A NATION AWAITS ...

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As the nation braces itself for the State of the Nation address by His Majesty the King tomorrow, the days leading towards this event have not been shy to expose the level of damage caused by the mismanagement of our economy by the previous government.

Just about every public sector has a story to tell of its struggles to get by and how this is negatively impacting on our people. Adding to the books and food shortages in some schools are reported food and cleaning equipment shortages in the already drug-undersupplied hospitals, as well as power disconnections for unpaid bills in government offices. 

Government is not the only bad debtor as EEC is reportedly owed E110 million by customers countrywide, which speaks to the greater challenge of lack of cash in pocket for many citizens.
Water shortages in some government offices have left an unbearable smell that has forced members of the public to plug their noses while attending cases at the Mbabane Magistrates Court. 

Elsewhere, the derelict state of some of government buildings that lack proper maintenance, forced staff from the audit department to move their work benches to outside the building due to an unbearable odour from unfixed sewer pipes.
 Theirs, however, may not be as devastating as the job losses in the sugar, construction and transport industries reported over the past weeks.

These undesirable developments - and more - place greater urgency on the new government to turn things around.
In all fairness, there have been positive steps taken by the new guard towards curtailing wasteful expenditure and we await with keen interest its grand strategic plan that will pave the way to a much-needed economic recovery sooner rather than later. Despite all the doom and gloom, we take our hats off to some civil servants who remain true to their calling by digging deep into their own pockets to purchase essentials, like the cleaning detergents for Hlatikhulu Government Hospital - just to ensure that sickly patients at least have a hygienic environment in which to recuperate. This characteristic is drastically lacking in the civil service and has the potential to derail any form of strategic roadmap if not attended to.

For the Mandvulo Dlamini-led government, a little can go a long way by creating a culture that rewards service before self and he can start by simply recognising and reimbursing the sacrifice of these Hlatikhulu hospital workers.

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