Swaziland is riddled with corruption in both private
and public places, according
to a new report.
Public officials take bribes to avoid regulations and
the law, it states.
‘The results of grand corruption are there for all to
see in the ever increasing wealth of high-level civil servants and officers of
state,’ the report from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA)
states.
It adds, ‘For a long time the police, the Ministry of
Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade as well as the Department
of Customs and Excise have often been implicated in corrupt practices.’
It gives many examples including the case of the
government propaganda organisation Swaziland Broadcasting and Information
Service (SBIS) where E 1.6 million (US$120,000) was paid to service providers for
the maintenance of a machine that was neither broken nor in use. The officer who authorised the bogus job
cards has since been promoted and transferred to another government department.
The report called The
effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies in Southern Africa
states, ‘This type of behaviour is common albeit covert and therefore difficult
to monitor as goods and services are undersupplied or rerouted for personal
use. The results of grand corruption are there for all to see in the ever
increasing wealth of high-level civil servants and officers of state.’
It adds, ‘It has been suggested that Swaziland has no
less than 31 millionaires who are junior government officials. In 2005, the
then minister of finance Majozi Sithole estimated that corruption was costing
the Swazi economy approximately E40 million a month.’
The report authored by Maxine Langwenya states, ‘Poor
people who suffer as a result of corruption took the minister’s statement as
confirmation of the extent to which the country was being driven to bankruptcy
through corrupt activities. The corrupt public officials thought the minister
was exaggerating the extent of corruption while academics were sceptical of the
statement as the minister did not provide a basis for his assertion.
‘The minister’s statement was significant in so far as
it highlighted the fact that the economy of the country was being undermined by
corrupt activities.’
The report states, ‘In the past, ministers have been
found by a parliamentary select committee to have acted in a manner that is
tantamount to theft of state property. The ministers had allocated themselves
and subsequently “bought” land belonging to the state at ridiculously low
prices without competing with other would-be buyers. The land was given to the
ministers at below market value.’
The matter was never pursued by the Anti-Corruption
Commission.
The report goes on, ‘In 2015 Judge Mpendulo Simelane
stated that he had been approached by the former Minister of Justice Sibusiso
Shongwe and told that judges could and should make money from cases over which
they presided. The then Minister of Justice is then said to have asked the
Judge to preside in a case of wealthy business people who were suing the
Swaziland Revenue Authority for goods they had imported. The then Minister is
said to have told the Judge that the business people were willing to pay about E2
million for help in winning the case.
‘Shongwe suggested that Simelane should preside in the
case and explained how the E2 million would be shared between the parties.
Simelane and Shongwe were subsequently arrested by the Anti-Corruption
Commission and charged with corruption but charges were subsequently dropped
against Simelane. Simelane remains on suspension while Shongwe is presently out
on bail. This case illustrates how the Swazi justice system was abused to
settle political scores and make it complicit with the actions of corrupt
public officials.’
See also
EX-JUSTICE MINISTER ARRESTED AGAIN
‘SWAZI EX-JUSTICE MINISTER TOOK
BRIBE’
ANTI-CORRUPTION DEPUTY CHARGED
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