BY MBONGENI NDLELA
LOBAMBA – The political will and financial commitment towards holding a national dialogue has been clearly displayed by Government and the country’s authorities.
While some had expressed concern that the dialogue would not take place, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg has followed up on the Speech from the Throne delivered by His Majesty King Mswati III ON February 4, 2022 by announcing a budget of E22 million towards the exercise.
This announcement was made on Friday, February 17, 2022, by the minister when tabling the 2022/2023 budget speech in the House of Assembly.
Rijkenberg stated that His Majesty had called on all EmaSwati to constructively engage in the national dialogue, within the framework provided by the kingdom’s Constitution and Sibaya, which is the ultimate consultative and decision-making forum of all EmaSwati.
“As our society and economic activity resumes post-COVID-19, the Nation now has the opportunity for this dialogue to resume. Government have set aside E22 million in this year’s budget for the Sibaya National Dialogue,” the finance minister said in the earlier parts of his speech.
He again addressed the issue of the dialogue towards the conclusion of the speech by reiterating His Majesty’s call on all EmaSwati to engage in the Sibaya to find the best way forward and ensure that the tragedies that were experienced during the past year were never repeated.
“In order to achieve this, we need an all-inclusive process that will allow everyone to be heard. We need to reflect on our words and put aside our weapons. We need to focus on healing rather than hurting, reconciliation rather than conflict and unity in directing our efforts towards common goals of peace and prosperity and a better life for all EmaSwati,” Rijkenberg said.
By the tragedies that were experienced in the past year, the minister was referring to the civil unrest witnessed between June and July 2021 where public and private properties were destroyed and lives were lost when security agencies came in to squash the unprecedented countrywide mayhem.
The minister noted that the past year 2021 was the most difficult for the Eswatini Nation as it had to bear with the tragic loss of life and destruction of property from the unprecedented domestic civil unrest on top of the disproportionate social and economic burden due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“We mourn our shared loss at every life lost, at every livelihood impacted and at every business damaged. We as a Nation have been grieving. The health, economic and social status of our Kingdom have been severely impacted causing immense hardship and pain. Yet, despite these seemingly insurmountable challenges, EmaSwati have continued to show their characteristic resilience,” the minister said.
He said the country and Nation were in collective pain and that the civil unrest led to the loss of life, damage to property and infrastructure and a loss of confidence and trust in Government.
Rijkenberg said the continued and sustained attacks on the country’s institutions, infrastructure and economy will severely undermine collective efforts to rebuild what has been lost.
The minister was referring to ongoing, sporadic attacks on both public and private properties such as schools and police posts which have been the target of arson attacks from unknown people who are behind calls for regime change.
“These efforts to rebuild only add to a long list of challenges that this Government has been working to mitigate,” he said.
The minister reminded that as a nation founded on peace, stability and the Rule of Law, His Majesty, in partnership with the private sector and development partners, had launched a E500 million Reconstruction Fund to compensate EmaSwati for the damage to property suffered during this civil unrest.
He encourage all qualifying affected people and companies to apply so that they could restore confidence in the country’s economy and create the jobs that are so desperately needed.
