Economic Panel or Business Wine Club?
King Mswati III of Swaziland has established an economic panel in a futile attempt to fix the ailing economy. The panel, Business Economic Advisory Panel (BEAP), was officially launched by the Prime Minister in a lavish dinner on October 30, 2006. BEAP membership is drawn from local and foreign business leaders.
Whilst this may seem a noble idea, this is yet another face-saving strategy – a political scam which will not benefit anyone but King Mswati and his family. Even if the panel succeeds in attracting direct foreign investment, its efforts will be drowned by the high level of political rot which is a key element of this government. The appointment of a minister with an undisputed record of incompetence to the Deputy Prime Minister position is fresh evidence of this rot.
It is now absolutely clear that this government is determined to press on with its fatalistic policy of separating the economy from the political process. Let it be known that any attempts to rescue the economy without serious consideration of the current political conditions will never succeed. Too many initiatives have ended up in a heap because of narrow, disjointed and ad hoc approaches to national issues. Previous initiatives such as Smart Partnership, National Dialogue, Smart Programme on Economic Empowerment and Development (SPEED) and Job Creation collapsed. The Millennium Project is in serious financial trouble.
PUDEMO’s vision
PUDEMO has consistently called for a parallel approach which locates the economic malaise within the broader political conditions. Politics and the national economy are intrinsically linked and do not operate independently of each other. Good governance provides the conditions necessary for economic growth. Where there is bad governance, it is inevitable that one will find poor economic performance. Thus initiatives to boost economic growth must, as a matter of principle, be complemented by significant political improvement.
In Swaziland, this would require a radical shift in thinking among the current generation of politicians. Central to this shift, is developing the ability to understand the interplay of economics and politics. In the words of the American sociologist, C.W. Wright Mills, such shifts involve developing the quality of mind or a broader vision of society. Unfortunately, this does not appear possible at all under this regime which discourages different ways of thinking. The prohibition of political party participation in the governance of this country is blinding evidence of this hostility towards alternative views. Consequently, the majority of politicians and state officials do not possess the quality of mind which would enable them to operate efficiently and effectively. Those who do posses the quality of mind are frustrated, marginalised, intimidated and denied promotion. Hence, the braindrain to neighbouring South Africa.
In view of this situation, PUDEMO calls for an overhaul of the political system as a necessary step towards an effective and long-lasting strategy to resolving the economic situation. Our policy priority is to create the conditions for economic recovery and growth by fixing the political crisis. We will invest heavily in this project because we believe that good economic policy comes from an effective system of government with clearly developed mechanisms of delivery. This is PUDEMO’s goal in government – to build an effective vehicle for economic and social growth. As is evident in South Africa and Mozambique, a stable and functioning political system is the main driver for economic recovery. Our neighbours have grown from crisis to strength whilst Swaziland slides backwards with great SPEED.
The government has had abundant time but failed to fix the political crisis. The Commonwealth-sponsored constitution making project was a farce. It delivered no real progress but maintained the status quo. We were told by the Commonwealth to be patient and we were assured that the constitution will deliver a solution to the political crisis. Ten years down the track things have gotten worse. Time has run out and Swaziland can no longer afford to entertain strategies that aim to give comfort to the regime. As evidenced by the economic collapse and ever increasing number of deaths from HIV/AIDS and poverty, these strategies have had catastrophic implications. Like its predecessors, BEAP is a misconceived project and has no capacity or intention to turn things around. It can be best described as a business wine club rather than a serious attempt to rescue the economy.
Some of the business leaders involved in the king’s economic panel may have genuine intentions of helping the country but they will have very little or no influence on the issues that count. Speaking on behalf of BEAP during the launch, Illovo Director, Mandla Hlatshwayo, reminded the government that economic recovery will not occur without political progress (Times of Swaziland, November 1, 2006). But Hlatshwayo might be one of the lone voices in the panel. It is likely that he was invited to join the panel not because of his undoubted experience and potential to contribute to a way forward but because of his strategic position as a director of the biggest sugar industry in Africa. The regime is not interested in innovative ideas but in status and window dressing. It has been very successful in using the status of individuals and institutions (such as the Commonwealth Secretariat) to help improve its public image. Its strategy is always the same – to seemingly offer people the chance to contribute to relieving the misery of Swazi citizens, whilst tightly controlling the process so that no real change can ever occur. The result is a long list of distinguished and probably well-meaning contributors to maintaining the misery in Swaziland. Notwithstanding the fact that these people should know better than to get involved in the first place, it is very difficult for them to withdraw or denounce the process once they have signed up, as the Commonwealth found to its cost in the Constitutional Review process. As with any good scam, the trick is to get people sufficiently involved that even when they discover the nature of the scam, they stay involved in it because to withdraw would simply be too embarrassing. Thus, with BEAP, like previous regime scams, we should not be fooled into thinking that the process has merit just because it includes a few people of good reputation and intention.
Whilst people like Hlatshwayo have the courage to speak out about the important issues and show leadership, others in BEAP might prefer the wine. The morality of these people ought to be seriously questioned. This government is well known for its bad human rights record including political repression, political incompetence, lavish royal spending, corruption and strong opposition to democratic forms of governance. Even former insiders such as Prince Mfanasibili are now speaking and writing about the entrenched culture of corruption within the current system of government. In one of his newspaper weekly commentaries, Prince Mfanasibili commented that the government has a long history of recruiting and keeping corrupt politicians and state officials (Times of Swaziland –SUNDAY, October 22, 2006).
It is already evident that BEAP business will be governed by the government tradition of secrecy. The lack of detail available about the operation of BEAP is startling. The public has not been given any information about budget allocation, consultation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting processes and time-frame of this project. The terms of reference are, at best, very scratchy. We are told that all those in BEAP have volunteered their services and the government will only pay travelling and accommodation expenses. That is welcomed and the services of those with genuine intentions of helping Swaziland are appreciated. One would assume that in a functioning government, these expenses will be officially accounted for in the national budget. Where is the money to feed, fly and accommodate members of the club coming from and why is this information hidden from the public? Did the government dream of BEAP overnight without budgetary consideration?
PUDEMO encourages any members of this club who have a strong sense of social justice to be a link between the club and the general population by ensuring that the public is informed about it and by inviting public opinion on BEAP. Business is not only about profit making but it is also about social responsibility.
Signed
Dr. Jabulane Matsebula
PUDEMO Representative
Australia, Asia and the South Pacific Region
Date: November 2, 2006
pudemo@yahoo.co.ukDate: November 2, 2006
For other news from Swaziland see
http://swazilandsolidaritynetworkcanada.wikispaces.com/CURRENT+NEWS
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