… As former Minister Neal gets the people excited about his presentation
BY KWANELE TSABEDZE AND ANDREW DLAMINI
LUDZIDZINI – “When some people say Tinkhundla has no democracy, I tell them to come with me to Parliament to see that Eswatini actually has strong democracy.”
These were the words of former Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg when addressing the public at the panel discussions on day 4 of Sibaya people’s parliament at the Ludzidzini Royal kraal.
The former Minister was tasked with discussing issues of finance and governance in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
“The country has been overly reliant on SACU Revenues. What can we do to reduce the reliance on SACU receipts and create new sources of revenues for the country?” asked Ludzidzini Acting Governor Mashampu Khumalo.
He also requested the former Minister of Finance to discuss Tinkhundla as a system of governance.
Indeed we have found that the wage bill is too high at 42% which is the second highest in the world. However, as we worked on the issue and had a hiring freeze, we were able to take it down to 34%,” commented Rijkenberg.
The former Minister of Finance also noted that it is not viable for the Government of Eswatini to have mass retrenchments in public service, as this has been projected to have adverse social effects on the country. As such, he advised members of the public to not ever panic about such.
Rijkenberg also confirmed that indeed the country relies heavily on SACU, and the Government has created a stabilization fund, where over E1 billion has been deposited to reduce shocks to the country
The former Minister of Finance also mentioned that the best way to reduce reliance on SACU receipts is that Eswatini’s GDP growth should be to increase from 2% where it usually hovers to about 10% where we can really big impacts in developing the country.
“When some people say Tinkhundla has no democracy, I tell them to come with me to Parliament to see that Eswatini actually has strong democracy. No laws get passed without the elected parliament of Eswatini. We cannot spend any funds without consulting with different levels of Government,” revealed Rijkenberg.
The former Minister also gave a brief history lesson on how Emaswati went from British protectorate, to multiparty democracy against the people’s vote, to Tinkhundla system of Governance which the people wanted.
Speaking on Pay as You Earn tax, the former Minister of Finance explained that most countries take about 25% of tax, whereas the country takes as low as 15%. He noted that people who earn under E3000 are not taxed, and the taxes only increase when the person’s income increases as per the different tax rates for different brackets of income. Rijkenberg was answering the question in response to whether Emaswati are relatively highly taxed or not.
The former Minister also noted that the VAT was not setup to incapacitate businesses, as VAT registered businesses are reimbursed whatever they pay for VAT when making purchases.
The Minister also revealed that the Scholarship Fund budget has been increased from E360 million to E600 million. He also noted the benefits of having the fund as a loan with low rates which is only paid back once the recipient starts working. He highlighted that it is beneficial to have the Scholarship Fund set up, as Government will continue to infuse subventions of E600 million, but it will grow because beneficiaries are putting money back into the fund.
The former Minister of Finance received numerous ovations from the public at Sibaya following his submissions and how he answered the questions posed to him.
The Sibaya people’s parliament continues.
