Town

Twitter is a world web surfer's town.The twitters use twitter for promot there products power wheels barbie, coat tree, corel draw, green tea, radio, flyer, wagon,cross, trainer, headphones, sandisk, cruzer, drum kit, chocolate, truffles,acuvue, toaster, origami, paper, tiara, video card,flash card, bubble machine, window washer, faucet ,atkins bars,portable generator, disco, ball, nikon ,coolpix rowing machine, briefcases,and there business links.

Promoters

Twitter Promoters are the best way to increase branding power and awareness of your website, products and services.Build your official Account, and would like them to promote it on Facebook and other web parts, attracting potential customers.Twitter is promoter's best friend. Twitter can be an incredibly powerful tool for party promoters who are looking to promote their events and websites. Twitter can be a cheap and effective way of advertising a product, brand or business. It is important to tailor the promotional campaign. 

Crowd

A crowd is a large and definable group of people, while "the crowd" is referred to as the so-called lower orders of people in general (the mob). A crowd may be definable through a common purpose or set of emotions, such as at a political rally, at a sports event, or during looting, or simply be made up of many people going about their business in a busy area (eg shopping). Everybody in the context of general public or the common people is normally referred to as the masses.

Terminology

The term crowd is often defined in contrast to other group nouns for collections of humans or animals: aggregation, audience, group, mass, mob, populous, public, rabble and throng. For example in "Public Opinion" Vincent Price compares masses and crowds:

Crowds are defined by their shared emotional experiences, but masses are defined by their interpersonal isolation.

In human sociology, the term "mobbed" simply means "extremely crowded", as in a busy mall or shop. In animal behaviour mobbing is a technique where many individuals of one species "gang up" on a larger individual of another species to drive them away. Mobbing behaviour is often seen in birds.

Social aspects of crowds

Social aspects are concerned with the formation, management and control of crowds, both from the point of view of individuals and groups. Often crowd control is designed to persuade a crowd to align with a particular view (e.g., political rallies), or to contain groups to prevent damage or mob behaviour. Politically organised crowd control is usually conducted by law enforcement but on some occasions military forces are used for particularly large or dangerous crowds.

Social aspects of crowds for adolescent peer groups

Adolescent culture is a relatively new feature of society, affecting most teenagers in the United States since the 1930s. The research on adolescent culture began with the search for identities: who the adolescents and their peer groups are and the differences and how adolescent culture differed from adult culture. Many researchers are making efforts to develop an understanding of the functions of crowds. But the findings are complicated due to multiple definitions of the crowd. Now in adolescence, peer affiliation becomes more important than ever before. Youths tend to categorize themselves and each other based on stereotypes and reputations. These categories are known in the developmental psychology literature as peer crowds. Crowds are defined as reputation based collectives of similarly stereotyped individuals who may or may not spend much time together. Crowds also refer to collectives of adolescents identified by the interests, attitudes, abilities, and/or personal characteristics they have in common. Crowds are different from cliques, which are interaction based peer groups who hang out together. Crowds are not simply clusters of cliques; the two different structures serve entirely different purposes. Because the clique is based on activity and friendship, it is the important setting in which the adolescent learns social skills like how to be a good friend and how to communicate effectively. These and other social skills are important in adulthood as well as in adolescence. Crowds are based on reputation and stereotypes than on interaction; they probably contribute more to the adolescent sense of identity and self-conception. For example jocks and burnouts are more likely to be interaction based than such crowds as loners and nerds.

Psychological aspects of crowds

Psychological aspects are concerned with the psychology of the crowd as a group and the psychology of those who allow their will and emotions to be informed by the crowd (both discussed more comprehensively under crowd psychology), and other individual responses to crowds, such as crowd-sickness, claustrophobia and agoraphobia.

(source:wikipedia)

Group action

In algebra and geometry, a group action is a way of describing symmetries of objects using groups. The essential elements of the object are described by a set and the symmetries of the object are described by the symmetry group of this set, which consists of bijective transformations of the set. In this case, the group is also called a permutation group (especially if the set is finite or not a vector space) or transformation group (especially if the set is a vector space and the group acts like linear transformations of the set).

A group action is a flexible generalization of the notion of a symmetry group in which every element of the group "acts" like a bijective transformation (or "symmetry") of some set, without being identified with that transformation. This allows for a more comprehensive description of the symmetries of an object, such as a polyhedron, by allowing the same group to act on several different sets, such as the set of vertices, the set of edges and the set of faces of the polyhedron.

If G is a group and X is a set then a group action may be defined as a group homomorphism from G to the symmetric group of X. The action assigns a permutation of X to each element of the group in such a way that

the permutation of X assigned to the identity element of G is the identity transformation of X;

the permutation of X assigned to a product gh of two elements of the group is the composite of the permutations assigned to g and h.

Since each element of G is represented as a permutation, a group action is also known as a permutation representation.

The abstraction provided by group actions is a powerful one, because it allows geometrical ideas to be applied to more abstract objects. Many objects in mathematics have natural group actions defined on them. In particular, groups can act on other groups, or even on themselves. Despite this generality, the theory of group actions contains wide-reaching theorems, such as the orbit stabilizer theorem, which can be used to prove deep results in several fields.

(source:wikipedia)

Peer group

A peer group is a social group consisting of people. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer group often have similar interests and backgrounds, bonded by the premise of sameness. However, some peer groups are very diverse, crossing social divides such as socioeconomic status, level of education, race, creed, culture, or religion.

Developmental psychology

Developmental psychologists, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Harry Stack Sullivan, have all argued that peer relationships provide a unique context for cognitive, social, and emotional development, with equality, reciprocity, cooperation, and intimacy, maturing and enhancing children's reasoning abilities and concern for others. Modern research echoes these sentiments, showing that social and emotional gains are indeed provided by peer interaction.

Bonding and functions of peer groups

Serve as a source of info.

Peer groups have a significant influence on psychological and social adjustments for group individuals.Peer groups provide perspective outside of individual’s viewpoints. Members inside peer groups also learn to develop relationships with other in the social system. Peers, particularly group members, become important social referents for  teaching members customs, social norms, and different ideologies.

Teaches gender roles.

Peer groups can also serve as a venue for teaching members Gender roles. Through gender-role socialization group members learn about sex differences, social and cultural expectations. While boys and girls differ greatly there is not a one to one link between sex and gender role with males always being masculine and female always being feminine. Both genders can contain different levels of masculinity and femininity. Peer groups like gender roles can consist of all males, all females, or both male and female. Peer groups can have great influence or peer pressure on each other’s gender role behavior depending on the amount of pressure. If a peer group holds to a strong social norm, member will behave in ways predicted by their gender roles, but if there is not a unanimous peer agreement gender roles do not correlate with behavior

Serves as a practicing venue to adulthood.

Adolescent Peer groups provide support for children, and teens as they assimilate into the adult society decreasing dependence on parents, and increasing feeling of self-sufficiency and connecting with a much larger social network. this is “a period in which individuals are expanding their perspective beyond the family how to and learning negotiate relationships with others in the social system. Peers, particularly group members, become important social referents”  Peer groups also have influence on individual member’s attitudes, and behaviors on many cultural, and social issues such as drug use, violence, academic achievement and even the development and expression of prejudice.

Teaches unity & collective behavior

Peer Groups “ provide an influential social setting in which group norms are developed, and enforced through socialization processes that promote within-group similarity. Peer groups cohesion is determined, and maintained by such factors as group Communication, Group consensus, and Group conformity concerning attitude and behavior. As members of peer groups interconnect, and agree, a normative code arises. This Normative code can become very rigid deciding group behavior, and dress. Peer group individuality is increased by normative codes, and intergroup conflict. Member Deviation from the strict normative code can lead to rejection from the group.

Gender differences

Male

Male peer groups tend to display more assertive behavior and independence. Male peer groups also tend to display more antagonistic behavior than girls. Status hierarchies develop within Males peer groups having members vie for position for a time, but eventually a stable hierarchy is established reducing intragroup conflict. Many Adolescent male peer groups use homophobic behavior (e.g., using homophobic epithets or making homophobic statements) to assert masculinity and identify inappropriate behavior among group members.

Female

Female peer group members often feel greater investments in their social relationships than Males. Because of this investment female peer groups place a greater importance on group affiliation. This need of affiliation also leads females to dissent less and be more conforming to peer group norms compared to males. Status hierarchies are also formed in female groups, but often denied by group members . The great value placed on group membership also causes female groups to be more exclusive and resistant to new members after the group has been set. Furthermore, females great investments in social relationships tends to lead to more positive interactions than those of males.

Peer pressure

The term peer pressure is often used to describe instances where an individual feels indirectly pressured into changing their behavior to match that of their peers. Taking up smoking and underage drinking are two of the best known examples. In spite of the often negative connotations of the term, peer pressure can be used positively.

(source:wikipedia)

Working group

A working group (WG) is an interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers working on new research activities that would be difficult to develop under traditional funding mechanisms (e.g. federal agencies). The lifespan of the WG can last anywhere between a few months and several years. Such groups have the tendency to develop a quasi-permanent existence once the assigned task is accomplished; hence the need to disband (or phase out) the WG once it has provided solutions to the issues for which it was initially convened. Such goals to be achieved may include:

creation of an informational document;

creation of a standard, or

resolution of problems related to a system or network.

The WG may assemble experts (and future experts) on a topic together for intensive work. It is not an avenue for briefing novices about the subject matter. Occasionally, a group might admit a person with little experience and a lot of enthusiasm. However, such participants should be present as observers and in the minority.

Working groups are also referred to as task groups or technical advisory groups.

Characteristics

The nature of the working group may depend on the group's raison d’être — which may be technical, artistic (specifically musical), or administrative in nature.

]Administrative working groups

These working groups are established by decision makers at higher levels of the organization for the following purposes:

To elaborate, consolidate, and build on the consensus of the decision makers; and

To ensure (and improve) coordination among the various segments of the organization. A shared commitment to agreed common aims develops among the parties as they work together to clarify issues, formulate strategies, and develop action plans.

For example, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs is a group of twelve federal agencies within the executive branch of the U.S. government, and is responsible for promoting achievement of positive results for at-risk youth. This working group was formally established by Executive Order 13459, Improving the Coordination and Effectiveness of Youth Programs, on February 7, 2008.

Musical working groups

Although any artisan or artist can benefit from being part of a working group, it is especially of great import for session players. Musicians face a variety of challenges that can impede the formation of musical working groups, such as touring and studio recording sessions. Such activities make it that much more difficult to concentrate on the developing the cohesiveness that is required to maintain a working group.

However, working groups have been shown to be rewarding to the stakeholders, as it fosters innovation. By working with the same people frequently, members become familiar with the répertoire of other members, which develops trust and encourages spontaneity.

Some of the more notable musical working groups include:

Abdullah Ibrahim Trio;

Alex von Schlippenbach Trio;

Dave Holland (Trio, Quartet, or Quintet);

Die Like A Dog Quartet;

Gary Bartz Quartet;

Vandermark 5; and

William Parker Quartet (Trio/Quartet).

[edit]Technical working groups

In many technical organizations, for example Standards organizations, the groups that meet and make decisions are called "working groups". Examples include:

IETF working groups (which are subordinate to Areas)

HTTP WG, original led by Dave Raggett

ISO working groups (which are subordinate to an SC (subcommittee), subordinate to a TC (technical committee)

W3C working groups

Device Description Working Group

Technical Architecture Group

SVG Working Group

In some cases, like the Printer Working Group, an entire consortium uses the term "working group" for itself.

The rules for who can be a part of the working groups, and how a working group makes decisions, varies considerably between organizations.

Mechanics

It is imperative for the participants to appreciate and understand that the working group is intended to be a forum for cooperation and participation. Participants represent the interests and views of stakeholders from disparate sectors of the community which happen to have a vested interest in the results of the WG. Therefore, maintaining and strengthening communication lines with all parties involved is essential (this responsibility cuts both ways — stakeholders are expected to share what information, knowledge and expertise they have on the issue.)

Programmes developed should be evaluated by encouraging community input and support; this will ensure that such programmes meet the community's vision for its future. The WG should also regularly seek community feedback on their projects. Apropos questions to be asked during such meetings include:

What were the objectives of the program?

What were the results of the project?

What effect did the results have on the identified problem?

What unexpected results — desirable or otherwise — were observed?

How were the results achieved? (Was it by the methods and techniques originally intended, or did these evolve with implementation?)

Was there an effective use of community resources?

Should our objective or methods be changed?

Depending on the lifespan of the WG, involved parties (at the very least) convene annually. However, such meetings may happen as often as once every semester or trimester.

(source:wikipedia)

Matsapha Airport

Matsapha Airport (IATA: MTS, ICAO: FDMS) is an airport located near Manzini, a city in Manzini District of Swaziland.

In 2011 it will be replaced by Sikhuphe International Airport and will be taken over by the army. The handover had been expected in 2010 but construction of the new airport has been delayed.

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of 2,075 feet (632 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 07/25 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,600 by 45 metres (8,530 × 148 ft).

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations

Airlink Johannesburg

Swaziland Airlink Johannesburg

(source:wikipedia)

Swaziland Airlink

Swaziland Airlink is the national carrier airline of Swaziland. It is part of an alliance with South African Airways, South African Express and South African Airlink.

The airline is on the List of air carriers banned in the European Union.

History

Swaziland Airlink was formed as a joint venture company between the Swaziland Government (60%) and South African Airlink (40%) to take over operations, from Royal Swazi National Airways Corporation (RSNAC), as the National Carrier of Swaziland. Swaziland Airlink started operations in July 1999 with a leased Fokker F28 aircraft from RSNAC linking Matsapha Airport with Johannesburg and Dar-es-Salaam. In June 2000 the Fokker F28 was replaced with a BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft.

Services

Swaziland Airlink operates services from Manzini to Johannesburg but there are other destination operated by partner airlines

Fleet

The Swaziland Airlink fleet includes the following aircraft

5 Embraer ERJ 135 (37 passengers)

(source:wikipedia)

Districts of Swaziland

Hhohho District

Hhohho is a district of Swaziland, located in the northwest of the country. It has an area of 3,569 km² and a population of 270,000 (1997), and is divided into 14 tinkhundla. The administrative center is the national capital of Mbabane. It borders Lubombo District in the southeast and Manzini District in the southwest.

Lubombo District

Lubombo is a district of Swaziland, located in the east of the country. It has an area of 5,947 km² and a population of 202,000 (1997). Its administrative center is Siteki. It borders all three other districts: Hhohho to the north, Manzini to the west, and Shiselweni to the south. It is divided into 11 tinkhundla.

Geographically, the district is dominated almost entirely by the Lubombo Mountains.

Shiselweni District

Shiselweni is a district of Swaziland, located in the southwest of the country. It has an area of 3,790 km² and a population of 217,000 (1997), and is divided into 14 tinkhundla. Its administrative center is Nhlangano. It borders Lubombo District in the northeast and Manzini District in the northwest.

Manzini District

Manzini is a district of Swaziland, located in the center-west of the country. It has an area of 5,068 km² and a population of 292,000 (1997), and is divided into 16 tinkhundla. Its administrative center is Manzini. It borders all three other districts: Hhohho in the north, Lubombo in the east, and Shiselweni in the south.

(source:wikipedia)

History of the Swaziland

According to tradition, the original followers of the present Dlamini clan of the Swazi country migrated south before the 16th century to what is now Mozambique. Following a series of conflicts with people living in the area of modern Maputo, the Ngwane, as they then called themselves, settled in northern Zululand in about 1750. Unable to match growing Zulu strength, the Ngwane moved the center of their kingdom northward in the 1810s and 1820s. Under King Sobhuza I they established themselves in the heartland of modern Swaziland, conquering and incorporating many long-established independent chiefdoms, whose descendants also make up much of the modern Swazi nation.

The Dlamini clan consolidated their hold under several able leaders. The most important was Mswati II, from whom the Swazi derive their name. Under his leadership from the 1840s to 1865, the Swazi expanded their territory to the north and west, and stabilized the southern frontier with the Zulu.

British Colonialism

Contact with the British came early in Mswati's reign, when he asked British authorities in South Africa for assistance against Zulu raids into Swaziland. It was also during Mswati's reign that the first whites, Transvaal Boers, settled in the country. Following Mswati's death, the Swazis reached agreements with British and South African Republic authorities over a range of issues, including independence, claims on resources by Europeans, administrative authority, and security, though the white parties later reneged on those agreements. Over Swazi protests, the South African Republic with British concurrence established incomplete colonial rule over Swaziland from 1894 to 1899, when they withdrew their administration with the start of the Anglo-Boer War. In 1902 British forces entered the territory, proclaiming British overrule and jurisdiction in 1903, initially as part of the Transvaal. In 1906 Swaziland was separated administratively when the Transvaal Colony was granted responsible government.

Throughout the colonial period from 1906 to 1968, Swaziland was governed by a resident commissioner who ruled according to decrees issued by the British High Commissioner for South Africa. Such decrees were formulated in close consultation with the resident commissioners, who in turn took informal and formal advice from white settler interests and the Swazi royalty. In 1921 the British established Swaziland's first legislative body—a European Advisory Council (EAC) of elected white representatives mandated to advise the British high commissioner on non-Swazi affairs. In 1944, the high commissioner both reconstituted the basis and role of the EAC, and, over Swazi objections, issued a Native Authorities Proclamation constituting the paramount chief or Ingwenyama and King to the Swazis, as the British called the king, as the native authority for the territory to issue legally enforceable orders to the Swazis subject to restrictions and directions from the resident commissioner. Under pressure from royal non-cooperation this proclamation was revised in 1952 to grant the Swazi paramount chief a degree of autonomy unprecedented in British colonial indirect rule in Africa.

In 1921, after more than 20 years of regency headed by Queen Regent Labotsibeni, Sobhuza II became Ngenyama (lion) or head of the Swazi nation. In the early years of colonial rule, the British expected that Swaziland would eventually be incorporated into South Africa. After World War II, however, South Africa's intensification of racial discrimination induced the United Kingdom to prepare Swaziland for independence. Political activity intensified in the early 1960s. Several political parties were formed and jostled for independence and economic development. The largely urban parties had few ties to the rural areas, where the majority of Swazis lived. The traditional Swazi leaders, including King Sobhuza II and his Inner Council, formed the Imbokodvo National Movement (INM), a political group that capitalized on its close identification with the Swazi way of life. Responding to pressure for political change, the colonial government scheduled an election in mid-1964 for the first legislative council in which the Swazis would participate. In the election, the INM and four other parties, most having more radical platforms, competed in the election. The INM won all 24 elective seats. The history of the language spoken in Swaziland (siSwati) comes from the many nguni languages however it is well known that siSwati gave birth to the Zulu language which is now commonly spoken in the Republic Of South Africa.

Independence

Having solidified its political base, INM incorporated many demands of the more radical parties, especially that of immediate independence. In 1966, the UK Government agreed to discuss a new constitution. A constitutional committee agreed on a constitutional monarchy for Swaziland, with self-government to follow parliamentary elections in 1967. Swaziland became independent on September 6, 1968. Swaziland's post-independence elections were held in May 1972. The INM received close to 75% of the vote. The Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) received slightly more than 20% of the vote which gained the party three seats in parliament.

In response to the NNLC's showing, King Sobhuza repealed the 1968 constitution on April 12, 1973 and dissolved parliament. He assumed all powers of government and prohibited all political activities and trade unions from operating. He justified his actions as having removed alien and divisive political practices incompatible with the Swazi way of life. In January 1979, a new parliament was convened, chosen partly through indirect elections and partly through direct appointment by the king.

King Sobhuza II died in August 1982, and Queen Regent Dzeliwe assumed the duties of the head of state. In 1984, an internal dispute led to the replacement of the prime minister and eventual replacement of Dzeliwe by a new Queen Regent Ntombi. Ntombi's only child, Prince Makhosetive, was named heir to the Swazi throne. Real power at this time was concentrated in the Liqoqo, a supreme traditional advisory body that claimed to give binding advice to the Queen Regent. In October 1985, Queen Regent Ntombi demonstrated her power by dismissing the leading figures of the Liqoqo. Prince Makhosetive returned from school in England to ascend to the throne and help end the continuing internal disputes. He was enthroned as Mswati III on April 25, 1986. Shortly afterwards he abolished the Liqoqo. In November 1987, a new parliament was elected and a new cabinet appointed.

Recent history

In 1988 and 1989, an underground political party, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), criticized the king and his government, calling for 'democratic reforms'. In response to this political threat and to growing popular calls for greater accountability within government, the king and the prime minister initiated an ongoing national debate on the constitutional and political future of Swaziland. This debate produced a handful of political reforms, approved by the king, including direct and indirect voting, in the 1993 national elections.

(source:wikipedia)

Economy of Swaziland

Economy of Swaziland is fairly diversified, with agriculture, forestry and mining accounting for about 13 percent of GDP, manufacturing (textiles and sugar-related processing) representing 37 percent of GDP and services – with government services in the lead – constituting 50 percent of GDP.

Agriculture

Title Deed Lands (TDLs), where the bulk of high value crops are grown (sugar, forestry, and citrus) are characterized by high levels of investment and irrigation, and high productivity. Nevertheless, the majority of the population – about 75 percent—is employed in subsistence agriculture on Swazi Nation Land (SNL), which, in contrast, suffers from low productivity and investment. This dual nature of the Swazi economy, with high productivity in textile manufacturing and in the industrialized agricultural TDLs on the one hand, and declining productivity subsistence agriculture (on SNL) on the other, may well explain the country’s overall low growth, high inequality and unemployment.

Economic growth

Economic growth in Swaziland has lagged behind that of its neighbors. Real GDP growth since 2001 has averaged 2.8 percent, nearly 2 percentage points lower than growth in other Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member countries. Low agricultural productivity in the SNLs, repeated droughts, the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS and an overly large and inefficient government sector are likely contributing factors. Swaziland’s public finances deteriorated in the late 1990s following sizable surpluses a decade earlier. A combination of declining revenues and increased spending led to significant budget deficits. The considerable spending did not lead to more growth and did not benefit the poor. Much of the increased spending has gone to current expenditures related to wages, transfers, and subsidies. The wage bill today constitutes over 15 percent of GDP and 55 percent of total public spending; these are some of the highest levels on the African continent. The recent rapid growth in SACU revenues has, however, reversed the fiscal situation, and a sizable surplus was recorded since 2006. SACU revenues today account for over 60 percent of total government revenues. On the positive side, the external debt burden has declined markedly over the last 20 years, and domestic debt is almost negligible; external debt as a percent of GDP was less than 20 percent in 2006

Trade partners

The Swazi economy is very closely linked to the economy of South Africa, from which it receives over 90 percent of its imports and to which it sends about 70 percent of its exports. Swaziland’s other key trading partners are the United States and the EU, from whom the country has received trade preferences for apparel exports (under the African Growth and Opportunity Act – AGOA – to the US) and for sugar (to the EU). Under these agreements, both apparel and sugar exports did well, with rapid growth and a strong inflow of foreign direct investment. Textile exports grew by over 200 percent between 2000 and 2005 and sugar exports increasing by more than 50 percent over the same period. The continued vibrancy of the export sector is threatened by the removal of trade preferences for textiles, the accession to similar preferences for East Asian countries, and the phasing out of preferential prices for sugar to the EU market. Swaziland will thus have to face the challenge of remaining competitive in a changing global environment. A crucial factor in addressing this challenge is the investment climate. The recently concluded Investment Climate Assessment provides some positive findings in this regard, namely that Swaziland firms are among the most productive in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they are less productive than firms in the most productive middle-income countries in other regions. They compare more favorably with firms from lower middle income countries, but are hampered by inadequate governance arrangements and infrastructure.

Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa form the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), where import duties apply uniformly to member countries. Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa also are members of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) in which repatriation and unrestricted funds are permitted. Swaziland issues its own currency, the lilangeni (plural: emalangeni), which is at par with the South African rand.

Infrastructure

Swaziland enjoys well-developed road links with South Africa. Swazi Rail operates its railroads that run east to west and north to south. The older east-west link, called the Goba line, makes it possible to export bulk goods from Swaziland through the Port of Maputo in Mozambique. Until recently, most of Swaziland's imports were shipped through this port. Conflict in Mozambique in the 1980s diverted many Swazi exports to ports in South Africa. A north-south rail link, completed in 1986, provides a connection between the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) rail network and the South African ports of Richards Bay and Durban. From the mid-1980s foreign investment in the manufacturing sector boosted economic growth rates significantly. Since mid-1985, the depreciated value of the currency has increased the competitiveness of Swazi exports and moderated the growth of imports, generating trade surpluses. During the 1990s, the country often ran small trade deficits.

Other economic statistics

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 1%

highest 10%: 50.2% (1995)

Industrial production growth rate: 3.7% (FY95/96)

Electricity - production: 348.3 GWh (2001), 420 GWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 58% (2001), 48.81% (1998)

hydro: 42% (2001), 51.19% (1998)

nuclear: 0% (2001, 1998)

other: 0% (2001,1998)

Electricity - consumption: 962.9 GWh (2001), 1.078 GWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2001, 1998)

Electricity - imports: 639 GWh (2001), 687 GWh (1998)

note: imports about 60% of its electricity from South Africa (1998)

Currency: 1 lilangeni (E) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: emalangeni (E) per US$1 – 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996), 3.6266 (1995); note - the Lilangeni is at par with the South African rand

(source:wikipedia)

Police called in to restore order at Mbabane Government Hospital

Hospital looked like a military hospital as a lot of police were seen moving in and out of the wards.

The nurses were continuing with their strike in a quest to compel government to pay them their overtime allowances.

This is despite that the Industrial Court issued a court order on Wednesday night restraining them from continuing with the strike, which resulted in many abandoning their work since Wednesday.

Yesterday, their protest seemed to be gaining momentum as they were found singing and toyi-toying near the conference room.

rioting

The hospital officials reported them to the Principal Secretary of the Health Ministry, Steven Shongwe, who then called the police officers to drive out the rioting nurses. The police and warders responded promptly as they found the nurses still singing and their arrival seemed to inspire them, as their singing gained momentum.

As per the order of the PS, the police ordered them to stop or else vacate the hospital premises.

Swaziland Authority:‘Raising the Revenue Standard’

Swaziland government has relied heavily on revenue from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). A number of studies, including two that were done by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2007 and this year, have indicated that there is a lot of potential to improve the contribution of domestic taxes to the fiscus.

Effective January 1, the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) was declared operational by Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole. The Authority took over the responsibility of revenue administration in the country from the two government departments of Customs and Excise and that of Taxes.

The Authority acts within the broad framework of government but outside of the civil service structures. The SRA was founded through the Revenue Authority Act No. 1 of 2008. Under the SRA, initially the administration of revenue in line with the Authority’s mandate will be managed across three technical functions, namely:

n Customs and Excise;

n Sales and Value Added Tax; and

n Income Tax

The concept of revenue collection agencies was initiated in South America in the mid-1980s and the first country to adopt this concept in Africa was Uganda in 1991. There are currently over 20 semi-autonomous revenue collection agencies in Africa.

The noted trend amongst countries that have utilised this concept is increased efficiencies in revenue collection thus making a positive contribution to the country’s fiscal climate. These efficiencies are delivered through better coordination of revenue collecting activities and better strategies to promote compliance.

It is in this spirit that the SRA intends to quickly migrate a function based organisation structure to effectively discharge the duties given it in the founding Act.

SRA’s Mission

The Authority has committed to delivering its Strategic Plan by the end of March 2011. The draft that is already in place states its mission as being; “To become a highly efficient and modern revenue collection agency enhancing national development and instilling transparency, ethical and professional values in our staff”.

The use of modern practices and information technology, supported by a highly trained and motivated team will be the key drivers towards attainment of this mission.

Mandate

The SRA’s mandate includes:

n Assessment and collection of all revenue on behalf of government;

n Administer and give effect to the laws or the specified provisions of the laws set out in the Schedule and account for all revenue to which those laws apply;

n Study the revenue laws and identify amendments which may be made to any revenue law for purposes of improving the administration of, and compliance with revenue laws;

n Promote compliance with the revenue laws;

n Take such measures as may be required to counteract tax or revenue fraud and other forms of tax or revenue evasion; and

n To ensure that all revenue collected is, as soon as reasonably practicable, credited to the Swaziland Government General Account.

Swaziland has over the past year experienced a number of challenges primarily due to the economic meltdown which has gripped the entire globe. These circumstances have forced a reality check on many economies worldwide, prompting a review of national socio economic strategies and policies.

As His Majesty King Mswati III correctly observed, that in the face of these challenges, “We can either wallow in a sense of despair and hope for a stroke of miracle to bail us out or we can change our attitude, think creatively, work harder, unite and make sacrifices to tackle these challenges head-on”.

The establishment of the SRA is a positive step by government in working towards turning the country’s economy around.

In its bid to meet the challenge set for it by His Majesty, the SRA will place great emphasis on:

n Adopting a customer focused approach towards providing a quality service to its clients, the taxpayer;

n Educating taxpayers and promoting a culture of voluntary compliance with tax laws;

n Investing in infrastructure, systems and personnel aimed at sustainably enhancing voluntary compliance.

n Strengthening its enforcement measures and;

n Harmonising its strategies and systems with those of trade promotion agencies for harmonisation of strategies and the realisation of effective synergies.

In an effort to strengthen its institutional and human capacity, the SRA subscribes to various international organisations that set the tone in matters of revenue administration, such as the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the Africa Tax Administrator’s Forum (ATAF).

Alliances with established revenue agencies such as the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) and the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) have also been pursued to achieve this objective.

Locally, the Authority will partner with a number of strategic partners, especially towards educating taxpayers on local tax laws and procedures for compliance.

The Swaziland Revenue Authority commits to His Majesty the King and the Swazi nation to diligently work towards raising the standard of revenue collection by placing great emphasis on efficiency, modernisation and professionalism.

Statement by Prime Minister introducing His Majesty

It is my honour, today, to say a few words before inviting His Majesty to address this gathering.

The launch of the new Swaziland Revenue Authority comes at a significant moment in our history when the Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap embarks on the programme to restore fiscal stability in a fair, disciplined and well-focused manner.

As they say in athletics, there is no gain without pain. In this case, implementation of the Roadmap will mean sacrifices within all sectors of the economy. It is also giving rise to the very tightest control of future government spending, though ensuring that service delivery in key areas of our social services is not compromised.

The other side of the budgetary equation is government revenue, of which the main component has hitherto been our share of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) pool. That share has fallen drastically, giving rise to an even greater need, than before, to maximise our other main sources of revenue – income and sales taxation as well as customs duties.

The concept of equitable revenue collection demands that all citizens and residents of Swaziland satisfy their respective tax and customs duty obligations.

The existing taxpayer culture, however, leaves much to be desired. There is, therefore, a need for the citizens and residents of Swaziland to be educated on issues of tax compliance. I urge the Swaziland Revenue Authority to ensure they engage fully with taxpayers to maximise compliance with the laws of the land.

Restoring fiscal stability, and providing resources for achieving the ambitious targets we have set ourselves in the National Development Strategy, necessitate a universal commitment to paying what is rightfully due to government by way of taxes and customs duties.

As we seek to achieve a comprehensive degree of tax compliance, the Swaziland Revenue Authority is the key player, both as protagonist and catalyst. Your Majesty, your government stands ready to support the staff and management of the Swaziland Revenue Authority in ensuring that they achieve their mandate.

Indeed, it is clear much progress has already been made during these early days of the Authority’s existence and we commend all who have participated. The presence of His Majesty Ingwenyama and Her Majesty Indlovukazi at today’s launch will surely be a great inspiration to all those who will be working in the Authority.

It is now my honour to invite His Majesty to address this gathering and the nation.

Swaziland nurses strike:closing public hospitals

(Swaziland Twitter)A Swaziland union official says public hospitals closed for three days this week after nurses went on strike in the country with the highest rate of HIV in the world.

Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union spokesman Sibusiso Lushaba said Saturday that the strike for overtime wages would resume next week. He says police armed with rifles and batons tried to stop 400 peacefully marching nurses from protesting Monday and Tuesday ahead of the strike that began Wednesday.

Lushaba called the small southern African nation a "military state," saying nurses could only march with government permission. Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy.

Some 185,000 of Swaziland's 1 million people are HIV positive, and 30,000 are receiving antiretroviral drugs