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THIS NATION IS LUCKY TO AVERT DISASTER

15/12/2016 09:50:00 By Burns Dlamini

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WHEN you read about the litany of blunders we are given to making financially, as country, and how we continue to seemingly hold it together thereafter, one cannot help but feel like thanking our lucky stars for the continuous dogging of these disasters - disasters that we unwittingly create ourselves; perpetually.

The blunders we are given to making financially seem to be increasing by the day. First it was a plane for Royal Swazi Airways that was acquired amid protests by many of us questioning the feasibility of this undertaking. I mean, we have had an airline in this country, remember ‘Lijubantsendzele’ that dismally failed, leading to the Forkers (F28 and F100) being disposed off for a song!
And now we have a sparkling new plane docked at KM III International Airport, lying idle there just because the airline management has been running around frantically trying to have it licenced.

And the question we ask, how on earth did this parastatal acquire a plane, have it delivered without sorting out licensing formalities? Is this a case of putting the cart before the horse? Parliament is asking the right questions on this at this time, however, in hindsight, I wish they had questioned the feasibility of the venture in the first place; because from where I am sitting, viability remains doubtful. I hope for our sakes I am wrong here. SWACAA and the airline need to get their act together here and make this work!

And now we learn that a E212 million loan has been signed for another referral hospital in Manzini. Wonderful! But why are we so desperate for another referral hospital now that we have one in Siteki?
And the biggest surprise is not so much in that this loan was taken out without Parliament’s sanction, but that the minister continues to deny ever committing the country on this one. Why the secrecy on this one? Something is fishy here, requiring investigation because, whichever way you look at it, there is no going back on this one as Parliament will, in all certainty, ratify this decision. This was but a travesty, the kind that would only happen in this country.

And to hear that a horrendous E2.1billion was spent on the SADC summit is hair raising! What makes this scary is that they may well have been no budget for it, or if any, the expenditure was way over what would have been budgeted initially. And to hear that included in it was E21million for new state-of-the art BMWs acquired, only to be sold for a song after three days’ usage to a select few seems to suggest that this was not well thought out.
And the questions we ask, why buy cars that would be used for three days instead of hiring? The dealership, I believe, also did not advise government appropriately, if we are to be told government has had to now sell the vehicles at a loss, because they were sold significantly lower than the market value, for a song, casting much doubt on the transparency of those transactions.

The close to a billion Emalangeni freeway, Manzini-Mbhadlane-Hlane, still hangs in the balance, with the Minister of Public Works and Transport only willing to say government would be finding the money. And the scary thing here is that we will be in for a shock in cost escalations, as is common in these projects, more so, if the ministry is unsure about the extent of the funding shortfall for the project.
And to hear of the E5.1 billion reportedly missing or unaccounted for in the coffers of government, sends shivers down the spine. And what is disconcerting is that there doesn’t appear to be the panic that would be commensurate with the magnitude of this problem as government has not indicated to be vigorously pursuing this one with the zeal that befits it.

Amid all these, is the fact that we continue to rely heavily on SACU receipts that have the attendant threat of being curtailed - something that has been said time and time again. And this, as has been mooted this year, is going to be reduced, with the result that our financial traumas as a country will be heightened.
That this country has not hit rock bottom of disastrous proportions like that in Zimbabwe and to have averted a disaster can only be a matter of time if we continue on this path.