Africa-Press – Eswatini. This post elections period has brought to the fore a number of issues about the Tinkhundla system, the fierce jostling for positions and government business ,which increasingly features too many common actors.
We cannot dismiss it as mere coincidence that some of those jostling for political appointments, from an unprecedented sense of entitlement, are also associated with businesses and individuals who are either jostling to increase their share or dominance of government business. Perhaps we need to first look at what characterises a state capture, Anne Mette Kjaer, writing for the Britannica states the following;
‘’…many commentators argued that business represents a very strong power system – far stronger than other social group or institutions – that challenges and threatens to dominate public power. The term capture describes how public bureaucracies had become dominated by strong and powerful interest groups.’’
The dominance of our politics by a certain few ,some argue, has gone beyond just being subtle but has become an arrogant expression of entitlement and power.
The paralyses of public institutions, entrusted with fighting corruption, in the face of thinly veiled corrupt practices in the ongoing jostling for power is in itself evidence of a state of affairs that is perilously close to a state capture.
And of course, there is the uniquely African character in state capture as seen in the South African experience, the presence of foreign players both as individuals and businesses.
Because the state capture issue has a direct adverse effect on the image of the country,we need to start with exploring how the world sees us; in fact, that has to form part of the new government’s strategy, the issue of the country’s image.
We then proceed to look at the emergence of an elite class that wants and enjoys political power/influence, but finds the democratic processes too degrading for their egos.
We do need to consider, seriously, how this class is almost demanding appointments from authorities by their intense expectations and conduct; this is the elite class and their associates, that are raising our fears of a state capture.
How does the world see us?
The critical question of how the world sees us and how we want the world to see us should be one of our major preoccupations for both diplomatic and business reasons.
In fact, the almost unquestioning sympathy enjoyed by progressive radicals from the international community has more to do with how the world sees us.
These are the descriptions/narratives that always accompany stories told about our country; we are described as the world only surviving monarch; a country where over 60 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line; a country that is one of the most unequal in the world; a country where corruption is pervasive, etc.
This is the image the world has of us ,and we need to ask ourselves if this is how we want to be seen, and what is contributing to this clearly distorted image.
The prevailing controversy surrounding this post elections period seem to suggest our political will and intent to change this distorted image is weak.
We can’t afford to have processes meant to build a new government to be compromised by the questionable conduct of those seeking political office. The new government has the daunting task of packaging the country in a manner that convincingly disproves the current distorted image, this image has not been persuasively challenged by previous governments. It must concern us that the cause of this disheartening image ,as described by the international community ,is mismanagement of funds – this is exactly where the issue of the state capture is of serious relevance.
The elite’s increasing power
The existence of a political elite that has attached itself to our traditional headquarters ,it is argued, is no longer an issue of political conjecture but a fact.
A long list of former and aspiring politicians has been identified, its individuals with serious political ambitions but who all share an unprecedented sense of entitlement for political appointment; it’s a group of individuals whose egos does not allow them to endure the humbling democratic process of contesting for public office through the ballot box.
It would be no exaggeration to say our traditional headquarters is currently under siege as this elite exerts pressure/demand for political appointments.
Political appointments were constitutional designed to accommodate sectors that after the elections process may be under represented, as well as accommodate the group of individuals that are barred ,because of their positions, from contesting in an election – these are chiefs and princes.
These barred individuals are now being pushed to the periphery ,the chiefs and princes who may wish to be part of the legislature are suffering unacceptable marginalisation – as they can’t participate as candidates in the election and now the only avenue available to them, appointment, has become a fiercely contested terrain as the elite seek to monopolise this avenue.
When individuals with more than enough resources to successfully make a bid for political office through the ballot box choose to evade this process in preference of appointments, that constitutes an expectation that weighs heavier than an ordinary wish held by a humble prince or chief; the weightier expectation and strong sense of entitlement constitute a demand that can only prevail under state capture conditions.
The elite is also a liability for the Tinkhundla system because it is politically disconnected from the people, however much they can distort the political processes, the democratic principles remain adamantly the same – people in political positions must have a constituency, which is generated by years of selling one`s ideas or vision to the people it weakens the Tinkhundla system to have prominent politicians ,whose prominence entirely derives from their opportunistic attachment to traditional authorities.
List of Sibaya panelists; whilst we should commend innovative mechanisms meant to enrich the deliberations at the Sibaya, we do need to be better informed about how such a list is put together, what criteria is used to pick the panelists.
Facilitators in such national gatherings must exercise transparency to allay our fears that the inclusion of certain individuals is actually a manifestation of the influence and extent of state capture. The leadership call for facilitators at that level is for nothing short of excellence and absolute integrity, the very survival of the Tinkhundla system depends on that.
Our country is modest in size and as such its not too difficult to know people of influence from the various sectors of our society and economy, people with a national footprint would greatly enrich the Sibaya deliberations as panelists.
Lucrative government tenders
concentrated in fewer hands
Some of the names mentioned in the political space in terms of jostling for political office, are either directly or indirectly involved or benefitting from doing business with government; businesses enjoying disproportionately more government business are alleged to be sponsoring certain individuals vying for political office ,whilst the sponsoring of candidates may not be controversial per se, it does raise serious questions when the sponsors are enjoying lucrative government tenders.
The concentration of government tenders on fewer hands across the most lucrative sectors ,pharmaceuticals and construction, does raise legitimate questions; it really gets weirder when the directorship of these companies, again just as in the state capture experience of South Africa, are in fact in foreign hands.
The recent mapping and discovery of natural resources like gold, cobalt, diamonds ,etc. is a welcome blessing and relief to our economic prospects; but this discovery could prove to be a curse if the trend prevailing public procurement will extend to our budding mining sector, with the same few players using their influence to acquire mining licenses, again that’s exactly the trend that was exposed by the state capture commission headed by justice Zondo in South Africa.
As we seek to diversify our economy ,and begin to tap on the national resources, the country needs to be stronger on the issue of equity and anti-corruption. Bodies entrusted with detecting and prosecuting corruption need to be totally revamped and be led by people who understand the significance of such institutions to our economy and to the credibility of the Tinkhundla system.
The fears that even our budding mining sector will fall into the hands of the cabal are not without cause, the government needs to ensure that licensing processes are conducted with absolute integrity and transparency.
The association of corruption with the Tinkhundla system needs to be speedily corrected, our politicians must demonstrate the necessary political will to tackle corruption and thus redeem the esteem of the system; failure to restore or strengthen the capacity of the government and her relevant institutions to fight corruption inevitable leads to the conclusion that indeed state institutions have been paralysed by the influence of those profiting from doing business with government and currently feared to be spreading their tentacles to our budding mining sector.
The fears of a growing state capture must concern all of us, the signs cannot be ignored that indeed there is are few names and companies that are enjoying a disproportionate influence in doing business with the state.
The tendency of such cabals to opportunistically attach themselves to authorities presents an unacceptable risk to irreparably damage the esteem of our traditional authorities and institutions.
The possibility of the specter of wholesale state capture is too serious to be taken lightly ,however remote it may appear to others.
The most formidable and enduring accusation against the Tinkhundla system, as argued by progressives, is its structural inability to deal with corruption, because, it is claimed, the corrupt cabals enjoy too much political patronage.
This means the very existence of the Tinkhundla system has been put in serious peril by this cabal/s, the government needs to immediately disentangle and disengage itself from any suspicions of susceptibility to cabal/s control and manipulation.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
