The incubated crisis within the Eswatini Revenue Service(ERS) triggered by Government’s decision to reduce the revenue institution’s budget,is slowly impacting negatively to the country’s fiscal and by extension, socio-economic development.
That institution was created by among others, then then Commissioner General Dumsani Masilela,the then Board Chairperson Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini and the then Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole, of course, with assistance from the International Monetary Fund(IMF).
Well, they were not acting in their individual capacity but they were working for Government and therefore, the leaders of Cabinet at the time, understood the significance of this institution and provided the necessary support.
I am mentioning this because having interacted with these highly regarded professionals at personal and professional level as a journalist, I was privileged to fully understand the significance of this institution in any country.
This is an institution that collects tax to fund Government operations including payment of salaries for civil servants, one day we might receive breaking news suggesting that, even police officers and soldiers were not paid their salaries due to insufficient funds and, that would be the end of the Tinkhundla undemocratic regime.
Personally,I am not against the collection of taxes because a Government cannot function without taxes but, vigorously opposed to the looting of taxpayers money by the powerful and politically connected for self-enrichment.
The Eswatini Revenue Service was one of the best when it comes to customer service, paying tax is not a thrilling thing but, their customer service would motivate one to pay tax and voluntary comply.
Now, a highly critical institution is being sabotaged,maybe Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg will one day address the Nation and explain why he reduced the budget for the revenue authority.
Clearly,I am failing to understand the logical approach in financially suffocating the revenue authority and, what Cabinet and/or Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg seeks to achieve with this.
While analysing the National Budget,I identified a significant increase in projects that does not add any value to the socio-economic development of this country, this include the renovation of Palaces for King Mswati, the chief consumer of our taxes who is immune to taxation.
Therefore, if Neal Rijikernberg concluded that, it’s in the best interest of this country to increase a budget for Mswati and other useless project like the International Convention Centre(ICC) and Five Star Hotel(FISH), while on the other hand, the State human resources that collect tax being employees of the revenue authority, struggle to receive a significant salary increase and bonuses, that would mean the Finance Minister is not fit for the position and, must be removed.
But I know that Rijikernberg is facing challenges as well, it’s not easy to work with the King because Mswati, perceive Government as a cash cow even when told that, the economy is not doing well.
But apart from those challenges,Neal Rijikernberg might have his own interests in suffocating the revenue institution.
As a businessman, I cannot expect the Finance Minister to be in support of the Eswatini Revenue Service because capitalists by their nature, always strive to generate more revenue and, one of their strategies is the manipulation of accounting systems to declare less taxable profits.
But having said that, we cannot selectively blame the Finance Minister, this Cabinet is dominated by capitalists and I can imagine the current Commissioner General Brightwell Nkambule who is visibly and proven to be intellectually weak,being grilled by the capitalists in Cabinet when summoned to conduct a presentation on his proposed budget.
The revenue institution cannot be led by a weak individual like Brightwell Nkambule,that man even when he walks, by merely looking at at him, it’s like he is tired and walking in his sleep.
The crisis within the revenue institution suggests that Nkambule is clearly failing to take on the capitalists in Cabinet and tell them in no uncertain terms, to approve a significant budget for the revenue institution, to among others, fund decent, motivational salaries and bonus for the staff.
As a leader of an institution that serves the public,you must never be easily intimidated particularly if you are leading a critical institution, critics and attempts to sabotage you will always be there but, Nkambule should be acting in the best interest of the institution he serves.
Indeed,some of those lunatics and capitalists in Cabinet know nothing about the significance of the revenue institution, they are only there to enjoy salaries and of course,to steal before they vacate office.
We might blame the Finance Minister or Cabinet but to me,the current Commissioner General is very weak, he is the one who must go to Hospital Hill to hunt and come back with ‘meat’ for his children so that, they cannot work in hungry stomachs as this, might compromise them.
In conclusion,let me state categorically that,the revenue institution is collapsing as employees are demotivated, this is a serious threat to the economy and the country’s fiscal.
The ERS Headquarters.