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ARE WE EXPERIENCING ECONOMIC CRISES?

10/08/2017 03:18:00 By Vusi Kunene

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WE have a Ministry of Economic Planning in this country but it seems we are always suffering economic crises. Why is this so? Is the ministry not doing its work?

Why then are we paying the minister and staff of this ministry if they are failing to do their work? Why is Cabinet silent with regard to the failure of the minister and staff? Would we be wrong to hold the whole Cabinet liable under collective responsibility? Or the ministry is doing its work but some people are not listening to the advice given by the ministry? This also goes to the controlling officers of the ministries who are always facing economic challenges when it comes to implementation. Are the controlling officers the ones failing in their work or is it because they are not given enough support?

What prompted these questions are the challenges that are faced by our government. This again has forced me to comment on a current issue. The non-payment or failure by government to give the elderly their grants is what necessitated this article. When the elderly are denied what belongs to them, it is a cause for concern to everyone. I will not take it lightly that government has said there is no money to pay the elderly who were to get their first grants this year. It is even worse when we are told that government does not know how many they were. That is what also led me to ask if our government does take advice from others. We have a population census at certain intervals and government has the data.

They need not worry about how many people will reach 60 years that year because we have that information not only in the census report but with the introduction of identity documents, government can have that information with just a click of a keyboard.
With a Ministry of Economic Planning that has qualified people, my opinion is that these officers should be able to make projections and advice government on how the economy will play out in the future. Government will then not be in a situation of failing to pay the grants of the elderly. That is why I am of the opinion that our government does not take or listen to the advice given by this ministry. If it does consult the ministry then the minister and his staff should go home as they have failed in their duties.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Home Affairs has been failing to provide travelling documents to the nation and thus violating their right of liberty and movement. The explanation we got was that there were financial challenges in this ministry. In my opinion this is not supposed to happen as we have a Ministry of Economic Planning and that of Finance. As this has happened, does it mean this ministry did not seek advice on its finances or the Ministry of Economic Planning did not plan accordingly?

We also have a number of projects that are ongoing in the country and I wonder if the Ministry of Economic Planning had a say on those and whether their advice was adhered to if they did give advice. This is in reference to the structure built in Ezulwini that necessitated Parliament to approve a loan that was needed to finish that structure. If we have some other facilities next to that structure that are struggling to do a similar business, was the advice the ministry gave sound? If sound why are the other structures next to it failing to sustain themselves?

We are time and again importing food from neighbouring countries and failing to produce enough for ourselves. I do not want to go to the effects of the drought we experienced and its devastating consequences but my point is on whether the ministry gave advice to government on such? If it did give advice, is it what government is implementing? This question is raised by the fact that in our national budget we are not providing enough for agriculture yet there is a lot of revenue going out to obtain food from outside the country.

At the same time the population is growing; will we be giving more to our neighbouring countries instead of planning to produce our own? Why are we failing to utilise what we have and produce our own food. We have arable land and idle farms that could be utilised to produce food for the country to sustain it. I am of the opinion that it is the Ministry of Economic Planning that should shape the economy of the country moving forward; I am sure they have experts to do that.