2021 YEAR OF STAGNATION - ECONOMIST

MANZINI – As the country awaits the Speech from the Throne to be delivered on Friday, an economist says 2021 was a year of stagnation with regard to the targets set by the King.

In the 2021 Speech from the Throne, His Majesty King Mswati III had commanded the Executive to exploit opportunities in light of the challenges that the country faced. He noted that the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak had presented a need for the country to look into the development of a local centre for disease control (CDC). This, the King said, would aid early detection of viruses and future outbreaks and could also assist in analysing new vaccines prior to use by the nation. Also, the King said government needed to be proficient by achieving more with less in the use of government resources in order to attain macro-economic stability, accelerate economic growth, create jobs, raise incomes, provide for the welfare of those less privileged and reduce poverty. He had also called upon the development of infrastructural projects such as the 300mw coal fired thermal power plant at Lubhuku.

Targets

In retrospect of the set targets, University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Lecturer Sanele Sibiya said the political unrest in the last week of June and the first week of July experienced in 2021 had a negative impact on most of the targets. Sibiya said another damper to the pursuit of the said targets was the partial lockdowns that followed due to the high numbers of COVID-19 cases. Due to this, he said the Cabinet had to deal with immediate issues which resulted in nothing of substance towards most of them. “The right things were said by the King; but the challenge is do we have the space to achieve them,” he said. Rhetorically, he asked if money had been set aside to deal with poverty alleviation and job creation. Sibiya said some of the targets needed government to engage in a radical approach.

Strides

As much as there were strides in creating about 12 000 jobs in five sectors, namely: mining, textile, agriculture, forestry and manufacturing, Sibiya said they were minimal. He said this was because the jobs created were countered by the high number of businesses that went under due to fiscal challenges brought by COVID-19 and the political unrest. Sibiya also opined that government had last year secured the COVID-19 loan, which would have to be repaid shortly and that shall minimise the country’s available resources. The economics scholar said it was not all doom and gloom as the newly constructed highway (MR3 Manzini Mbadlane) should be exploited to bring economic benefits to the people it passes through.

On the other hand, the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, said one number spoke to all of these and the number was the gross domestic product (GDP) growth for last year. According to statistics South Africa, the GDP of a country is one of the main indicators used to measure the performance of a country’s economy. When GDP growth is strong, firms hire more workers and can afford to pay higher salaries and wages, which leads to more spending by consumers on goods and services. He said: “We had predicted a 1.4 per cent GDP growth for 2021. It has been revised due to the real numbers coming through. It is now 5.9 per cent. It has been very long since it has been this high. This shows that the economy is growing quickly and that improves all of the other issues mentioned in your question.” Rijkenberg said this when responding to what had his ministry done in relation to His Majesty King Mswati III command through the Speech from the Throne.

Stability

The King said: “We need to be proficient by achieving more with less in the use of government resources in order to attain macro-economic stability, accelerate economic growth, create jobs, raise incomes, provide for the welfare of those less privileged and reduce poverty.” In light of this, the minister was asked for his own assessment on what was achieved in the targets set during the opening of the third session of the 11th Parliament. He had also been sought for comment on what was missed the limitations towards the set targets. Also, His Majesty King Mswati III commanded the Ministry of Health to exploit opportunities following the advent of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The King said: “The outbreak has presented a need for the country to look into the development of a local centre for disease control (CDC). This would aid in the early detection of viruses and future outbreaks and can also assist in analysing new vaccines prior to use by the nation.”

Command

In light of this command, the Director of Health Services, Dr Vusi Magagula, was sought for comment on any strides taken by the ministry in pursuit of this target and if yes, what were they. He was also asked if not, what the limitations were. Dr Magagula said the ministry was still on the planning stage. While noting that, he also said the fiscal state of the country had been a challenge as it limited some of the plans. Worth noting is that there have been constant reports of the shortage of medication and medical supplies in hospitals. On Monday, this publication also reported that the Emergency Preparedness Response (EPR) department, which is also known as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was grounded as it had about 15 vehicles grounded.

Power

On the other hand, the monarch also said among the developments that the country had to pursue was a 300mw coal fired thermal power plant at Lubhuku. In understanding how government had fared in pursuit of this, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy was sought for comment on what had happened with regard to this initiative and when would the thermal power plant be up and running. Communications Officer in the ministry, Sikelela Khoza said: “The project is now at a stage of technical designs and evaluations thereof.”
Khoza said it would be premature to state figures and timeframes inclusive of the budget for the whole project.

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