MBABANE-(MaraviPost)-As Eswatini braces for yet another electricity tariff increase, the country’s most powerful leaders will not feel it.
King Mswati III, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini and members of Cabinet are insulated from rising power and water costs, according to benefits documents cited by Swaziland News.
The documents, described as a Cabinet Ministers Circular outlining conditions of service, reportedly show that government covers up to R5,000 per month per minister for electricity and water.
The royal palaces, meanwhile, are said to consume both utilities without paying at all.
The revelation comes at a sensitive moment.
The Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) has applied to the Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) for another tariff adjustment — the latest in a series of increases that have steadily pushed up the cost of living.
For most households, there is no cushion.
About 70% of Eswatini’s population lives below the poverty line, according to widely cited estimates.
For those families, electricity is not a luxury. It is the difference between cooking a meal, keeping a small business open, or studying after dark.
Every increase forces a choice: buy fewer units, skip food, or go without.
Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli declined to comment when asked by Swaziland News about the benefits arrangement.
The contrast has fuelled public anger, not just about tariffs, but about who bears the burden of economic decisions in Africa’s last absolute monarchy.
When leaders do not pay for power, critics argue, they have little incentive to question why tariffs keep rising, why the utility keeps asking for more, or why ordinary citizens are expected to absorb the cost.
Supporters of the monarchy often argue that royal and ministerial benefits are part of state protocol. But for a population struggling with unemployment, food prices and basic services, that explanation is wearing thin.
The question now is not only whether ESERA will approve the EEC’s latest application.
It is whether a system where those who approve policy never pay for its consequences can be called fair.
Apparently, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is facing one of its worst power crisis in years, and the problem is no longer confined to one country.
At the heart of the crisis is over-reliance on ageing infrastructure and hydropower. Zambia and Zimbabwe share the Kariba Dam, once the backbone of power supply for both nations.
But low rainfall, worsened by El Niño and climate change, has drastically reduced water levels. When Kariba cannot generate at full capacity, both countries plunge into long hours of load-shedding.
Zimbabwe’s situation has been worsened by the state of Hwange Thermal Power Station. Built decades ago, its units frequently break down. When Hwange goes off grid, as it has done repeatedly, the country loses hundreds of megawatts overnight, leaving homes, hospitals and businesses in darkness.
South Africa, the region’s largest economy, has for years struggled with its own generation crisis at Eskom, marked by breakdowns, corruption and delayed maintenance. Although load-shedding has eased at times, the system remains fragile.
Malawi, Lesotho and Eswatini face similar pressures. Malawi depends heavily on hydropower from the Shire River, which is vulnerable to drought and cyclones. Eswatini imports a large share of its electricity from South Africa and Mozambique, so when its neighbours struggle, it also pays more and faces supply uncertainty.
Demand is also rising faster than supply. Populations are growing, towns are expanding, and more people want power for cooking, irrigation, mining and small businesses. But new generation projects are slow, expensive and often delayed by debt, politics and lack of investment.
The result is a regional pattern: expensive tariffs, unreliable supply, and millions of people forced to rely on firewood, charcoal, generators or candles.
Without urgent investment in diversified energy — solar, wind, regional interconnectors and rehabilitation of old plants — SADC’s power challenges will continue to undermine economic growth, food security and basic service delivery.
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