Poverty alleviation scheme threatened

Swaziland's principal philanthropist has shut down a Lilangeni 11 million (US $1.6 million) poverty alleviation scheme due to strained relations with the authorities. Financier Natie Kirsh terminated the Inhanyelo Fund, which provided small low-interest loans to impoverished Swazis, after the absence of members of parliament at the fund's relaunch last week. "Without the backing of the MPs, the sustainability of the fund is impossible, and it is with deep regret and sadness that I have no choice but to terminate the fund and withdraw the additional L5.5 million (US $834,357), plus further funds earmarked for its expansion," Kirsh said in a statement. The Inhlanyelo Fund began as a pilot project in 1999, when Kirsh underwrote an initial L5.5 million ($834,357). The fund proved an important source of gender empowerment, since women constituted the majority of the 3,500 small business entrepreneurs who made use of the facility. Repayment rates were high, allowing more people to borrow to establish microenterprises, ranging from making curios for the tourism market to agricultural and clothing projects. About 50,000 Swazis were employed by these businesses - a significant number, given that unemployment stands at 40 percent and two-thirds of Swazis live in chronic poverty. Last week the fund was relaunched, and Kirsh pledged another L5.5 million to improve the lives of an estimated 50,000 additional Swazis. Three days later, an angry Kirsh pulled the plug on one of the country's most successful poverty alleviation efforts. Kirsh, a major investor in the country since the early 1960s, and reputed to be one of King Mswati's advisors, was reportedly angered by the tone of parliamentary debate when MPs discussed attendance at the re-launch. Acting House Speaker Trusty Gina interrupted the parliamentary budget deliberations to report that Prime Minister Themba Dlamini was anxious for their presence at the fund launch party being held at the nearby Royal Swazi Convention Centre. Many MPs objected to the interruption, as passage of the national budget is the first priority of each parliamentary year. The opening of parliament had been delayed for three weeks while King Mswati put pressure on former House Speaker Marwick Khumalo to resign, and MPs felt that passing the budget had become urgent. They argued that monies for local and national development programmes could not be released until the budget was passed and continued the parliamentary session. But Kirsh said that Inhlanyelo Fund monies could only be distributed through MPs. "Despite having accepted the invitation, most MPs failed to attend the function, clearly indicating their apathy and lack of interest in the benefits it will bring to thousands of their constituents," Kirsh said in his statement. Few government or diplomatic sources believed Kirsh's stated reasons for killing the poverty alleviation fund, and sought another motive. "An effective poverty alleviation fund is jettisoned because some MPs wouldn't come to his party? I don't think so," one diplomatic source told IRIN. A former cabinet minister told IRIN that royal officials knew of Kirsh's intentions days before the announcement. "He is a businessman who seeks the privatisation of SEB (the Swaziland Electricity Board) and SPTC (the Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation), so he can invest or buy them. Kirsh was angered that this was not happening," said the source. When contacted for comment on the allegation, Kirsh's company in Swaziland, Swaki, said no official was available to respond. Relations between Kirsh and the king were also said to be strained, press sources told IRIN. In a letter to Mswati last year, Kirsh was critical of the king's decision to purchase a US $45 million private luxury jet at a time of increasing poverty, widespread crop failures and an unchecked HIV/AIDS epidemic, and also questioned other government spending. The letter was leaked to the local press, reportedly irritating the monarch. Mswati sent one of his brothers to represent him at the relaunch of the Inhlanyelo Fund, rather than attending personally. The Swazi Observer, owned by the royal conglomerate, Tibiyo TakaNgwane, commented on Thursday: "For a country that is so desperate for investment, the fund fulfilled an important role by enabling people to create their own businesses, provide employment to fellow Swazis and help the economy. Many vulnerable people in our society are worse off since a reliable lifeline has so brutally been severed."