British South Africa
Postcolonial Swaziland
Amar Karahodzic
Economic Struggles
Colonialism has been criticized for a multitude of reasons. One of the largest criticisms of colonialism, other than its clear exploitation of the colonized nations, is the effects of the policies and systems establish by the colonizers. Postcolonial Africa saw many nations that were once colonized, struggle initially with their new independence. These systems once upheld by colonizers, were now left in the hands of the domestic population. Without finance, and a lack of control over their own resources the nations struggled to get on their feet. Many of these nations, without the colonial presence, saw social issues, such as the struggle for power or ethnic tensions, as well as economic struggles. Although Swaziland did not have the social issues, issues that plagued nations such as Rwanda, they did have issues with relation to their economy. The early postcolonial issues in Swaziland were economic in nature as seen through their dependence on their neighbors, lack of development, and overall poor structure.
Development
Swaziland also had a lack of development that resulted in the nation not realizing its true economic potential. Human development, particularly housing, was an issue for the population, especially the female population. In general, due to the lack of housing, as well as poor wages and income distribution, a large portion of the female population, as well as others, were denied housing. Their low wages do not allow for them to enter the traditional market, nor apply for loans due to their lack of credit. This system kept the poor people poor and slowed development. Furthermore, despite Swaziland’s natural resource wealth, only a small portion was used. Swaziland has resources such as iron, gold, diamond, timber, asbestos, and coal. Many of these resources are left untouched. These resources being untouched make it so that Swaziland’s GDP was severely lacking in the net export department, a department that is already hit due to the nations importing more than it exports.​
Economic Dependence
Swaziland, geographically, is not put in a position to succeed. The nation is landlocked and bordered only by Mozambique and South Africa. Without access to Sea ports, Swaziland heavily relies on its neighbors for the transport of goods, whether it be imports or exports. South Africa nearly monopolized the freight transport for Swaziland. Swaziland is also dependent on its neighbors due to its membership in the Customs Unions and Rand Monetary Union. Due to its membership in these Unions, the Swazi currency is directly linked, and therefore dependent on the South African Rand; the Rand is even a form of legal tender in Swaziland. Being a part of these Unions also means that a large portion of monetary policy, as well as currency exchange is dependent on its neighbors, most South Africa. A large portion of the Swazi budget was also issued by the Customs Union. Whether it be transport or monetary policy, Swaziland is left weakened due to its reliance on its neighbors.
Structure
Another issue with the Swazi economy is the structuring itself. Swaziland is highly dependent on agriculture. However, the nation has seen a switch to monoculture with sugar being the leading export. A monoculture dependency is an issue because if international markets for the product are in a slump and prices are low, the nation does not have a stable market it can rely on. Another issue is the way in which land distribution was handled. Land distribution was decided by the few political elite. This is a system that lends itself to corruption. The elite often times only dealt with the land they themselves put capital into. This results in much of the land being unused and the system being taken advantage of with money being put into the pocket of those who are supposed to distribute the land.
