEs are likely to close their operations if the problem persists.’
The Swazi Government is slipping into the mire over its mismanagement of the economy. Yesterday it was revealed that it hasn’t been paying rents to landlords for the homes of civil servants.
In October 2010, construction of the multimillion dollar Sikhuphe Airport had to be halted because the government had run out of money to pay contractors.
In order to curry favour with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government is set to sack 7,000 (out of 30,000) civil servants. Government has also freezed overtime payments to public servants, and suspended appointments into the service.
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