BY BANELE MAGONGO
MBABANE– Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPM) Thulisile Dladla has pledged to provide financial assistance for school fees and uniforms for double orphan children.
The DPM has done this in an effort to ensure that all school-age vulnerable children have the opportunity to get an education.
The DPM made this pledge during a visit to a child-headed household in Kupheleni Chiefdom, under Motshane Inkhundla. The children in this home were left by their parents, who passed on and left them in a vulnerable condition several years ago. Dladla addressed the issue of poverty and vulnerability among children in the country.
According to a post on the Deputy Prime Minister’s office Facebook page, the youngest child in the family was just a baby when her father passed away. Nine years later, her mother also passed away, leaving her and her two older sisters without parents and in a vulnerable situation. At the age of 16, the youngest sister had to drop out of school because she could not afford the tuition fees.
It is stated that the family will receive a water tank, fencing material for their garden, and a hairdressing training course for one of the sisters. The information about the family’s plight was brought to the attention of the DPM by a neighbour named Dudu Ngubane, who was a former classmate of the Deputy Prime Minister. Dudu, along with other neighbours, a local church, and the local traditional structure, have been helping the sisters. The community also built the sisters a proper two-bedroom house after they had been living in a run-down structure.
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance of fathers taking responsibility for their children and providing for their needs, regardless of their relationship with the children’s mother. She emphasised that people should take responsibility for their actions, including taking care of their children. The DPM comments were directed at the fathers of the two older sisters, who have children of their own.
