Swazi minister admits that customs corruption is rife

MBABANE – Swaziland
foreign minister Majozi
Sithole told Parliament
last week that corruption
was so rife amongst
Swazi customs officials
and their collaborators
in the private sector that
the country was losing
an untold amount of
tax revenue, potentially
affecting the country’s
development.
“The blame is mostly
a mixture, because some
companies under-declare
their goods with the
help of officials at the
borders,” Sithole told
MPs.
Road transport firms
were not mentioned by
the minister. He named
no offending companies
specifically, but the
drift of his remarks is
that companies and
private individuals are
cheating government
out of customs duty
revenue in collusion
with customs workers at
the border, rather than
road transport firms and
courier services hauling
the goods of others.
Sithole made
his remarks during
parliamentary debate of
a Revenue Authorities
Act, which government
says it needs to collect
customs tax, income tax
and other taxes more
efficiently.
Swazis and foreign
businesses in the
country have made a
habit of dodging taxes,
with Sithole calculating
that government collects
only 20% of tax revenue
due to it.
“Some companies
falsify the records of
the profits they are
making, hence cheating
government out of the
tax they are supposed to
be paying,” Sithole said.
The ministry has yet
to calculate the total
losses, Sithole said. He
has previously said that
the cost of government
corruption on an annual
basis exceeds the sum of
the national debt.