SWAZILAND IS ‘NEARLY INSOLVENT’

THE DECLINE in receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which last year accounted for 70 percent of the Swaziland government’s revenue, is threatening the national treasury’s solvency, according to the Central Bank of Swaziland’s annual review of economic indicators, according to Business Report, South Africa.

A poorly performing economy also offers little reason to hope for alternative income sources, it adds.



‘Estimates for 2010/11 indicate a worsening position with the overall budget deficit projected to reach 13 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The negative turnaround in the fiscal position is the result of a 62 percent fall in SACU receipts,’ said Martin Dlamini, Central Bank governor.

To read the full Business Report click here.

ZUMA AIDS SWAZI KING CLAMPDOWN

The autocratic King Mswati III of Swaziland, bolstered by his invitation and the official reception he received at the inauguration of South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma last weekend, has ordered a clampdown on Swazi trade unionists and other prodemocracy activists.



That, according to leading South African newspaper Business Report, is the view of leading Swazi activists, as police raids continued this week.

It says, although there appears to have been no mention in South Africa's media, exiled activists and unionists in the kingdom report numerous raids in which the police have seized any material - including T-shirts - calling for an end to the feudal monarchy.



‘They are reacting to the fact that the democracy advocates called for Mswati not to be invited to President Jacob Zuma's inauguration,’ Jan Sithole, the general secretary of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions told the newspaper.

To see the full report click here.