SIMILARITIES IN SPEECH FROM THE THRONE, SONA

MANZINI – The creation of jobs, improvement of energy supply (electricity), economic growth and infrastructure development are key in the Speech from the Throne and the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

His Majesty King Mswati III delivered the Speech from the Throne on February 4, 2022 while the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, presented the SONA on February 10, 2022.
In the two key speeches by the heads of State, infrastructure development was highlighted the most. His Majesty King Mswati III’s speech referred to it eight times, while his South African counterpart said it 19 times. This was across four subheadings which are economic performance and outlook, capital investment,  road infrastructure development and the national airline.

In his speech, the monarch identified infrastructure as a catalyst for developing the economy while creating jobs. This is because under the capital investment, he said in order to create an enabling environment for the kingdom to develop, government needed to budget for capital projects which included but were not limited to; infrastructure development such as road construction, provision of potable water, dams for irrigated agriculture, health facilities, energy, factory shells and others.

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa highlighted infrastructure as needed to create jobs, improve transport system and bolster the economy. He said the republic’s government would reinvest in its railway lines to improve transportation of goods between inland cities and ports, while also offering alternative transport to the citizenry. The monarch’s speech highlighted jobs twice wherein he highlighted that investors were reluctant to leave their countries and start shop in new environments. These challenges, he said, needed the citizenry to unite and find solutions by creating jobs at small, medium and large enterprise levels. He also said the youth needed to exploit the Youth Revolving and Regional Development funds so that they may create more jobs for their peers. The King also spoke of unemployment once.

On the other hand, Ramaphosa’s speech pointed out at jobs 16 instances. He said they had given themselves 100 days to finalise a comprehensive social compact to grow South Africa’s economy, create jobs and combat hunger. The South African president pointed out that even with the best business environment and much faster rates of economic growth; it would take time for the private sector to create enough jobs for the millions of South Africans who needed them. He said the global business services sector was on track to create 500 000 new jobs over the next few years. On the other hand, Ramaphosa also linked infrastructure development to the creation of jobs. He said this work would build on the foundation of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), which remained South Africa’s common programme to rebuild the economy.

He said they remained focused on the priorities identified in the 2021 SoNA which were; overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, a massive rollout of infrastructure, a substantial increase in local production, an employment stimulus to create jobs and support livelihoods and the rapid expansion of our energy generation capacity. Both leaders spoke about energy generation, as His Majesty King Mswati III said the countries ambition to attract businesses that generate billions in revenue relied on a solid power grid. He highlighted that the contract between the country and South Africa was coming to an end in 2025 and needed the kingdom to produce its own energy. His speech emphasised on the production of energy eight times.

The monarch noted that the country was looking at thermal power station while also acknowledging that the global community was considering phasing out this energy production. He called upon the country to consider exploiting natural gas, solar energy and wind turbines. Ramaphosa on the other, identified the challenges that were posed by their unrealistic electricity grid, while also pinpointing the direction South Africa needed to take. His reference to electricity was 16 times while noting that seven power grids would be coming online in the next few years. He said Eskom had established a separate transmission subsidiary, and was on track to complete its unbundling by December 2022. The utility, he said, had continued with its intensive maintenance programme, to reverse many years of neglected maintenance and underperformance of existing plants.

Compass

It is worth noting that the compass for the countries economic recovery is the Eswatini Strategic RoadMap, which seeks to exploit five major sectors, namely: Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and Tourism. On the other hand, South Africa’s compass is the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP). Also, both leaders in their speeches thanked healthworkers for their resilience and dedication during the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa further highlighted what had been done to strengthen the healthcare sector. It was highlighted that they had administered 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines which means  nearly 42 per cent of all adults and 60 per cent of everyone over 50 was fully vaccinated. It is worth noting that locally, fully vaccinated people 330 142 which is 28.5 per cent of the total population of 1.16 million people.

Furthermore, while Eswatini is called upon to abolish Circular No.3 of 2018 to increase employment opportunities in the kingdom, South Africa emphasised that 80 per cent of the working class was in the private sector which was supported by a foundation of legislations set to improve the economy. Also, Ramaphosa was elaborate on the effects of corruption, as he pin pointed the adverse challenges it brought to their economy while also calling for those fingered in the State Capture investigation to face the law. He pointed out that corruption had caused the collapse of their electricity grid.

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