Bookkeeping slip leads to R400m duty error

Swaziland gets its money – and an apology James Hall MBABANE – R400 million in customs duties “lost” to Swaziland from SACU receipts were returned to the country, with an apology from SA Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, the Swazi press reported last week. Although the bookkeeping error was discovered and diplomatically rectified, it rang alarm bells in the Swazi government, which depends on Swaziland’s share of SACU receipts to keep the country operating. The IMF and other economists have warned that this dependency will lead to disaster if funds are lessened in future SACU receipt sharing treaties. “Rather than heed IMF advice and diversify the economy, government has piggybacked on the better performance of the South African and neighbouring economies, which is reflected in greater volumes of taxable imports. It’s like a drug, and they’re just getting in deeper with each passing year,” said an economist for a local branch of an SA bank in Mbabane. This year an all-time high 63% of government revenues comes from SACU receipts, compared to 58% last year and 4 9% five years ago. Government spending also remains a problem. Despite a 20% rise in all government revenues from last year, to a record R6.5 billion, government’s recurrent and capital expenditure is expected to amount to nearly R7 billion, reported the Central Bank of Swaziland.