The problem with Zwemart’s communism

If the king is given a gift of E100, what should he spend it on?

This is a question which very few, if any of us, can actually answer.

This is a pertinent question because Swaziland News editor decided that he was most qualified to write an opinion editorial article with the title: “Mswati must use part of the over R6 million birthday donations to buy kidney machines at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial”.

This follows after His Majesty King Mswati III was presented with gifts by private companies and individuals which amounted to more than E6 million last week.

As it is his job to make sure that the King of Eswatini is ALWAYS seen in a bad light, Zwemart took to penning the Swaziland News Opinion Editorial where he opined that the King should donate the gifts to purchase RFM Hospital equipment.

In case this needs to be pointed out to some, this pseudo journalism and weak intellectual reasoning is absolutely untenable.

https://medium.com/@TheHiddenSide/swaziland-news-rightly-banned-b2aa9811d798

In his own words, Zwemart realises that “Private companies pay tax and therefore, remain major contributors to social development, we cannot therefore entirely blame them for government failures…” In the same token, private companies are allowed to operate based on internal policies that make sure that they profitably provide a public good.

Zwemart knows this, which is why his propagandistic attack is leveled at His Majesty King Mswati III, who is merely a recipient of the gifts from the different companies. If you read the article carefully, you will note that the logic does not compute — it is unclear where Zwemart really stands on the custom, but it is clear that he wants you to view His Majesty King Mswati III in a bad light at the end of the day.

In the article, Zwemart claims “I am not against culture, in my home area I sometimes contribute voluntarily and give some residents money to buy food when summoned by uMphakatsi for kuhlehla, there’s no where in Eswatini Law and Custom where citizens are urged to steal public funds and present to the King as tetfulo.” Who said there is?

He goes on to say, “The problem starts when our culture is manipulated by corrupt individuals who want to please King Mswati with public funds. Indeed, there’s no justification to hide in the name of culture and present over R6million to Mswati while kidney failure patients die at RFM hospital, culture was meant to promote humanity(Buntfu), unity and love among emaSwati, not to enrich one man and his traditional leaders.”

What Zwemart seems to be suggesting is that instead of giving to the King the amounts which accumulated to E6 million, the companies should give to the Hospital. While the idealist in all of us understand that health is more important than a birthday gift, to oversimplify the matter in this way is naive and dangerous. This is because Zwemart assumes that RFM is unable to raise money to buy dialysis machines — this is surely not a matter of there not being money in the private sector donated for Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives, or that there is no budget for the hospital from Government. It is a management issue, to start.

To then suggest that His Majesty must directly finance hospital equipment with funds received as a birthday gift would instantly mark the Eswatini Government as one of the backwards in the world where indeed one many assumes responsibility for all the country’s problems. This can never work for any country.

https://medium.com/@TheHiddenSide/pudemo-admits-rule-of-law-exists-in-eswatini-bee4de10f359

The reason Zwemart easily suggests that the head of state should intervene from his own pocket to fund public hospitals is because he is a communist. He belongs to the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) which is an openly communist political party.

“Communism is a system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people”

He wants there to be no freedom of enterprises to maximise decision-making, and instead would probably prefer to be a central dictator telling all companies and governments what to do. In history, this has NEVER worked — all that happens is that millions die in the communist revolution, some people get in power indefinitely, and the whole country slowly goes back to capitalism until a few oligarchs emerge (think Russia or China, the world’s prime examples of “communist” countries.

https://medium.com/@TheHiddenSide/pudemo-is-not-our-party-emaswati-f2cf26c987b7

If the king is given a gift of E100, what should he spend it on?

Your answer will tell you exactly how much you freedom you think people should have and how highly you think of yourself if you claim to have “the correct answer”.