WHY WE FALTER

IF our politicians are still at a level of ego-bashing while our economically paralysed country cries out for effective leadership then there is very little or no hope at all that we are to see a reverse of the negative 0.6 per cent economic growth rate.

The impasse over Cabinet’s failure to cater for new elderly grant recipients, which saw Members of Parliament send them packing to fix it, has literally stalled Parliament. But why? Is this because Cabinet does not want to help the elderly or is it trying to fix up the MPs at the expense of the elderly?

Such petty political showdowns are the reason we have monitors such as The 2017 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) rating our level of governance as slightly improved by a mere 0.12 per cent. This growth is said to have slowed over the past five years. Well that explains our deteriorating economic growth.

The country has also scored positives on peace given the reduced or minimal activity around government involvement in armed conflict, domestic armed conflict, violence by non-State actors, cross-border tensions, internally displaced people and political refugees. There was also a high score in human development, recording 62.9 per cent.

However, despite the marginal positives the index reflected major concerns in where we rank 34th out of 54 countries overall with a score of 48.9 per cent, while the regional average of Southern Africa stands at 58.6 per cent.

The ‘Red flag’ for Swaziland, according to the Mo Ibrahim Index, is the lowest category score in participation and human rights which was rated at 24.6 per cent. Out of 54 countries, Swaziland is ranked at 50 in terms of participation and human rights.
This is a disappointing bottom of the pile score for a country that believes in national consultation and rule by consensus. The only problem, surely, lies in the poor implementation of people’s views.

The index also highlights the increasingly deteriorating business environment in the country. We currently stand at number 26 out of 54 countries when benchmarked against the investment climate, competition, business bureaucracy and red tapes, customs procedures, soundness of banks, employment creation and regional integration.

The country boasts of a peaceful environment but this is not enough to lure investors here.
It therefore warrants that we revisit our spending on security - which gets the second largest share of the national budget - and divert funding to private sector job creation. A good business environment also requires a functional judicial system. 
Investors get worried when the country becomes notorious for arresting people who remain suspects for over 10 years only to be acquitted due to lack of evidence. The case of Industrial Court Judge Sifiso Nsibande, who was acquitted this week, is just one of several blunders that blemish the credibility of our judicial system.

This case was of particular concern to the business community because it involved a business transaction where he was a silent partner.
Investors wouldn’t want to risk their partners being labelled suspect criminals because of disputed operational transactions. The murky business bureaucracy and red tapes, which are highlighted as contributing to our low scores, form part of the driers that lead to questionable transactions.

These are the issues we expect the squabbling politicians to busy themselves with, not ego bashing or power plays that yield nothing but wasted sitting allowances that could have contributed towards paying for the new elderly grants and purchasing the much needed drugs in our medical facilities.

Government is known to be selective in recognising international ratings of the country by external institutions and the Mo Ibrahim Index may be one of them, but the assessment of the country is presented to a global community that trusts its findings.
Should we be worried? Well yes, particularly because potential investors use such assessments in deciding where to put their money. These ratings provide good food for thought and warrant that we all pay very close attention to the areas in which we have registered poor scores, particularly  in governance, so that we stand a better chance of an economic recovery. 

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