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GOVT SPENDS OVER E100M ON BORDER COMMITTEE

28/01/2024 16:51:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

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MBABANE – In the coming weeks, it is anticipated that His Majesty King Mswati III will appoint governing councils, widely referred to as emabandla.

These councils are appointed to advise both His Majesty King Mswati III and Her Majesty the Indlovukazi on different national issues. While they all have crucial mandates, it is the Border Determination Special Committee (BDSC) that stands out, due to the nature of the work that it is appointed for. For 28 years, such a structure has been assembled to push the country’s quest to ‘right’ a historical ‘wrong’ by clamouring for an adjustment of its boundaries with South Africa. The mandate, however, has not come cheap, as it has cost the taxpayer over E100 million in the close to three decades since the committee was brought to the fore. With close to 30 years gone, the question is whether the taxpayer must continue forking out money for this type of project.

divided

The territory Eswatini wants back is divided into three sections. KaNgwane which extends up to 40km from Eswatini’s west to northeast border, fitting like a cap over the country’s northern area. Ngwavuma, if reacquired by Eswatini, would return the kingdom to its original location on the Indian Ocean. Eswatini would no longer be a landlocked country, but would encompass what is now South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province south from the Mozambique Border to Lake Sibaya. A 65km by 30km banana-shaped strip, the Nsikazi area, is not contiguous with Eswatini or the other disputed lands and extends north from the White River in South Africa’s northern Mpumalanga Province.

reunited

Prince Khuzulwandle, the first chairperson of the committee, would now and again reiterate that the aforementioned land belonged to emaSwati and that most of them on that land longed to be reunited with the rest of the Eswatini population. History dictates that British miners and Boer farmers laid claim to the Eswatini territory in the late 19th century. By 1902, Britain had portioned off large sections of land previously ruled by Eswatini kings into the Boer Republic of Transvaal (today’s Mpumalanga Province) and Britain’s Natal Province, leaving the landlocked rump that today remains as the Kingdom of Eswatini. It is believed that about twice as many emaSwati live in these areas of South Africa, as in Eswatini itself, whose current population is under one million. During his 60-year reign, King Sobhuza continuously sought territorial reunification. South Africa’s apartheid regime cooperated in the 1980s, in an attempt to prove to the world it had an ally in a black African State.

agreement

Pretoria wanted to use Eswatini as a ‘Bantustan’ homeland, of which all South African emaSwati would become citizens, wherever they lived, thus making them legal aliens in the country of their birth. It was reported that a government-to-government agreement was nearly concluded in 1982, but the KwaZulu Legislature successfully sued to block the land transfer.
King Mswati sought to revive border adjustment talks upon South Africa’s democratisation in 1994. Both countries formed border adjustment committees and the one for Eswatini gets to be appointed once in every five years together with other King’s advisory councils.

1996-2008

It was in 1994 when His Majesty King Mswati III announced the formation of the committee and further appointed its chairperson, the late Prince Khuzululwandle. In 1996, the prince and members of the committee got down to business. During its earlier stages, the members, who are usually between 10 and 14 in number, earned a meager E4 000 each and there were calls to have their salaries increased. The E4 000 each meant that more or less E60 000 was spent on them on a monthly basis in salaries. However, it was made public that the exact budget for the committee stood at E3 million per year. It should be noted that around 2003, it was reported that the Kingdom of Eswatini was growing impatient, as it was not getting a response from SA.

In particular, it was argued that Eswatini had commitments in the past from SA governments, most notably Nelson Mandela, that the matter would be resolved. However, upon assumption of presidential duties by Thabo Mbeki, the process to reclaim land slowed down. The committee then got busy with royal functions in the Mpumalanga provinces and organising that province’s chiefs to attend Incwala and other ceremonies in the country. At the time, Prince Khuzulwandle lamented how His Majesty King Mswati III had reiterated his desire to see all emaSwati reunited and was concerned that they had waited for over a century to bring their sisters and brothers back into the fold under his leadership. As the years went by, calls to have the salaries of the members increased were made and this led to the budget being increased. It is estimated that during this period, over E20 million of taxpayers’ money was spent on the project.

2008-2013

By the late 2000s, each member of the committee earned more than E20 000. By 2011, in particular, the members were earning E23 620, while the chairperson took home a monthly basic salary of E38 094 and this excluded a stipulated daily sitting allowance of E259. In total, each member took home E29 789 in total and this included about E6 149 meant for commuted car allowance.

2013-2018

With Prince Khuzulwandle having passed away the previous year, His Majesty King Mswati III then appointed Prince Guduza towards the end of 2013, to head the committee. At the time, the prince was appointed together with his biological sister (share same mother) Princess Elizabeth. Other members of the 14-member committee included Canon Mandla Dlamini, Chief Bhejisa Lushaba, Olga Malinga and Mabili Dlamini, the deputy. During this period, the welfare of the committee members was to be taken care of in accordance with Finance Circular No. 2 of 2013, which replaced the once controversial Finance Circular No.1 of 2010. Based on Finance Circular No.2 of 2013, each member of the committee was paid a salary a basic salary of E50 093, which means collectively, they earned E620 217 per month, while the deputy chairperson was paid a basic salary of E50 659.

On the other hand, the basic salary remunerated to Prince Guduza, in his capacity as chairperson, stood at E55 659. This was for the period between 2013 and 2018 and this means that for those five years in office, government spent around E37 million. The highlights of their term include how in 2014 the late King of the Zulu, Goodwill Zwelithini, reportedly made intentions to claim the land that Eswatini was trying to reclaim from SA. At the time, it was claimed that King Zwelithini and KwaZulu-Natal’s traditional leaders were planning to file the largest land claim, where they wanted rights to the land that made up the entire Zulu Kingdom.

2018-now

From 2018 to now, the committee has been headed by Prince David and it has some of the members who were there even in the previous term. In fact, some of them have been there for 15 years, among them is Bheka Mabuza, who is the secretary. Since they are being paid according to the old Finance Circular No. 2 of 2013, it is believed that their remuneration will also be around E37 million. One of the highlights during this term was witnessed in early 2020, when the committee gave feedback that in an effort to speed up the process, they had met with Basotho Lead-Petitioners in Ezulwini to share notes on the matter. The committee issued a statement to the effect that the two parties had exchanged information, in particular the historical background about how both countries lost their land to the settlers and the role played by their coloniser, the Great Britain.

It was mentioned that the two countries also exchanged information about developments and progress made in reference to their quest to have boundaries adjusted with their neighbours.
Basotho Lead-Petitioners is an organisation of men and women who are demanding the return of the Basotho land. Also, it was reported that the Basotho Lead- Petitioners also shared information of their contacts with Britain through the British High Commission in Pretoria and other key stakeholders on this very important issue. Further, the statement states that the Basotho delegation shared that the South African government had reneged on a promise made by former President Nelson Mandela in 1995, who had promised that the Republic of South Africa would form a committee to address the issue of land and borders with the Kingdom of Lesotho.

adjustment of borders

The parties also committed themselves to continue with an exchange of information, as they pursued their quest for the return of the land for their respective countries and adjustment of borders. Meanwhile, judging from how things have penned out previously, most of the members stand a chance of being re-appointed for yet another term of office. In previous years, all that has happened was the replacement of some who had either passed away or were deployed to other national duties or commitments. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Eswatini is not the only country that has made attempts to reclaim part of South African land. A few months ago, the parliamentarians of the Kingdom of Lesotho debated a motion to reclaim large parts of SA forcibly seized by the apartheid government.

According to BBC Africa, the bold move was made by an opposition MP who wanted to declare the Free State and parts of four other provinces ‘Lesotho’s territory. It was stated that the people of Lesotho lived in these areas until the 19th century, when they were seized by the apartheid government, according to the claim. Many Basotho continue to live in SA.