The World Bank

1
The World Bank INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR
RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
REVIEW OF THE SWAZILAND INSTITUTIONAL AND
GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK
BY GIDEON C. M. DLAMINI SALILE CONSULTING LOT
193 NKOSELUHLAZA STREET P. O. B OX
895 MANZINI PHONE [phone] FAX (00268)
5058165 EMAIL salile_at_realnet.co.sz gideon_at_realnet
.co.sz JUNE 2008
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REPORT ON THE SWAZILAND INSTITUTIONAL AND
GOVERNANCE REVIEW

• 1. INTRODUCTION
•  
• This is a summarized version of a report on a
  World Bank funded review of the Swaziland
  institutional and governance framework. The
  review which focuses on the period between the
  countrys independence in 1968 and the year 2008
  being the year of the review, was meant to be
  both an analysis and review of the system. The
  focus of the review is on the Swaziland
  traditional institutions. It will also be
  noteworthy that at independence in 1968, the
  country had a British-Government facilitated
  constitution which was later repealed in 1973 by
  King Sobhuza II and replaced by a Kings
  Proclamation of 1973. The 1973 Kings
  Proclamation was later repealed and replaced by
  the 2006 Constitution under which, the Government
  of Swaziland has committed to the next step in
  strengthening governance and accountability by
  mandating the establishment of accountable and
  sustainable local governments across the country.
  
•  
• In preparation for the design and establishment
  of a new system of local governance, there is a
  need to define and understand local traditional
  governance systems and the nature of the
  interaction between the traditional system and
  the formal system of governance

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2. AN OVERVIEW OF SWAZILANDS POLITICAL
CONTEXT Summary Overview

• 2.1. Swaziland is a Kingdom headed by His
  Majesty King Mswati III who in terms of the
  Countrys Constitution is an Executive Monarch
  with all powers that a President Head of State
  would have. There is a Parliament constituted by
  the House of Assembly with 65 seats where 55 of
  the seats are by direct elections from the 55
  Tinkhundla (constituencies) centers and 10 seats
  are occupied by His Majesty the Kings (HMK)
  appointees largely from special groups there is
  also the House of Senate with 30 seats where 20
  of the seats are by direct appointment by His
  Majesty the King again, from special groups (at
  least 8 of which should be female) and 10 of the
  senate are elected by the House of Assembly from
  outside itself (at least 5 of which must be
  female). The system is not political party based
  as MPs are freely elected from their
  constituencies in their individual capacity and
  value to the community direct into the House of
  Assembly for a five year period.
•  

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2. AN OVERVIEW OF SWAZILANDS POLITICAL
CONTEXT Summary Overview

• 2.2 Up until three years ago, the Kingdom was
  governed by an instrument called the Kings
  Proclamation to the Nation dated 12th April 1973.
  Under this proclamation, all political parties
  were deregistered and banned together with all
  political activities and His Majesty King Sobhuza
  II assumed all legislative, executive and
  judiciary powers and ruled the country with
  traditional structures populated by Chiefs and
  Princes on the one hand and a Cabinet made up of
  a Council of Ministers appointed by him. This
  new era also gave birth to a strange but real
  dual system of Government within one and the same
  country as by design, traditionally the King
  derives and uses his royal executive strength
  through subsidiary traditional structures and
  institutions such as Chiefs. On the other hand,
  there still existed and continues to exist a
  Cabinet with a modern government setup with a
  civil service designed to operate under a normal
  government setup and was structured as such. On
  the 26th of July 2005 a new Constitution was
  introduced and implemented.
•  

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2. AN OVERVIEW OF SWAZILANDS POLITICAL
CONTEXT 2.1 Effects of the 1973 Era

• The pre-constitution political set up brought
  about four socio-economic and political legacies
• 2.1.1 Making HMK in charge of all government
  organs elevated the status of all traditional
  authorities and structures including Chiefs in a
  manner commensurate with the power, influence and
  authority of HMK at their local levels.
  Tradition by its nature is not totally aligned to
  change even in the face of a real need for
  change. This also had the effect of cementing
  traditional leadership authority influence and
  practice.
•  
• 2.1.2 A dual system of Government all under HMK
  was created in that the traditional structures
  existed side by side the modern governance
  structures headed by the Prime Minister, Cabinet
  and the Civil Service. These two systems existed
  and continue to exist independently of each other
  and were and continue to be optimized
  independently and separately at the expense of
  the other, yet using the same national resources

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2. AN OVERVIEW OF SWAZILANDS POLITICAL
CONTEXT 2.1 Effects of the 1973 Era

• 2.1.3 A situation was created whereby the
  traditional structures were given charge of all
  the countrys natural resources especially on
  Swazi Nation Land (estimated at about 70)
  including people resources. Swazi Nation Land
  (SNL) is non-title deed land which is owned by
  the King in trust for the Swazi Nation but
  delegated to the Chiefs for total administration
  and allocation free of charge to the countrys
  citizens. Chiefs on the other hand have no say
  in national governance issues and yet they have
  total control over both the natural and people
  resources especially on Swazi Nation Land where
  more than 70 of the population live.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms

• Institutional Arrangements
• A Chiefdom is the lowest and only formal local
  traditional government. Each Chiefdom is headed
  by a Chief who rules a designated local
  government area with an Inner Council called
  Bandlancane (kind of a local government authority
  at the chiefdom level). There are about four
  hundred chiefdoms country-wide.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms

• Roles and Functions
• Contrary to what obtains with the Regional
  Administration and Tinkhundla, Chiefs are
  currently empowered to pass local laws which are
  binding, allocate land, give and or withdraw
  Chiefdom citizenship, maintain law and order,
  levy fines, carry out localized development
  planning etc. They derive these powers from the
  traditional stream which recognizes them as local
  kings and are directly responsible to HMK.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Chief
•  
• The Chief is the executive head of the chiefdom.
  The position of Chief is hereditary.
  Traditionally, a typical Chief will be polygamous
  and as such the choice of a successor is chosen
  according to the standing and character of one of
  the Chiefs wives. In short, it is the women
  that are installed as queen and, on her basis,
  her son become the next Chief.
• Of note here is that a new chief is only chosen
  after his father dies. It is against Swazi
  tradition to even identify an heir while the
  Chief is still alive.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Senior Princes
•  
• These are the chief-makers who decide on who
  after the demise of a chief shall be the next
  Chief who is then recommended to the King for
  appointment. This is a body that will even
  overrule the Chief if in their view he is being
  unreasonable or making wrong or bad decisions.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Bandlancane (Inner Council)
• This is the Inner Council or executive arm of
  the chiefdom and is headed by an Indvuna. This
  is the body that has overall responsibility for
  the rule of law, peace and security of citizens,
  development, health, food security, land planning
  and management etc. The Indvuna is also the
  overall chairman of general community meetings.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Umsumphe
• Each chiefdom is divided into smaller informal
  local governments (communities) or sigodzi with
  one or more people identified by the community
  and appointed by the Chief as a Chiefs
  representative called Umsumphe in that area.
  Such a person is supposed to be belonging to a
  family tree of the oldest settlers in that
  community and basically knows the history and
  origin of all the homesteads

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Umgijimi (Chiefs Runner)
• Is a sigodzi Chiefs messenger who is appointed
  by the Chief in consultation with Bandlancane and
  Umsumphe. He carries royal messages from the
  Chief to the people and visa versa but also has
  responsibility to represent the Chief or Indvuna
  as commissioner of auth for purposes of acquiring
  personal identities, passports, birth
  certificates etc.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Emaphoyisa Emmango (Community Police)
• A recent development in the past six or so years
  has been the emergence of community police
  throughout all chiefdoms. These are identified
  by the Umsumphe and recommended to the Chief via
  Bandlancane for appointment. They play the role
  of being a community extension of the Royal
  Swaziland Police Service.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Umgcugcuteli (Community Health Motivators) 
• These are respectable individuals within a
  sigodzi who will have responsibility for health
  and social issues. In recent times these have
  been trained as counselors and caregivers on HIV
  and AIDS (prevention and caring and support) and
  also promote healthy living, caring for orphaned
  vulnerable children and the elderly including
  identification of those in most need.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Indvuna Yemajaha 
• Each chiefdom has a male regiment call Emajaha
  (male regiment) headed by an Indvuna called
  Indvuna Yemajaha. Emajaha mainly perform
  traditional ceremonies such as dances, ploughing
  of royal feels both at chiefdom and for the King
  at national level. They also look after the
  maintenance of the royal kraal. Unlike the women
  (Lutsango LwakaNgwane) this regiment has not made
  any visible attempt to mobilize itself for
  business and other life enhancing projects.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Key Participants

• Non-Governmental Organizations
•  
• Each chiefdom will have a number of
  non-governmental organizations ranging from
  religious groupings, sports, business and social
  associations, AIDS support groups, pre-school,
  orphaned and vulnerable children and the elderly
  groups etc.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Sources of
Financing

• Currently, there is no formal budget allocation
  from central government that is allocated to
  chiefdoms as chiefdoms. Chiefdoms benefit
  indirectly and directly from national programs
  such as education, health, transport, food
  security etc. The chiefdom does raise a minimum
  amount of finance from sources such as-
  Inhlawulo (Fines from small time offenders),
  Kuhkhonta (chiefdom citizenship application
  fees), Call for contributions for a development
  project such as a rural water or electricity
  supply scheme, a new school or expansion of a
  school, a clinic, a bridge, a play ground etc,
  calls for contributions are also made for the
  construction or rehabilitation of the royal
  kraal, Donations and such other sources as
  projects grants from the Inkhundla

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Chiefdoms - Quasi-legal
Responsibilities

• Unlike other local governments, a chiefdom and
  urban governments are the only local governments
  that have traditionally been allowed to pass and
  enforce bye laws that are not in conflict with
  the constitution of the time.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla

• Institutional Arrangements of an Inkhundla
• Each Region is divided into Tinkhundla centres
  (constituencies) which also facilitate elections
  of Members of Parliament and the local Inkhundla
  Government. Each Inkhundla is divided into
  Chiefdoms which also facilitate elections of the
  Inkhundla legislature/council called Bucopho.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla

• Roles and Functions of an Inkhundla
• They are used as constituencies for national and
  local government elections. They produce a
  Member of Parliament and Indvuna Yenkhundla.
• Coordination and monitoring of development
  projects for the Inkhundla
• Coordination of development planning for the
  Inkhundla
• Coordination of social grants for the elderly and
  for orphaned and vulnerable children.
• Coordination of donor funded projects from
  development partners
• Be an oversight for development projects taking
  place at chiefdoms level
• Coordination of food aid for relief
• Facilitate the issuing of birth certificates,
  personal identification cards, marriage
  certificates, death certificates, passport
  application etc.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• The People
•  
• The Inkhundla electorate has by right a lot to
  say about the political, social and economic
  activities under the Inkhundla.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• The Member of Parliament
•   The countrys political system is such that
  people including MPs are elected into public
  office on the basis of their development value to
  the community or Inkhundla. As a result, even
  though the MP is also a legislator in Parliament,
  he/she was elected on the basis of his record in
  development issues for the Inkhundla as such the
  development promises they make during campaigns
  require them to always play a full role in the
  development of the Inkhundla

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• The Indvuna Yenkhundla
• The Indvuna Yenkhundla is the political head of
  the constituency/Inkhundla. This is a political
  office which overall responsibility for the
  coordination of the Inkhundla functions. The
  Indvuna Yenkhundla also chairs the Inkhundla
  local government council.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• The Bucopho (Inkhundla Local Government Council)
•  
• Bucopho is the Inkhundla local government
  council which comprises of elected
  representatives from the chiefdoms. The Indvuna
  Yenkhundla chairs this council

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• Chiefs
•   Chiefs by virtue of the traditional powers and
  authority vested in them control all the natural
  resources under an Inkhundla such as water, land
  and vegetation. The Inkhundla has no title to
  Any land except where the Inkhundla offices are
  built but, even then, that piece of land belongs
  to one of the member chiefs only that it is
  leased to the Inkhundla

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• Development Partners
•  
• Several development partners and NGOs and
  government agencies play various development
  roles in an Inkhundla.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Key Participants
within an Inkhundla

•  
• Non-governmental Organizations Including Sports
• Several sports bodies but largely soccer form
  themselves into associations and clubs to further
  their sports interests. Several NGOs also
  continue to play a leading role in the
  development of the Inkhundla including food aid
  distribution and general oversight. Most NGOs
  and donor agencies now use Tinkhundla centres to
  coordinate local aid.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Sources of
Financing

•  
• Currently the only funding source for an
  Inkhundla is a central government allocation for
  salaries allowances, development projects and
  for incidentals. No levies are currently imposed
  by an Inkhundla on local institutions.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Tinkhundla - Quasi-legal
Responsibilities

•  
• An Inkhundla has no legislative powers currently
  and also does not have any law enforcement
  responsibilities or capacity. The new
  constitution recognizes an Inkhundla as a body
  corporate.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration

• Institutional Arrangements
• The Country is divided into four administrative
  regions namely Hhohho, Manzini, Lubombo and
  Shiselweni. Each Region is headed by a Regional
  Administrator who is a Regional Minister
  appointed by and accountable to both the Head of
  State and the Minister for Regional Development
  and Youth Affairs and is equivalent in status to
  a Deputy Minister under the Minister for Regional
  Development and Youth Affairs.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration - Key
Participants

• The Regional Administrator
•  
• The regional Administrator is the political head
  of the Region with a status of a Deputy Minister.
  He is appointed by the Head of State for a five
  year period. The Regional Administrators role
  is limited to the business of the Ministry of
  Regional Development and Youth Affairs and has no
  official role to play on issues such as health,
  education, economic development, sports,
  agriculture etc.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration - Key
Participants

• The Regional Secretary
•  
• The Regional Secretary who is a civil servant
  under the Regional Administrators office is the
  senior most civil servants at regional level. He
  is employed by the Civil Service Commission which
  is a national civil service employment body. He
  also chairs the Regional Development Committee,
  an informal committee formed of all the
  Ministries regional heads.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration - Key
Participants

• Courts of Law
•  
• The courts of law are decentralized down to
  regional level with a Senior Magistrate heading
  the regional judiciary.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration - Key
Participants

• NGOs Including Sports
•  
• The NGO sector is active at regional level even
  though most of them do not have fully fledged
  regional offices. They are mostly centralised
  with an administrative presence at regional
  level. Sporting bodies are also one of the well
  organized regional bodies with strong
  decentralized political and administrative
  powers.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration -
Sources of Financing

• The countrys governance system is currently
  centralised. A Local Government Bill which the
  author of this report was involved in its
  drafting sought to implement the spirit of the
  constitution through a decentralisation programme
  was in the making at the time of writing this
  report. Consequently, the regional
  administration has no power to raise funds or
  even develop a meaningful budget. The customs
  and revenue offices are just extensions of the
  central customs and revenue offices including the
  treasury function.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Regional Administration -
Quasi-legal Responsibilities

• Currently, the regional administration has no
  legislative function or responsibility. Again,
  the Local Government Bill that was being
  promulgated at the time of writing this report
  sought to give legal, financial and legislative
  powers to the regions including development
  planning and budgeting powers

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government -
Institutional Arrangements

• Urban governments which include City Councils,
  Town Councils and Town Boards are governed by the
  Urban Government Act. City and Town Councils
  democratically elect their own Governments. For
  Town Boards which are smaller towns, the Board is
  appointed by the Minister for Urban Government.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government - Roles and
Functions

•  
• Urban governments like chiefdoms are the only
  local governments that enjoy a significant degree
  of self government. They have power over title
  deed urban land and are fully responsible for the
  physical planning, budgeting and spending. They
  also elect councilors who in turn employ the
  Chief Executive Officer in concurrence with the
  responsible Minister.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government - Key
Participants

•  
• Council
•  
• Council including Council staff are responsible
  for the day to day legislative and administrative
  affairs of the urban local government.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government - Key
Participants

•  
• Ratepayers
•  
• Ratepayers have a strong collective body in each
  urban government. They elect council members.
•  

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government - Key
Participants

•  
• Business
• The business community is an active constituency
  within an urban government. Unlike the
  ratepayers, business is not currently organized
  into something like a city chamber of commerce.
  The net effect of this is that council tend to be
  populated by ratepayers with little or no
  business people at all.

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3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government - Key
Participants

•  
• Government
• Central government is a major player with an
  urban government setting. Firstly she provides
  financing for the business of urban governments.
  Secondly she provides public services in the
  areas such as education, police and security,
  health, fire services, roads infrastructure, the
  courts and others.

44
3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government - Sources of
Financing

•  
• The Act only allows Urban Governments to raise
  money through property tax called rates and the
  rest of the budget money is an allocation from
  central Government largely based on the
  difference between what can be raised as local
  property tax and the overall budget.

45
3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM Urban Government -
Quasi-legal Responsibilities

•  
• Urban governments do not have legislative powers.
  They only make bye laws to safeguard use of
  council facilities.

46
3. KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE TRADITIONAL SWAZI
GOVERNANCE SYSTEMParliament

• The Parliament of Swaziland in terms of its
  structure and operations is as described under
  chapter VII clause 79-137 of the constitution of
  Swaziland. As a summary description of the
  system of government, clause 79 explains the
  system as .. a democratic, participatory,
  tinkhundla-based system which emphasizes
  devolution of state power from central government
  to tinkhundla areas and individual merit as basis
  for election or appointment to public office.
  The parliament of Swaziland has two houses being
  the House of Senate and the House of Assembly.
  The composition of the houses of parliament has
  been explained under 31.1 above.

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4. OPERATING STRUCTURES OF NATIONAL TRUST
ENTITIESTibiyo Takangwane

• Tibiyo Takangwane is an organization created by
  Royal Charter on the 19th August 1968 two weeks
  before the countrys independence from the
  British. Its primary purpose was to acquire
  investments and also manage business projects on
  behalf of the Swazi nation. All investments are
  registered in the name of the Ingwenyama as
  trustee for the Swazi nation. Tibiyo is
  primarily a development agency but also has a
  role to assist in the promotion and preservation
  of Swazi culture and traditions and also to
  assist in the education and training of Swazis
  through scholarship assistance. Even though in
  recent years KPMG international has been auditing
  the accounts of Tibiyo, the business and
  financial operations of Tibiyo are not subject to
  scrutiny either by parliament or the Auditor
  Generals office. Tibiyo does not pay taxes
  except that a significant amount of its income is
  derived from dividends from investments which
  would have been declared from profits after tax.

48
4. OPERATING STRUCTURES OF NATIONAL TRUST
ENTITIESTibiyo Takangwane - Governance
Structure

• The Board of Directors for Tibiyo Taka Ngwane
  comprises a fourteen member team inclusive of
  both executive and non-executive members. The
  Managing Director, the General Manager Finance
  and the General Manager Administration who is
  also Board Secretary are the three executive
  members of the Board. The whole Board including
  the Chairman are appointed by His Majesty. The
  Board has two subcommittees being those of the
  audit committee and the remuneration committee.

49
4. OPERATING STRUCTURES OF NATIONAL TRUST
ENTITIESTibiyo Takangwane - Operational
structure

• The operating structure for Tibiyo Taka Ngwane
  comprises traditional key departments such as
  Managing Directors office, Finance and
  Investments, Administration, Cultural and
  Traditional Affairs, Education and Public
  Affairs, Information Technology, Legal Affairs

50
4. OPERATING STRUCTURES OF NATIONAL TRUST
ENTITIESTisuka Takangwane - General

• Tisuka TakaNgwane (Tisuka) have the same status
  as Tibiyo with the only difference being that
  Tisuka have not seen the same growth as Tibiyo
  over the years. They are a small almost
  forgotten entity in the public circles. Tisuka
  were also established by Royal Charter in the
  year 1976 with the same objectives as Tibiyo Taka
  Ngwane with a major difference being that the
  trust would be more under the office of the
  Indlovukazi in terms of control while Tibiyo is
  more on the side of the King

51
4. OPERATING STRUCTURES OF NATIONAL TRUST
ENTITIESTisuka Takangwane - Governance Structure

• Tisuka is a Trust that is held by the
  Indlovukazi (Queen Mother) in trust for the Swazi
  Nation. Tisuka have a Board of Directors which
  contrary to the Tibiyo one, is appointed by the
  Indkovukazi (Queen Mother). There was no
  identified documented vision, mission or even
  objectives of Tisuka as they have not even
  produced an annual report for many years. Tisuka
  like Tibiyo is not subject to parliament
  scrutiny, auditor generals scrutiny nor do they
  pay taxes

52
4. OPERATING STRUCTURES OF NATIONAL TRUST
ENTITIESSwaziland National Trust Commission
(SNTC)

• The Swaziland Trust Commission is a public
  enterprise established by of parliament number 9
  of 1972. Unlike Tibiyo and Tisuka, SNTC does
  undergo public scrutiny through parliament as it
  reports to a cabinet minister.

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5. ROLE OF THE MONARCHY IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE
SWAZI STATE

• Clause 106 (a) of the constitution states that
  the supreme legislative authority of Swaziland
  vests with the King-in-Parliament..)There are two
  important people under the office of monarchy.
  These being the King and the Indlovukazi (Queen
  Mother) who is the Kings mother. They both
  almost have equal powers except that it is the
  King that has the responsibility of state
  headship. The role of the Monarchy has to be
  viewed from three perspectives as follows-

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5. ROLE OF THE MONARCHY IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE
SWAZI STATE

• The King as an executive Monarchy
•  
• The King as an executive head of state performs
  all duties that would be found in any executive
  president or Prime Minister head of state. The
  huge difference is that a King is born and not
  elected and as such he is a permanent executive
  head of state as long as he shall live. The King
  as head of state performs the following key
  functions as per the constitution-
•  
• Ascending to Bills and signing them into
  legislation.
• Appoints of the Prime Minister who is head of
  government , the cabinet and key executive
  positions in the civil service and the army. He
  appoints Principal Secretaries, senior executives
  in the army, police and correctional services
  supposedly on the advice of the Prime Minister.
• Appointment of his quota of MPs

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5. ROLE OF THE MONARCHY IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE
SWAZI STATE

• The King as head of the traditional governance
• The role of the monarchy under the traditional
  system is quite unique. Amongst other things his
  title changes from king to Ingwenyama (lion). As
  Ingwenyama, the King-
•  
• Appoints and removes Chiefs.
• He also passes judgments on their issues usually
  it is conflict related to boundaries with
  neighboring Chiefs, land disputes, succession
  disagreements in terms who the next Chief should
  be or just any other dispute.
• Participates in traditional ceremonies and
  rituals as centre stage person
• He also plays the role of being a national
  unifying figure as he is supposed to be
  non-partisan.
• Management of Swazi Nation Land (SNL). All
  non-title deed land in Swaziland which accounts
  for about 70 is under the Kings ownership in
  trust for the Swazi nation. Most if not all of
  this land is currently under the Chiefs
  administration as delegated by the King

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5. ROLE OF THE MONARCHY IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE
SWAZI STATE

• The Indlovukazi (Queen Mother)
• The office of the Indlovukazi does not play any
  significant public state role outside the Kings
  office. Of late this office has grown to be very
  active in charity work. Of significance is that
  once the King passes on, the Indlovukazi
  immediately take full charge as an executive head
  of state up until a new King is installed and a
  new Queen Mother (mother of the new King) is
  installed.

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• General Observations
•   The Swaziland situation is such that because of
  the executive nature of the Kings position, we
  have a dual system of government which is
  inherent in this political order. The fact that
  the King is also called Ingwenyama which
  resembles his traditional headship has not made
  the situation any easier to manage and operate.

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• Duplication of functions
• At the national level, the traditional
  structures including committees, commissions and
  councils draw money from the consolidated fund.
  A number of these bodies are duplicating what the
  Prime Minister led government does in terms of
  providing advice to the King. A lot of the time
  these advices are contradictory thereby creating
  a stalemate in decision-making and worse still in
  the operations of government.

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• Unity in Parliament
•  
• Observations were made on a number of occasions
  whereby those MPs who were appointed by the King
  into Parliament tended to be overly cautious
  about issues that may not sit well with the King
  or a simple display of loyalty to the appointing
  authority at the expense of national interest

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• Constitutional Issues on Swazi Law and Custom 
• Clause 115 (7) of the constitution states that
  any matter that would alter or affect Swazi
  Tradition and customary shall be regulated by
  Swazi Law and Custom. The things considered to
  traditional and customary are-
•  
• Status, powers, or privillages, designation or
  recognition of the Ngwenyama (King), Ndlovukazi
  (Queen Mother) or Umtfwanenkosi Lomkhulu (Senior
  Prince)
• The designation, recognition, removal, powers, of
  chief or other traditional authority
• The organization, powers or administration of
  Swazi (customary) courts or chiefs courts
• Swazi Law and Custom, or the ascertainment or
  recording of Swazi Law and Custom
• Swazi Nation Land
• Incwala, Umhlanga (Reed Dance), Libutfo
  (regimental system) or similar cultural activity
  or organization

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• Bill of Rights Vs Traditional Authorities
• Chapter III of the constitution provides for the
  usual universal Bill of Rights which has the
  effect of empowering citizens alongside a Swazi
  traditional administered system. Swazi Law and
  Customs is not significantly aligned with the
  universal Bill of Rights. The King is inherently
  the custodian of Swazi Law and Custom and, the
  King is above the law

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• Systematic leadership capacity development
• Even though the traditional authorities have so
  much power and, in terms of the current political
  and social setup, a lot depends on them but there
  is no leadership capacity building programme in
  place to help traditional authorities cope with
  the task before them.

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6. REFLECTION ON THE DUAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

• National Coordination Structures for Traditional
  Leaders
• The about four hundred Chiefdoms in the kingdom,
  all severally report directly to His Majesty the
  King with a total absence of any formal
  coordination structure or system. There are no
  formal regional and or even sub-regional
  coordination structures for chiefs. The effect
  of this is that while Chiefs have all this power
  over the people and resources, yet there is no
  national system to regulate their actions or even
  help them answer questions or challenges which
  they always have given that there is no school
  for Chiefs. One of the major challenge facing
  chiefs is conflict management

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7. REFLECTION ON THE OPERATION OF TRUSTS

• Accountability
• It has always been a sore issue amongst Swazis
  that the operations of the trusts is not as
  transparent and that nobody really knows what is
  happening except for speculation. More visible
  actions seem to indicate that these trusts are
  mainly a source of funds for the royal family.
  The fact that both parliament and government have
  no say in these trusts is worrying. It is
  obvious that over time, people will get
  increasingly restless about this issue.

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7. REFLECTION ON THE OPERATION OF TRUSTS

• Contribution to National Revenue
•  
• The fact that these trusts do not pay tax and of
  late, Tibiyo is not participating in any new
  job-creating investments. It is obvious that
  bringing Tibiyo under government eye will improve
  transparency.

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8. CONCLUSIONS

• The role of the Monarchy in the Swazi State
• It is obvious that the dual governance in
  Swaziland is something that has been cemented
  over time and, the dual governance is inherent in
  an executive monarchy situation because for the
  Monarchy to justify itself and distinguish itself
  from a dictator, it has to replicate itself
  through Chiefs in order to legitimize its
  existence otherwise without the strong link with
  the Chiefs, the King becomes a dictator if he
  would still hope to remain executive.

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8. CONCLUSIONS

• The Traditional Local Government Structures
• Traditional local government structures that
  have been identified are those of Chiefs. It has
  become obvious that due to the executive nature
  of the Monarchy, Chiefs wield a lot of power and
  authority and yet they have no technical and
  leadership capacity to exercise this power and
  authority in the national interest.

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8. CONCLUSIONS

• The Treatment of Trusts
• Trust are huge economic players and as such,
  huge income earners, the fact that they do not
  pay tax, while minerals levies are taken over by
  the Tisuka suggests that there is a need to
  review this position if Swaziland were have a
  successful turnaround strategy on issues of
  poverty, hunger, unemployment etc.

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8. CONCLUSIONS

• Implications for the Decentralisation Programme
• It would appear that upgrading the leadership
  and administrative capabilities of Chiefs and
  integrate their business into the main stream of
  governance is the way to go if we are to minimize
  the negative impacts of dual governance. This
  would also include remunerating them accordingly
  so that they feel duty bound to harmonize their
  actions to one system of government. Over time,
  lessons can be learnt from such an initiative
  that will allow more sustainable change or
  modificaations to take place. The
  Decentralisation programme is just the tool to
  make this happen. Given the constitutional
  executive status of the Monarchy including
  Chiefs, it would be futile to even begin to plan
  for a Swaziland without an executive Monarchy or
  even Chiefs in the short to medium term. The
  idea then is, through the Decentralisation
  Programme and within practical reasoning, make
  Chiefs effective local government at the grass
  roots level which should be accompanied by
  institutional strengthen and capacity-building.
  Such capacity-building would also involve clearly
  eliminating all causes of conflicts amongst and
  within chiefdoms.