Times Of Swaziland: WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, HOW IS FIRST WORLD STATUS POSSIBLE?

WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, HOW IS FIRST WORLD STATUS POSSIBLE?
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BY VUSI SIBISI on 31/03/2014 05:28:00


The possibility of South Africa stopping their supply of electricity to the
Kingdom of eSwatini, remote as it may appear right now, begs the question of
whether the Kingdom has its ducks in a row as it pursues First World status by
the year 2022.
The grim reality is that if the Democratic Alliance (DA), now the official
opposition party, were to win the forthcoming national elections in South
Africa, it would certainly stop the electricity supply to this country.  That is
the sum total of the paper drafted by the DA in which it seeks, through
Parliament, to stop South Africa supplying electricity to this and other
neighbouring states.
Of course, the DA’s position is an unimaginably terrible scenario considering
that this country imports 80 per cent of its electricity from South Africa, with
the remainder generated domestically. No one needs to be reminded of the
importance of electricity in the day-to-day grind of living, not to speak of its
magnitude in driving the development of this country towards achieving the
much-talked-about Vision 2022, that First World status that is dominating the
speeches of every public figure within the echelons of the Swazi leadership.
As I see it, the dream of achieving First World status cannot be achieved if
this country were to suddenly become a sea of darkness, save for the few who
could be fed off of the 20 per cent that this country is able to produce. The
reality of the situation that every one of us – specifically those behind the
First World dream – must face is that an electricity supply that is dependable
and sustainable is an integral, if not THE integral, component towards the
realisation of Vision 2022. Without electricity, that vision will remain a pipe
dream.
In fact, considering the importance of electricity not just in our daily lives
but also in driving the country’s developmental aspirations, how on earth
could anyone have overlooked this strategic asset on the list of national
priorities? This country, whose size is just over 17 000 square kilometres, has
been independent for 46 years this year; yet it is still dependent on other
nations when it comes to this strategic resource that, apparently, is not only
vital in terms of our daily lives but also overlaps with and embraces the
security of the nation.
Relative to other nations, especially our giant neighbours Mozambique to the
East and South Africa to the West, the Kingdom of eSwatini is but a village
requiring a daily electricity supply of under 400MW (megawatts).
As I see it, it is not a matter of a lack of resources that this country, during
all its 46 years of independence, remains dependent on this very strategic asset
that should be at the heart of our national imperatives. Unfortunately, the
blame has to go to the Swazi polity; specifically to those who decided to
monopolise political power, thus effectively making it impossible for the
citizenry, particularly those opposed to the obtaining political oligarchy, to
exercise their God-given faculties; ostensibly because those in power would
exercise these on their behalf.
The sum total has been the underdevelopment of this country, as graphically
portrayed by the fact that we cannot generate enough power, even a paltry 400MW
or less, for this tiny country.
Unfortunately, the question of electricity is not the only impediment to the
realisation of the First World dream that has become the preoccupation of those
in the echelons of power.
There remains a plethora of other challenges that have to be overcome. Factor in
last week’s story of the old man who plunged down a waterfall in Ngwenya while
fetching water for domestic purposes.
Yes, the majority of the people still use river water for domestic purposes
because they have no access to properly reticulated water owing to the absence
of proper infrastructure.
The old man who plunged to his death at a waterfall in Ngwenya is indeed the
face of the 69 per cent of people living below the international poverty datum
line.
These faceless people are expected to be riding the crest towards the
much-desired First World dream. But the question no one within the echelons of
power has answered is where these people, the majority of the population, factor
in this First World notion. This is particularly so since the United Nations
puts people at the centre of every development. Yet here we are talking about
the majority of the people who still use untreated water from rivers for all
their domestic requirements, among the many challenges they face from
day-to-day.
We are about eight years from 2022; there is still time for the architects to do
the right thing so that every Swazi from every nook and cranny of this country
has a buy-in into this vision. The one sure way of doing so is to bring the
majority of the impoverished people up to the same economic status as the
minority within the echelons of power, otherwise First World status will merely
become a political slogan come 2022.