NO NAME CHANGE YET FOR SWAZILAND

Swaziland has not yet changed its name to eSwatini, despite a public announcement from the absolute ruler King Mswati III. 

There needs to be a legal instrument directing the name change.

This was said by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze after the King’s speech.

Already, opposition is growing inside the tiny impoverished kingdom to the King’s message.

The Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in Swaziland in effect owned by the King, reported (21 April 2018), Gamedze saying, ‘We stand guided by the Attorney General on the matter. With that instrument of a name change, we will then forward same correspondence to the United Nations, African Union and SADC [Southern African Development Community], which are the main international bodies. They will then inform their subsequent structures of the name change. So we expect the process of the name change to start soon with the legal instrument (gazette), so that we can inform the rest of the world thereafter.’

It is not clear how much discussion will take before the ‘legal instrument’ is issued. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and the King appoints the Prime Minister and government ministers.

It is possible the King would simply make a proclamation, without further discussion. There is a precedent for this. In 1973 Mswati’s father King Sobhuza II proclaimed that from that date power in the kingdom rested with the King. He dissolved the democratically-elected parliament and banned political parties. That proclamation has not been cancelled and remains in force. 

The King’s announcement of the name change was made during his speech on Thursday at a celebration to mark his 50^th birthday and the half-century anniversary of Independence from Great Britain.  It came as a surprise and was made without public consultation.

Criticism of the move will be quiet within Swaziland. Those advocating for democracy face arrest and imprisonment under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. 

The AFP news agency reported that, ‘Critics of the King, who took the throne in 1986 aged 18, said the move was an example of his authoritarian and wasteful reign in a country that suffers dire poverty.’

It quoted Alvit Dlamini, head of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress, saying, ‘We see here King Mswati’s autocratic style. He can’t change the name of the country on his own. He was supposed to consult the nation.’

AFP reported, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland warned that the process was not immediate. ‘When the king has made a pronouncement, due process must take its course,’ acting general secretary Mduduzi Gina said AFP. ‘The legislature must initiate a process to amend the constitution. The change cannot be a knee-jerk reaction.’

See also

KING UNILATERALLY RENAMES SWAZILAND

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/king-unilaterally-renames-swaziland.html

NOTHING TO CELEBRATE FOR MOST SWAZIS

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/nothing-to-celebrate-for-most-swazis.html

HOSTILE REACTION TO VAT INCREASE

The announcement by Swaziland Finance Minister Martin Dlamini that Value Added Tax is to rise by 1 percent to 15 percent to put it in line with neighbour and major trading partner South Africa has been criticised throughout the kingdom.

South Africa made the change last month (February 2018).

Dlamini said in his budget speech on Thursday (1 March 2018) he also wanted to find a legal way of putting VAT on electricity charges. Electricity tariffs are already set to rise by 15 percent on 1 April 2018.

The VAT increase will affect people especially the poorest, commentators in Swaziland said.

When the South African Treasury announced its increase in VAT it also announced measures to mitigate the impact of the VAT increase on poor households with above inflation increases in social grants, partial relief for inflation for the bottom three personal income tax brackets (for people who do not receive social grants), a marginal increase in the tax credits for medical aid contributions and maintaining the 19 zero-rated food items.

Swaziland’s Finance Minister made no concessions. Dlamini also announced additional taxation on alcohol and tobacco products. There are also plans to increase the fuel tax rate by 20 cents from the current E3 and a review of user fees for mobile phones. 

Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Deputy Secretary General Muzi Mhlanga said, ‘The cost of living as we speak is too high for the working class and such hikes are hard hitting and we are not happy with what was announced by the minister.’

Federation of Swaziland Business Community (FESBC) Chief Executive Officer Dudu Nhlengethwa was against the increase and said businesses had not been consulted.

The Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland reported (4 March 2018) that the Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) was against imposing VAT on its charges. The newspaper quoted SEC Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager Sifiso Dhlamini saying, ‘Disposable income for the customer has not increased but is still the same, so there will be an erosion of their purchasing power if VAT will be added on electricity.’

Interviewed by the Swazi Observer newspaper Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) Commissioner General,  Dumsani Masilela said the increase was rare and inevitable. The Observer reported, ‘He said it was inevitable because Swaziland had in the past traditionally been aligned with South Africa where VAT is concerned due to structural issues which make it hard for Swaziland to act unilaterally.’ He added that the SRA had made extensive consultations on the VAT issue. 

The Editor of the Observer on Saturday Alec Lushaba, writing in his own newspaper, said the increase in VAT meant, ‘that certain goods and services which are normally accessible to ordinary members of the society, in particular the poor, will no longer be available’. He added that social grants (pensions) for people aged 60 or over had not been increased in the budget.

Swazi Observer Group Managing Editor Mbongeni Mbingo, writing in the Sunday Observer, (4 March 2018) said the increase in VAT did not consider, ‘what the implication and impact really is going to be for an economy that already is on its knees and obviously, with so much unemployment’.

He added, ‘But, this electricity hike and the decision to impose VAT on it shows Cabinet’s fragrant disregard for the situation on the ground.’

Sifiso Sibandze, writing in the Times Sunday, (4 March 2018) said, ‘The long and short of it is, the budget was meant to further disadvantage the already disadvantaged – the poor. It is a budget that will make the poor poorer. Through the budget, government was legitimising his intention of pick-pocketing the poor.’

See also

BUILDING HOTEL A BUDGET PRIORITY

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/building-hotel-budget-priority.html

CABINET DEFIES KING OVER BUDGET

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/cabinet-defies-king-over-budget.html

 

SWAZI BUDGET GIVES PM NEW HOUSE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/swazi-budget-gives-pm-new-house.html