Times Of Swaziland: The Competition Commission is a victory for democracy

The Competition Commission is a victory for democracy
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The editor on 26/08/2013 04:45:00


Sir,
I think the introduction of the Competition Commission in Swaziland a few months
ago, was also victory for democracy. I hope the commission will encourage
competition both in the economy and in politics.
For the economy I hope they make sure that competition among business people is
healthy and fair. In this way it will encourage more trade and more people will
want to come into the country to open up businesses. This will also help lessen
the burden of unemployment on government. Such foreign direct investment into
the country will encourage other countries to trust Swaziland and this can only
be good for the country.
When competition is healthy it improves quality and service delivery but if
there are monopolies in a country then quality of products and service is
compromised severely. For example, MTN and SEC are known monopolies in the
country and they have no one to compete directly with them. This has made them
not care too much about their services. So I believe the presence of the
commission in Swaziland will benefit the private sector in terms of service
delivery, thus improving our fragile economy.
What role should the competition commission play in politics? I hope I shall
also apply the same principle by encouraging competition among political
entities; to improve efficiency and good governance or democracy. The good thing
about the competition commission is that it is an independent body. Let’s hope
other commissions learn from this body and remain autonomous.
I repeat the introduction of the competition commission in Swaziland was also
victory for democracy and I hope the acting CEO Thab’sile Langa will not be
biased in this regard to protect her job. When it comes to economics and
politics, they say ‘birds of the same feathers fly together’, so be it!
Peter Sibeko