Questions for the Editors Forum breakfast meeting April 2013

1. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched through SEDCO the Buy Swazi Campaign. Is there research evidence that shows how Swazis and Swaziland entities are buying, which suggests a discrimination for Swaziland produced products and services.

1. What is the overall objective of this campaign

 

A study done by SEDCO in the year 2008 reconfirmed that Swaziland imports more than it exports, hence there was a need to address that through import substitution. In this study it was noted that as Swazis we import products that are readily available in the country just because we believe that what comes from beyond our borders is of good quality.

 

Many companies interviewed complained that there was a lack of markets for their products whilst on the other hand consumers complained about poor services, poor quality products and poor branding practices on local products, thus the need for the Buy Swazi Campaign. The Buy Swazi logo placement criteria addresses the above mentioned complaints as it is required that a product that qualifies should meet quality standards, be made of material sourced locally as a priority and should be safe to the environment. Entrepreneurs will also be educated on good branding practices and mindset transformation campaigns will be conducted nationwide.

The Buy Swazi is campaign to promote Swazi organizations, companies, products and services that demonstrate high quality, local content and good labour and environmental practices. Buy Swazi promotes its members and their products and services to the consumer and business/government buyer, encouraging Swazis to buy locally-made products bearing the Buy Swazi logo.

 

2. How does the Swaziland economy benefit from citizens and Swaziland institutions buying Swazi;

 

Swaziland will benefit greatly from such an initiative in the sense that the Buy Swazi Campaign will complement efforts towards economic growth and the prosperity of our nation by promoting and supporting local business, thereby increasing employment opportunities, fair labour practices, and environmental practices, as well as stimulating a sense of national pride and economic independence. By virtue of Swazis buying locally made products they will be making a personal contribution to the strengthening of the Swazi economy. Buying Swazi made products stimulates an increased demand for locally produced products and services. It translates into the safeguarding of existing employment opportunities, economic growth and creation of more quality employment opportunities in our country. The buying of imports results in the country exporting cash and thus creating jobs for other countries.  

 

2. Pigg’s Peak has been preparing to open a Gold Mine now for a number of years. It is understood that the mine already employs 20 people, which will grow to between 400-500 once open. At what stage is the process of granting a mining lease?

 

Swaziland Mining Ventures was granted a licence to mine Piggs Peak gold mine and has employed 41 people to date. All along, the company has been performing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exercise which was finalised recently. Mine development/preparatory work undertaken together with the EIA exercise is ongoing and near completion for full scale mining operations to begin.

 

Piggs Peak gold mine is a small scale operation. The mine is envisaged to employ a maximum of hundred (100) employees in its full capacity. The employment figure is expected to grow increasingly as operations progress to full capacity.

 

3. The Government launched the Economic Recovery Strategy in 2011 following the SACU crisis, aiming for accelerated inclusive sustainable economic growth. What aspects of the ERS have been implemented so far.

 

Government through the Economic Recovery Strategy Task Team (ERSTT) has identified sectors that have great potential for economic turnaround. They include agriculture, mining, tourism, financial services, manufacturing and infrastructure development, among others.

The ERSTT has also been instrumental in the identification of several pieces of legislation that needed to be enacted to provide a conducive atmosphere necessary for economic recovery e.g the Shopping Hours and Trading Licence Bills, amendment of Income Tax, Sales Tax act and the VAT bill, etc.

The task team in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture has also identified some farms which can be advertised to potential investors to use for commercial farming of crops and livestock.

 

3.1 In agriculture, the strategy sought to address low levels of agricultural production, and identified as a Quick Win Strategy, the improved targeting criteria for food aid and to introduce incentives for agriculture related activities through food for work programmes. In light of declining agriculture production, partly due to Mshamndanization, has this strategy been implemented?

 

Food for work is being implemented by the Social Welfare department in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. Examples of Food for Work projects that have been implemented include;

1. (i)A project to minimize soil erosion and prevent future degradation at Sithobelweni, where the Conserve Swaziland is supervising the project.
2. (ii)At Malindza in take home rations were given to 2000 food insecure volunteers who built gabions to reclaim land lost from erosion and prevent future degradation, while another 2000 people worked as caregivers in the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions, providing social support and cooked meals for vulnerable children and orphans.

Programmes prioritised by Government through the Ministry of Agriculture in addressing food production and agriculture productivity in the country include, but not limited to;

1. a)the National Liming Programme funded by Government and to be supplemented by the Government of India /Exim Bank Loan. The Liming project intends to provide lime to communities having challenges with low soil fertility and soil acidity. The main aim of the project is to improve the productivity of crops by reducing the effect of low soil pH on crops thereby improving soil fertility and nutrition.
2. b)The community-based seed initiative is meant to address the general shortage of some seeds particularly legumes and the high cost of hybrid seed by providing a sustainable source of alternative seed for small scale farmers. This is in the form of open pollinated maize seed that can be saved from the previous years’ harvest and then be recycled for up to five years.
3. c)Input support programme will subsidize inputs to already identified farmers in areas with high yield potential. The aim is to increase local maize production through increased use of inputs in high potential areas. The programme will be implemented during the 2013/14 ploughing season.
4. d)The Water Harvesting and Irrigation Development programme will ensure that farmers are able to get good yields even under serious drought conditions. A number of medium sized dams are being constructed to avail water to communities for irrigated farming as well as for livestock.

4. There are recent reports suggesting the iron ore mine at Ngwenya plans to establish a processing plant to increase the quality of ore extracted from the mine. Can the Hon Minister update us.

 

The beneficiation plant whose purpose is to upgrade the quality of iron ore material from (45 – 50%) to (58 – 61%) has been established and is being commissioned with an investment of around E300 million. A further expansion to the plant is in progress.

 

Ngwenya opened in 2011 on a 5-year lease.

1. Can His Excellency give us a mid-term report of the benefit of the mine to the economy.

 

The company has made a valuable contribution to the economy of the country is several ways including the fact that it employs 151 Swazis with an employment ratio of 93% as opposed to expatriates. It has also taken seriously its social responsibility by among others, sponsoring the maintenance and development of a number of Primary schools around Ngwenya and being involved in an on-going project to make available clean drinking water supply to various communities

 

2. What has been its tax contribution

 

Salgaocar is meeting its tax obligations

 

3. Transporting the ore by road has caused a lot of damage to the highway. What is the arrangement for compensating government for the damage.

 

The Transporting company signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Government whereby they pay 0.5 United States Dollars per tonne of ore transported.

 

4. Has government considered re-opening the rail-line from Ngwenya to Matsapha to carry the ore?

 

Yes, Government has considered re-opening the rail line from Ngwenya to Matsapha but due to the small quantities of ore that needs to be transported, it was not cost effective.

 

5. Swaziland and South Africa have signed an agreement to extend the rail from Breyten to join the Swaziland network. At what stage is the process.

 

The project is still in the feasibility study phase.

 

6. Can His Excellency update us on progress in improving the road between Pigg’s Peak to the Bulembu border to improve access to the country from the Nelspruit-Barberton corridor?

 

Government has provided a budget for constructing this road this financial year

 

7. Since the Minister of Finance suggested that E80 million (almost one billion or 10% of the budget) is lost to corruption each month, in light of the Auditor General’s 2011-2012 Report which shows serious lapses within the Ministry of Finance costing the taxpayer substantial amounts of money, has His Excellency followed up on this statement, especially since;

a. AG reports that the Internal Audit was moved from the Accountant General, Treasury Department in 2009, to the Ministry of Finance. Since then, it has not issued any reports, yet in the absence of this function, corrections or remedial action of errors, omissions and irregularities remain un-detected. Is the internal audit conducted and why is the report not produced.

Internal audits are conducted and currently reports are issued to client ministries and departments. In the establishment of the Internal Audit, the department was required to report functionally to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and to the client ministries and departments.

With the on-going public finance management reforms, the establishment of the Internal Audit and reporting functions are cited in the Public Finance Management Bill. This includes copying final reports to the Auditor General.

b. AG says public funds are lost because Ministries ignore rules and regulations and Controlling Officers are reluctant to carry out vigilant supervision to prevent waste, abuse and fraud. Has the Minister explained why simple management processes are ignored?

 

The Swaziland Government has contracted a consultant to build capacity in the Internal Audit Department. Internal audit is working with an Auditing Company to ensure public funds are not lost through fraud.

c. Where the AG says departments simply ignore rules, what measures are in place to protect public funds in those departments, like the National Treasury which was allocated in this budget, which are not accountable to Parliament?

The Swaziland National Treasury is audited and the audit report is submitted to the Board of Trustees each year. In instances where misuse of funds, fraud or corruption has been identified, these issues would be referred to the Police or Anti-Corruption Commission.

d. AG report that revenue collectors siphon off money at the point of collection; and that what disturbs AG is that the perpetrators continue to enjoy a full salary and were still at work. Has any action been taken to correct this problem.

In terms of the labour laws of this country there are processes to be followed when a government employee commits misconduct in the course of duty. The first step is for the immediate supervisor to report such suspected misconduct to the head of department who will in turn cause an internal departmental investigation to be carried out. This investigation will produce a report which if its recommendations are to charge the officer; criminal charges would be preferred against the officer concerned.

Once criminal charges are preferred against the officer, the employer’s hands are tied in ensuring that the criminal matter is speedily dealt with. The employer has no say on when and how the matter is dealt with. At this point the ball is in the judiciary’s court. Sometimes six months elapse after which the suspects approach the courts to be reinstated to their positions or have their salaries reinstated on full pay of which the labour laws fully supports them.

On the other hand, the employer can adopt a different approach. After the outcome of the Internal preliminary Investigation, the head of department acting on the recommendations can opt not to involve the police at this stage and have the matter first dealt with by the Civil Service Commission to its finality. After the Civil Service Commission has returned a dismissal verdict the matter can then be forwarded to the police so that criminal charges are preferred against the officer.

This approach has proven to be a much better and most preferred approach as the employer is able to deal with the employee to the full extent of the law.

e. That the School Committees system is ineffective and enables Head teachers to override controls. For instance school committee chairpersons sign blank cheques. In the aftermath of the Mhlatane High School where a headmaster allegedly took almost 3 million of parents money to pay someone for a diplomatic appointment, what action has been taken to prevent recurrence of this practice in other schools?

The Ministry of Education and Training has in place the Schools Accounting Regulations 1992, a framework stipulating how school funds are to be disbursed and utilized. The Ministry is also working in collaboration with the Auditor General’s office to ensure yearly audits of schools. The Ministry issued a circular in January 2013 to all schools warning Head Teachers that are carelessly utilizing school funds without complying with the Schools Accounting Regulations of 1992. The circular flagged, among others, the diversion of public funds, accountability of schools income and expenditure and ‘shylocking’ of school funds.

The In-Service Training Department, a unit within the Ministry of Education trains Principals in finance management skills for proper planning and control of income and expenditure of school funds.

8. The Christian Medical University is a major social investment that addresses one of the country's development priorities. The problems it now faces do not suggest it enjoys His Majesty's Government supportand partnership of. Can His Excellency comment.

 

The establishment of the Swaziland Christian University is a step in the right direction and enjoys His Majesty’s Government support. The following points prove the support and the partnership enjoyed by the University.

• The Institution requested to be classified as a Category A Public Enterprise with Government subvention. This was approved by Cabinet.
• The land on which the University occupies was provided for by Government. The Africa Continent Mission (ACM) was granted exclusive permission of portion 69/1/73 Lomkiri, 40 hectare Farm.
• The Government has in turn signed a memorandum of understanding with the ACM. This memorandum spells out a number of benefits and assistance to be provided by the Swaziland Government.

a. The problem of the new University has serious investment
implications. Swaziland re-launched the investor Roadmap last year in an effort to improve the poor perception of the investor environment in the country. Closure of an investment like this does not suggest that the total picture was considered before the decision was taken. Can His Excellency assure other investors of measures demonstrating its commitment to investment.

Considering the above response, this should be enough prove of His Majesty’s Government support to other investors that might decide to choose Swaziland as their country of destination in as far as investment is concerned. Government only hopes that future investors will work very closely with Government for the success of any enterprise.

b. Can His Excellency acquit his Government of its own role in the problems surrounding the opening of a project that has been under construction for so many years raises some disturbing questions. Since accreditation is a regulatory and quality assurance issue, is that not
one of the sovereign functions of government. Why should accreditation of a Swaziland university that is needed by Swaziland be the problem of the University of Pretoria or of Korea?

The Education (Establishment and Registration of Private Educational Institutions) regulations Notice 2009 are very clear on what needs to be done. In the absence of the Higher Education Bill of 2010 these are the regulations that need to be followed in the establishment of Private Educational Institutions. In this case, before the university opened, it needed to provide proof that the infrastructure, equipment, teaching staff, programmes to be taught were of a standard comparable to accredited institutions. The Swaziland Christian University was, in addition, to provide proof that the Swaziland Nursing Council had approved its programmes of study. Unfortunately, all this was to happen before the university opened its doors. However, Government is in discussion with the Swaziland Christian University on how best to restore these outstanding issues.

9. A citizen of Swaziland has been arrested and held illegally in
Zimbabwe by police who defied a court order for her release. Has the Government of Swaziland been in contact with its counterpart in Zimbabwe for an explanation of the incident.

Every country has its laws, Zimbabwe is a sovereign state and the country cannot interfere on the Zimbabwean judicial processes. Moreover, there is nothing official received by Government on the matter.

10. A video and nude pictures of a Swaziland diplomat based in Europe has been circulating in the social media platforms. Government committed to investigate the incident. What was the outcome of the investigation. Have any measures been taken to correct the reputation of the country damaged by the incident?

Investigations were undertaken and the matter has since been put to rest and appropriate actions were taken which we believe will address the country’s image.

11. The Minister of Works announced he was undertaking a forensic audit of staff of the ministry who are enjoying a standard of living not consistent with their official incomes. Can His Excellency update us on the outcome of the investigation.

I have been assured that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport is still formulating its submission for consideration and approval by Cabinet.

12. Construction of new infrastructure at the Royal Jozini Big Six continues. Recalling that three years ago the Minister of Commerce announced that the project had been stopped. Was the suspension lifted? Can His Excellency update us on the status of the development?

Government is not aware of the lifting of suspension.

13. In the aftermath of the horse meat scandal in Europe, a South African university undertook an assessment of the content of processed meat in South Africa and found an assortment of disturbing items, including donkey meat. Is His Excellency aware if a similar assessment was conducted in Swaziland, given that donkeys were recently slaughtered in the Manzini region.

Government has always endeavoured to ensure that food consumed in the country is safe and wholesome, particularly food that is retailed. Several Government systems work hand in hand to achieve this noble outcome, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, City and Town Councils and to mention a few.

One such system is the Veterinary Services which follows the health of animals generally from birth up to the slaughter process. At the dip tank of origin animals (cattle, Goats, etc) are certified healthy by the Veterinary Assistant prior to transportation to the abattoir. During transportation the animals are accompanied by Stock Removal Permits (emapasi) which ensures traceability. The slaughtering process is supervised by inspectors from the Municipalities, Ministry of Health or Veterinary Services. Therefore it is highly unlikely that meat from non food animals such as donkeys can be introduced in the case of Swaziland.

Food of animal origin imported from other countries is controlled through the Veterinary Import Permit System and it is inspected at arrival by the Veterinary Public Health Services. Import permits are only issued for food of animal origin processed in approved ‘Export Registered Establishments’ at the country of origin. Also all consignments are accompanied by Veterinary Public Health Certificates, issued by the Competent Authority of the country of origin, certifying that the meat/food is derived from healthy food animals, processed safely and packed & stored appropriately and therefore fit for human consumption. Such international trade is guided by the International Standards set by the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) and the CODEX Alimentarius, an organ of the World Health Organization dealing with Food safety. The Veterinary and Food Safety principles applied to export Swazi beef to the European Union and Norway are the same principles applied to import meat and other food of animal origin into the country.

14. The Sikhuphe Airport was expected to be handed over to Government at the end of March to start the process of testing and ICAO accreditation. Can His Excellency update us on the status of the airport.

The handover of the facility started before the end of March. The facilities that were handed over initially included the fuel farm, the fire station building and control tower. The handover of the terminal building has not yet been concluded pending security checks but an inspection has already been conducted.

For the past three months Government has been working together with the contractors in conducting tests, training and preparing for the accreditation and licensing process. In a nutshell, the facility is ready for use barring some few works which are still being completed.

15. Communities that were moved and compensated to make way for road construction, especially on the Matsapha to Manzini Highway and the Siteki to Mhlumeni road, are still occupying premises for which they were compensated.  Since many of these structures are clearly obviously encroaching on the road reserve, what are the considerations that have prevented Government from enforcing the law.

Government is not aware that communities which were moved and compensated for the road construction of the above mentioned roads are still occupying structures that they were compensated for. There are no structures encroaching to the road reserves of both roads as you may be aware that the road reserve especially for Matsapha to Manzini freeway is fenced. However we know of one building in Siteki which is close to the road which now belongs to the Swaziland Government.

16. What is the legal position regarding the sale of concession land. What is Government advice to people who have been sold concession land either on its own or adjoining title deed land.  

 

In accordance with the King’s order in Council of 1973, all existing Land Concessions exist at the will and pleasure of the King. In a nutshell, therefore, Land Concessions cannot be sold unless permitted by the King. People who have been sold Concession Land should demand back their money. Concession Land cannot be sold but only the improvements on such land could be sold.