Times Of Swaziland: SHAPE UP OR FACE SUBVENTION CUTS, PARASTATALS TOLD

SHAPE UP OR FACE SUBVENTION CUTS, PARASTATALS TOLD
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Nonduduzo Kunene on 31/01/2025 09:28:00


EZULWINI – State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) have been given an ultimatum to
align with the Eswatini Government Programme of Action (PoA) 2024 to 2029. If
these entities fail to align with the PoA, some of the programmes will not
receive Cabinet approval. The call for SOEs to align with the PoA was made
yesterday by the Director of Public Enterprise Unit (PEU) Busangani Mkhaliphi
during the prime minister’s (PM) colloquium with SOEs. The colloquium was
organised by Eswatini Public Enterprises Association (ESPEA). During the
colloquium, which was also attended by the Minister for Finance, Neal Rijkenberg
and Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima the SOEs chief
executive officers (CEOs), managing directors (MDs) and chairperson of Board of
Directors/Trustees the PM’s Office presented the PoA, which was publicised
last December.
Presentation
The director noted in her presentation that a number of the pillars of the PoA
heavily depend on SOEs to become a reality. “There is no country without an
SOE because they are the key drivers of the economy. If we did not have SOEs
government was not going to meet its targets of its plans. Most of the key
pillars of the Government of Eswatini’s Programme of Action (PoA) depend a lot
on SOEs,” she said. Mkhaliphi mentioned that it is fortunate that the PEU is
always engaged when SOEs present strategies at Board level. The director said
each of their strategies should align with the PoA if not their papers will not
be approved. “Each and every strategy that will be presented to scope or
cabinet needs to incorporate what is aligned to your entity and the PoA,
otherwise the unit, minister as well as the chairperson will not allow your
paper to go through because this is a PoA that has been set by the executive and
we all need to align,” she said.
Mkhaliphi added that even ongoing strategies need to be incorporated because
some of these items may not be new, but the need for improvement is paramount.
“We want to ensure all SOEs are efficient and deliver to the expectations of
the shareholder. We do see positives as some entities are engaging in big
projects that are changing the lives of emaSwati,” she said.
Still on aligning, PM Russell Dlamini said the journey towards a prosperous
Eswatini cannot be achieved by working in silos. He mentioned that it requires
partnership between government and the private sector. “SOEs are central to
the successful implementation of this vision,” he said. The PM highlighted
eight areas of SOEs that can effectively support the government’s PoA.
Firstly, the PM said SOEs can enhance corporate governance by adopting global
best practices in governance ensuring transparency, efficiency, and ethical
leadership.
Secondly, Dlamini said it is crucial for SOEs to pursue sound strategies. This,
he said, should be by development and effective execution of strategies that
address national challenges while growing entities sustainably. He added that
SOEs should drive economic growth by aligning operations with national
development goals by investing in priority sectors such as energy,
infrastructure, transport and telecommunications. The premier said SOEs should
improve their financial sustainability by reducing dependence on government
subsidies by adopting innovative revenue models, increasing operational
efficiency and leveraging private sector partnerships. Dlamini said it is
crucial for SOEs to embrace digital transformation by integrating technology and
automation to enhance service delivery, reduce costs and improve operational
efficiency.
Other areas that the PM pointed out were supporting employment creation,
championing sustainability and facilitating Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The chairperson of the ESPEA and FINCORP CEO Dumsani Msibi noted that it is
common knowledge that SOEs are not just economic entities; they are instruments
of national development. He added that they are tasked with addressing market
failures, delivering public services, fostering industrialisation, and reducing
inequality among citizens. Msibi stated that SOEs require an enabling
environment and government’s full and unwavering support as a shareholder. He
added that for many parastatals, it has been more of a day-to-day fight for
survival, and institutional sustainability for an extended period of time. “In
a number of parastatals, financial self-sufficiency has been the biggest
hindrance to service delivery and we invite the shareholder which is government
to at some point, in the immediate future, ponder on this matter by taking stock
of the capitalisation of parastatals in the country,” he said.