SOMETHING MOMENTOUS IS HAPPENING IN THE KINGDOM

His Majesty summoned the nation to Sibaya and everyone thought this was when the new prime minister would be announced, but nihlushwa kwati! Initially people could stand up and make their pitch as to why they should be PM but it changed to a set list.

On Thursday, which was the first day of submissions, I spent the day listening on the radio. I listened carefully and I was underwhelmed by most of the submissions but a few things did stand out, which I believe could be very important for the developmental direction of eSwatini. Allow me to go through some of the submissions which I caught on the EBIS 1.

Honourable MP Lutfo Dlamini
He spoke about commercialising our cultural festivals and specifically mentioned the Buganu Ceremony, which is held annually. He spoke of the attraction those ceremonies could hold for tourists and how that could boost our economy.

I get it , I would have loved for the ‘how’ to have been answered, I would have loved for the idea to have been fleshed out because tourists come to attend Umhlanga and I don’t personally see how that then helps or impacts the life of a Swati person. I am not opposed to the commercialisation of our culture as it were.

I just wish it involved more than simply opening our borders to tourists. So not altogether a bad idea, just one that could do with more thought.
Our country is stunning and if we want to be a tourist destination that requires a lot of internal work – a lot of capacity building to the often forgotten custodians of culture, the elderly. So I definitely wanted to hear more of that.

He also spoke about agriculture and farming inputs being provided to farmers – this earned him a round of applause.
Yes to farming inputs and a stronger yes to those inputs being ones which are managed by the farmers.

Honourable MP Moses Vilakati
He is the former Minister of Agriculture, so he obviously spoke of the importance of agriculture, beyond just food security but also taking precautions for natural disasters which harm farmers and change their attitudes. I have had the pleasure of interacting with him once while he was in Cabinet and I absolutely enjoy his mindset and outlook. I am certain with him at the helm, we can achieve food security in eSwatini.

Honourable Senator Thuli Dladla
First of all I love her! She always speaks so well and even in my days as a Parliament reporter at the Times of Swaziland, I enjoyed listening to her submissions. She did not disappoint on Thursday as she was the first speaker of the day to have an actual clear cut plan to her suggestions. She spoke of representation of women and how they often cannot afford to campaign, she emphasised that Parliament needed to address this and how the women who are often in Parliament are those appointed by His Majesty. She spoke of the importance of social grants and how other government agencies, not necessarily ministries, could contribute to grants being available. She gave a value chain proposal on vocational education – how it is inherent in our make- up as emaSwati to work with our hands but the formalising of that needed to be looked at. Teach vocational education in schools, give avenues to those with those skills and create a market for their products, it was a complete end to end chain. Of course it would be a woman to think that thoroughly about anything.

Honourable MP Neal
Rijkenberg

I was underwhelmed and offended by his submission. Yes he employs a lot of locals and has done a lot for the country’s economy, maybe. But when he said civils servants’ salaries must be frozen and corporate tax must be reduced (I believe he said to 10%), I was amazed but not altogether surprised. There is a disconnect between the rich and the poor in this country and only a wealthy person would make this submission. As though emaSwati are not already struggling under the weight of not being able to afford basic commodities, for someone to say freeze their salaries. If someone is truly for the people, that is not a submission they make.

Judge Phesheya Dlamini
He also gave one of my favourite submissions of the day, mostly because he spoke about something which is limiting our development as a nation: xenophobia. He urged people to cancel their xenophobic attitudes and I was walking around town at the time and I came to a complete stop in the middle of the Swazi Plaza because I had never heard a Swati person, much less of his stature, say something like that. Those are my thoughts so far. Email me to argue!

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