King Mswati III, the absolute monarch in Swaziland who
himself pays no tax, has ordered his subjects to be ‘100 percent tax compliant’
and pay up in order to help the kingdom out of its present financial mess.
After the speech, the Swazi Finance Minister Martin
Dlamini told local media that government did not have money to deliver services
to the people unless people paid taxes or it took loans from outside the
kingdom. Then, tax revenue was needed to repay the loans.
The King was speaking at the opening of the Swazi
Parliament on 3 February 2017.
This was not the first time the King, who himself has at
least 13 palaces, a private jet and fleets of top-of-the-range Mercedes and BMW
cars, and who with his royal family regularly take expensive
international trips, has called on his subjects to pay their tax.
In
his 2015 speech at the opening of Parliament, he berated tax dodgers.
At the time, he said, ‘Time has also come for the authority to fast track
the programme of lifestyle audits.’ This was aimed at exposing people who made
money corruptly.
In Swaziland, King Mswati is above the law. He cannot be investigated
and he pays no tax. It is unclear how much money he has, but the lavish
lifestyle he openly displays could give a clue.
In 2009, Forbes
magazine estimated that the King himself had a personal net fortune worth
US$200 million. Forbes also said King Mswati was the beneficiary of two funds
created by his father Sobhuza
II in
trust for the Swazi nation. During his reign, he has absolute discretion over
use of the income. The trust has been estimated
to be worth US$10 billion.
In August 2014, the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa reported King Mswati
personally received millions of dollars from international companies such as
phone giant MTN; sugar conglomerates Illovo
and Remgro; Sun International hotels and beverages firm SAB Millerto.
It reported that MTN, which had a monopoly of the cell
phone business in Swaziland, paid dividends directly to the King. He holds 10
percent of the shares in MTN in Swaziland and is referred to by the company as
an ‘esteemed shareholder’. It said MTN had paid R114 million (US$11.4 million)
to the King over the previous five years.
The newspaper also reported that the King was
receiving income from Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, which paid dividends in 2013 of
R218.1 million. The newspaper reported ‘several sources’ who said it was ‘an
open secret’ that although money generated by Tibiyo was meant to be used for
the benefit of the nation, Tibiyo in fact channelled money directly to the
Royal Family.
The King also holds 25 percent of all mineral wealth
in Swaziland ‘in trust for the Swazi nation.’ In reality he uses this money to
fund his lavish lifestyle.
In March 2016, it was revealed the
King’s share of the just-reopened Lufafa Gold Mine at Hhelehhele in the Hhohho region
of
Swaziland could be worth up to US$149 million.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of Swaziland’s tiny estimated
1.4 million population live in abject poverty with incomes less than US$2 a
day; three in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as malnourished
and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world.
King Mswati received a 9 percent increase for his
spending from the taxpayer in the year started April 2016. The ‘Civil List’,
the money given to him to run the Royal household, was budgeted to increase by
E30m (US$1.9m) to E370m (US$24m).
The increase in the King’s budget was contained in the
annual budget estimates in February 2016. Although the Swazi media covered
aspects of the budget, the news about the King was not published.
The budget also revealed that about US$9 million would
be spent on a private
jet for the King. Also US$12 million would reportedly
be spent on décor at the Royal
Terminal Building at King Mswati III (KMIII) Airport.
Observers note that the King has had many chances in
the past to cut back on his spending and reduce the amount of money he takes
from his subjects, but so far he has increased his budget, rather than reduced
it. In 2011, as Swaziland hurtled towards financial meltdown, Majozi Sithole,
the then Finance Minister, in his budget demanded 10 percent budget cuts (later
increased further) from government departments, but in the same budget the
amount of money given to the King increased by 23 percent.
See also
HYPOCRISY
OF KING MSWATI III
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/02/hypocrisy-of-king-mswati-iii.html
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