FINANCE CRISIS HITS POOR BADLY

Business LIVE, South Africa.

16 March 2012

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Swazi fiscal crisis threatens development goals - UN

Swaziland's fiscal crisis threatens the country's progress towards reaching the millennium development goals in health, education and food security, the United Nations said on Friday (16 March 2012), Business Live, South Africa reports.

The United Nations (UN) warned that delays and some reductions of government spending in the social sector as well as cuts in labour income had worsened poverty by putting an additional strain on the poorest households, especially families affected by HIV and Aids in young people.

The UN assessment was based on a nation-wide survey of 1,334 households carried out in November 2011.

It aimed to provide systematic evidence on the impact and responses to the fiscal crisis in Swaziland on people's lives.

The findings suggested that one in four households suffered shocks such as rising food prices and loss in labour income and that households adopted severe coping strategies in response to the shocks, such as cuts in food consumption, with some families skipping meals for an entire day.

It was also found that families made changes to modes of transport and have had reduced access to services. The report showed that households with members living with HIV were at greater risks to shocks and relied more on cheaper meals or skipped meals all together.

Swaziland entered the crisis with already major social challenges including the highest HIV rate in the world, high unemployment (29% of the labour force in 2010), widespread poverty (63% of the population) and food insecurity (29% of the population).

About 25% of the employed were working in vulnerable employment, that is either self-employed or working for family businesses. The situation is aggravated by a high rate of youth (ages 15 - 24) unemployment at 52%. At more than half of the labour force, youth unemployment is alarmingly high and needs to be addressed.

To read the full report from Business Live, click here.

KING CAN AFFORD TO PAY SALARIES

Musa Ndlangamandla, the editor-in-chief of the Swazi Observer newspaper, last Thursday (17 November 2011) wrote we shouldn’t stifle debate about the cause of and solutions to the economic meltdown in Swaziland.

I challenged him to tell the Swazi people through his newspapers that King Mswati III was a major cause of the crisis. Unsurprisingly, since Ndlangamandla is editor of the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati and a former speechwriter to the King, he has not followed through on my suggestion.

Nor have any of the other media in Swaziland, where King Mswati is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, told the people the truth.

Not so the foreign media. The latest to point out King Mswati’s vast wealth is Business Live in South Africa. Swaziland has been seeking a E1.4 billion (about US$170 million) loan this week to pay public service salaries. Under the headline, ‘A king who could easily bail out his kingdom’, the Grape Vine column in Business Live said yesterday, ‘With a personal war chest estimated at $200-million, Mswati could actually save the country single-handedly, instead of it having to ask its neighbour to help it, which it has already done.

‘The loan amount is said to be more than $170-million, which the king can easily afford.’

The ‘war chest’ it refers to is the personal net worth the King is estimated by Forbes to possess.

So, why doesn’t King Mswati use his money for his subjects? Words like ‘selfish’ and ‘greed’ come to my mind. But, alas, the Swazi people won’t be given the chance by their media to argue the case one way or another.

See also

WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE KING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/we-have-to-talk-about-king.html

IMF CALLS FOR SACRIFICE FROM KING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/imf-calls-for-sacrifice-from-king.html

HUMAN RIGHTS MIGHT BLOCK LOAN

Business Live, South Africa

6 October 2011

SOURCE

Human-rights review latest move in Swazi loan saga

Despite an optimistic review at a United Nations meeting in Geneva on Tuesday (4 October 2011), Swaziland's poor human-rights record is still holding up a rescue loan from SA.

Granting it is in SA's best interests, an analyst said, but the cash-strapped kingdom may now be seeking funding elsewhere.

South African representative Luvuyo Ndimeni reiterated government demands for democratic reforms in exchange for the R2.4 billion loan at the UN Universal Periodic Review, which evaluates member nations' human-rights records every four years.

"The [Swazi] government has alluded to its lack of resources, which impact on its ability to guarantee the human rights of its citizens," he said. "The South African government seeks clarification on whether there is a timeline for implementing laws."

Ndimeni echoed an August memorandum-of-understanding from the treasury seeking a timeframe for reforms. He was also responding to opening remarks by a Swazi representative, who attributed human-rights violations to the global economic crisis and "external shocks".

"These have historically diminished the ability of the government to efficiently underwrite some of the human rights that have financial implications," he said.

Swaziland has experienced a fiscal crisis since February, after its receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) shrunk by 60%. Half of government revenue comes from Sacu, which shares a common tariff among member nations.

To read the full Business Live report click here.