Swazi Media Commentary: Ubombo

Showing posts with label Ubombo. Show all posts

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

EU MONEY PAYS FOR LAVISH SWAZI KING

European Union taxpayers’ money is being used to finance the lavish lifestyle of Swaziland’s Royal Family, an investigation has revealed.

This happens while seven in ten of the 1.1 million population live in abject poverty.

Money given to develop Swaziland’s sugar industry ends up in the pocket of King Mswati III who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. In April 2018 at a party to mark both his 50^th birthday and the anniversary of Swaziland’s Independence from Great Britain, King Mswati wore a watch worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing 6 kg studded with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but with VIP upgrades was estimated to have cost US$30 million.

The report from Danish NGO Afrika Kontakt (Africa Contact) called The European Union in Swaziland: In support of an Authoritarian King? says EU money ‘benefits the Royal Family greatly’ and undermines democratic forces in Swaziland.

The EU spent 120 million Euros (US$144 million; E1.76 billion) to improve the competitiveness of Swaziland’s sugar industry in the ten years up to 2017. Sugar accounts for almost 60 percent of the agricultural output and 16 percent of employment in the kingdom.

The sugar industry in Swaziland is dominated by Tibiyo TakaNgwane, a royal investment company that the King holds ‘in trust for the Swazi nation’. Tibiyo owns 50 percent of the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC) and 40 percent of Ubombo Sugar Ltd (a subsidiary of the South African-based Illovo company), the industry’s major players. Tibiyo also has stakes in sugar estates and haulage companies and has a 30 percent share in FINCORP, which provides loans to small-scale sugar farmers with interest rates above 20 percent.

Afrika Kontakt said the Swaziland sugar industry mirrored Swazi society by being largely owned by the Royal Family through various companies and investment funds, and by the royal chiefs playing an important role.

It added the purpose of EU funding was to increase the competitiveness of the sugar industry. ‘However, a large percentage of the funds have benefitted the two major sugar millers RSSC and Ubombo Sugar Ltd, and their major shareholder the royal investment company Tibiyo TakaNgwane.’

It said that EU funding had helped subsistence farmers, but had also enriched chiefs through the payment of royalties and Royalty-affiliated haulage companies.

Afrika Kontakt said Tibiyo’s ownership in RSSC secured it a dividend payment of E98 million (US$8 million) in 2015-16. Ownership of Illovo paid out E15 million as dividend in 2012-13. Illovo is no longer listed so it is impossible to find information about more recent payments.

Afrika Kontakt reported Tibiyo is controlled by King Mswati III and Freedom House has reported it is an open secret in Swaziland that the Royal Family uses the fund to pay for personal expenses. The Managing Director of Tibiyo A T Dlamini is a former Prime Minister and the board consists of several members of the Royal Family.

Tibiyo’s annual accounts are sketchy. For example in 2015, E49 million – almost half the total expenses – were budgeted under ‘sundry expenses’ without further clarification. Afrika Kontakt reported this was ‘a sign that funds which are supposed to aid the public are being used by fund managers and/ or the Royal Family in an underhand manner’.

Afrika Kontakt said, ‘The sugar industry in Swaziland is structured so that external assistance [from the EU] to the industry ends up benefitting the last absolute monarch in Africa.’

It added this support for the Royal Family undermined the democratic forces in the kingdom. Swaziland is not a democracy. Political parties are banned from contesting elections and groups advocating for democracy are banned as ‘terrorists’ under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Media are severely censored and freedom of assembly is curtailed. Elections are held every five years in Swaziland but people only get to select 55 of 65 members of the House of Assembly. The King chooses the other 10. No members of the Swazi Senate are elected by the people; the King chooses 20 and the other 10 are elected by members of the House of Assembly.

After the last election in 2013, King Mswati appointed nine princes and princesses to the House of Assembly and the Senate.

The Afrika Kontakt report stated, ‘By continuing to support these sectors, without raising demands from the Swazi Government to prioritize its citizens’ well-being over the lavish lifestyle of its monarch, it is essentially EU taxpayers’ money that finances the lavish spending of the monarchy.’

After the most recent national election in 2013, the African Union (AU) mission called for fundamental changes in the kingdom to ensure people had freedom of speech and of assembly. The AU said the Swaziland Constitution guaranteed ‘fundamental rights and freedoms including the rights to freedom of association’, but in practice ‘rights with regard to political assembly and association are not fully enjoyed’. The AU said this was because political parties were not allowed to contest elections.

The AU urged Swaziland to review the constitution, especially in the areas of ‘freedoms of conscience, expression, peaceful assembly, association and movement as well as international principles for free and fair elections and participation in electoral process’.

In its report on the 2013 elections, the Commonwealth observers recommended that measures be put in place to ensure separation of powers between the government, parliament and the courts so that Swaziland was in line with its international commitments.

They also called on the Swaziland Constitution to be ‘revisited’.

The report stated, ‘This should ideally be carried out through a fully inclusive, consultative process with all Swazi political organisations and civil society (needed, with the help of constitutional experts), to harmonise those provisions which are in conflict. The aim is to ensure that Swaziland’s commitment to political pluralism is unequivocal.’

It also recommended that a law be passed to allow for political parties to take part in elections, ‘so as to give full effect to the letter and spirit of Section 25 of the Constitution, and in accordance with Swaziland’s commitment to its regional and international commitments’.

In 2015, following a visit to Swaziland, a Commonwealth mission renewed its call for the constitution to be reviewed so the kingdom could move toward democracy.

There is concern in Europe that not enough is being done to press for democracy in Swaziland. In May 2015, the European Parliament voted for the release of all political prisoners in Swaziland and called for the kingdom to be monitored for its human rights record.

A statement issued by the European Parliament said, ‘Parliament considers the imprisonment of political activists and the banning of trade unions to be in clear contravention of commitments made by Swaziland under the Cotonou Agreement to respect democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and also under the sustainable development chapter of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement, for which Parliament’s support will depend on respect for the commitments made.’

The resolution was passed by 579 votes to six, with 58 abstentions.

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

KING LIVES LAVISHLY ON FIRMS’ DIVIDENDS

King Mswati III of Swaziland, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is personally benefitting from monies paid by international companies to operate in his kingdom.

The King is receiving millions of dollars a year from companies including the cell phone giant MTN; sugar conglomerates Illovo and Remgro; Sun International hotels and beverages firm SAB Miller, the South African newspaper Sunday Times has reported.

The newspaper says this money helps prop up the Swazi Royal Family and finances the King’s lavish lifestyle which includes palaces, a fleet of luxury cars and international holidays. Meanwhile, about seven in ten of his 1.4 million subjects live in abject poverty with incomes of less than US$2 a day.

The details revealed of the King’s income are not new, but media in Swaziland have been scared to publish details for fear of retribution from the monarch. At present a magazine editor and writer are on trial in Swaziland after publishing mild criticisms of the kingdom’s judiciary which is hand-picked by the King.

Previous reports on the King’s income have appeared on the Internet; however the Sunday Times, which is published in Johannesburg, circulates in Swaziland and this is the first time Swazi people without Internet access have been able to read about the King’s finances.

In the past state authorities have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to block copies of newspapers from South Africa that contained reports critical of the King. It is not known if similar attempts were made to restrict circulation of the Sunday Times which was published on 13 July 2014.

In its report the Sunday Times said the companies, which are based in South Africa, ‘have all brokered cosy relationships with the monarchy’.

It added, ‘These companies have either given large chunks of the shares in their Swazi businesses to Mswati directly or to Swaziland’s investment institution, Tibiyo Taka Ngwane over which Mswati has absolute control.’

It reported that MTN, which has 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 past five years.

The newspaper also reported that the King was receiving income from Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, which paid dividends last year 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 newspaper quoted a report from Freedom House which stated, ‘Foreign companies wishing to enter Swaziland must bribe Mswati with shares or cash in varying amounts depending on the potential for profitability of the proposed venture and the new business’s possible impact on Mswati’s own business interests.’

The Sunday Times reported that MTN had a monopoly in Swaziland and was used by 57 percent of the population. It said MTN was able to keep prices high, citing the cost of 300 megabytes of data in Swaziland as R149, while in South Africa the same amount of data cost R79.

King Mswati holds substantial stakes in numerous companies. The Sunday Times said sugar giant Illovo owned 60 percent of Ubombo Sugar and Tibiyo owned the other 40 percent. Tibiyo also owned 40 percent of Royal Swazi Spa hotel of which Sun International held an ‘indirect’ 50.6 percent stake.

Remgro’s sugar subsidiary TSB owned a 26.4 percen t stake in the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation and Tibiyo held 50 percent. SAB Miller, which owned 60 percent of Swaziland Beverages was in business with Tibiyo, which owned the remaining 40 percent.

Saturday, 5 July 2014

SUGAR STRIKERS WIN PAY INCREASE

Striking workers at Swaziland’s Ubombo Sugar Company have won a 10 percent pay increase, despite suffering intimidation by the Swazi Army and state security forces.

The workers had been on strike for more than three weeks at the sugar company which is 40 percent owned by King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland.

The management of the company, which is also known as Illovo, had successfully obtained a court order to restrict the workers pickets away from the main sugar plantation estate, near Big Bend.

Earlier, state police the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) had used teargas and water canon to disperse protesting workers.

Media in Swaziland reported that soldiers, warders and police were deployed throughout the small town to stop workers from disrupting the sugar plant.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, estimated the strike had cost Ubombo E2.4 million (US$240,000) since it began on 13 June 2014. The management had originally offered a 7.5 percent pay increase.

Thursday, 3 July 2014

POLICE CLASH WITH SUGAR STRIKERS

Police in Swaziland fired teargas and water as a peaceful strike turned ugly.

Workers at Ubombo Sugar (also known as Illovo) have been on strike for more than three weeks for more pay. The company is partly owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

One newspaper said 1,000 workers were involved, while a second newspaper put the figure at 2,000. The Swazi state police the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) were guarding the sugar plant on behalf of the company’s management when the attacks took place, according to local media reports.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, blamed the workers for the violence, but workers’ leader Swaziland Agricultural Plantations and Allied Workers Union (SAPAWU) Secretary General Archie Sayed said peaceful negotiations were taking place when the police attacked.

He told the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, if the police had not fired tear gas towards the demonstrating workers, the situation could have remained calm.

Workers on Swaziland’s sugar plantations are among the most heavily exploited sections of the working class. Workers at Ubombo are paid R1,500 (US$150) a month with the possibility to increase this to R2,000 if they work Sundays – a full seven-day week.

Workers want a 14 percent pay increase, which would bring their basic pay to R1,710 a month.

In a statement, the Communist Party of Swaziland said, ‘Low pay and bad working conditions typify the entire sugar-producing sector in Swaziland.’

It added, ‘Last year, Ubombo Sugar made a profit of R272 million, making it the third largest contributor of profits to the Illovo group.

‘Illovo’s profits for 2013, meanwhile, were over R1.9 billion, way up from R1.1 billion in 2012. Ubombo increased its share of profits for the corporation by 17% for the first half of last year alone, double that of 2012.’

The statement added, ‘In 2013 it expanded operations at Ubombo in a drive to intensify production and profits.

‘These profits come from the surplus value generated by Swazi workers, whose pay is many times less than the value of their output.’

The statement added that 40 percent of the shares in Ubombo were owned by King Mswati through the conglomerate Tibiyo Taka Ngwane.

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