A CAPABLE NKWE TEAM

The new team of Cabinet ministers holds great promise, but it is important to keep our expectations in check. We must stay sober to the reality of the obstacles this team will have to overcome in order to record any measure of progress on the tasks laid before them by the King and country.

Prior to the appointments, one expressed a wish to see a Cabinet comprised of individuals with a proven track record, leaving little room for trial and error at this critical juncture in our lives, where urgent solutions are required.
Yours truly got just that, thereabout, so it is now down to each one of them to prove their worth, since the backbenchers are equally strong contenders for the seats at Hospital Hill, making the prospects of a reshuffle along the way quite viable.

Encouraging

Judging by the public reactions, there seems to be wide consensus that this team is an encouraging mix of diverse public and corporate experience, with the key positions in Finance, Commerce, Industry and Trade, and Economic Planning and Development enjoying continuity following the return to office of the ministers from the previous term.

The Prime Minister (PM), Russell Dlamini, may be new to the political office, but he is well cushioned by a deputy who is a veteran politician in Thuli Dladla. The continuity appointees should complement this combination and give Cabinet the necessary political direction to keep in touch with the general public and, more importantly, with the reality on the ground.

This is a team that has been dominating our conversations more for defying predictions than anything else. Lots of bets were lost as those who professed to be familiar with the King’s thinking learned otherwise. Our coffee still runs cold as we continue to absorb the hits and misses that have, once again, put to the fore one of the unique traits of surprise that is engrained in our Monarchical Democracy, which provides individuals with their right to direct representation in Parliament, while preserving the prerogative of appointment to Cabinet in the hands of His Majesty the King.

Portfolios

Theories abound on how each minister landed in their portfolios, such as at Health, Education and Training, and Justice and Constitutional Affairs, which are occupied by Mduduzi Matsebula, Owen Nxumalo and Prince Simelane, respectively. We may never know, but conspiracies soon show themselves in the actions that follow. What we do know, however, is that these sectors were the most topical at Sibaya and face the biggest challenges.

In the case of Prince Simelane, whose appointment has got many jaws doing aerobics, uncertainty lies in how a man who some say is a law unto himself will conduct himself when he now sits in the offices of the law, as it were.
He has not been shy about banning street marches or spewing militant rhetoric, in reaction to what he sees as wayward conduct among those professing to be enjoying their constitutional rights.

The big test for him, no doubt, is removing the huge boulder of corruption that is placed right in the middle of the new Cabinet’s path to success. We do recall how the previous Cabinet came in with a major anti-corruption pronouncement that gave hope to discharging the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) from the intensive care unit (ICU), but failed, all because of a court case they found pending at the Supreme Court. It remains there five years later. Will the new Minister for Justice, Prince Simelane, be able to get the judicial wheels moving to ensure that justice is served?

The Law Society seems happy with the appointment of the prince and has urged the minister to prioritise the handicap of the ACC, the complaint against the Chief Justice, Bheki Maphalala, which was lodged by the Law Society of Swaziland in terms of Section 158 of the Constitution in December 2022 and the probe into the office of the Master of the High Court with regard to its administrative and financial functions.

Women groups are also happy with the appointment of Dladla, a woman, to the second most powerful seat in Cabinet that is responsible for social welfare and gender issues at a time when the country faces an unprecedented gender-based violence (GBV)crisis. Given the job creation deliverables he achieved, which could have been higher had the global COVID-19 pandemic not disrupted his term, the return of Commerce Minister Manqoba Khumalo is also a plus.

Aggrieved

Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg may not be everyone’s favourite, but for good reason. The mice are the most aggrieved over his return, but he is the cat that the country needs to tighten the screws and close the financial leaks that are impoverishing this nation.

Much is also anticipated from the new ICT Minister, Savannah Maziya, when she settles down that is. Her multinational experience raises expectations to a very high level. We also seem to be in good hands on food-self sufficiency with our new Agriculture Minister, Mandla Tshawuka, who leads a critical ministry. I could go on about the rest, but one still needs to get to know them better, so time will tell. For now, however, we can only say good luck to the entire team that has been assigned to rebrand the phrase ‘there is no hurry in Swaziland’ to one of ‘Kutsi Nkwe Eswatini’.
 

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