By EPN Reporter
MBABANE – Deputy Prime Minister Thuli Dladla has instructed the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) to build a house for an elderly woman from Somntongo Constituency.
Dladla instructed NDMA to start constructing a house for Beauty Masuku from a place known as Msuzaneni, under Somntongo Constituency. The construction is expected to start tomorrow. Dladla issued the instruction yesterday when she visited Masuku.
The DPM was with Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo and other Government officials from the DPM’s Office and the Ministry of Education and Training. The Government entourage reached that place after visiting Lunkuntu Community under Nkilongo Constituency.
Upon reaching Msuzaneni, the officials were shocked to find that Masuku had been surviving under such harsh conditions. Her house was one-roomed and was about to fall. The house was thatch-roofed, but even the roofing itself was becoming dilapidated, such that it was possible to see starts at night, from inside the room.
The house was just not fit for human occupation and this is probably the reason why the DPM hastily instructed that the NDMA should hastily see to it that Masuku got a proper house, to live a better life. Dladla told Masuku that what Government was doing was an instruction issued by His Majesty King Mswati III.
According to Dladla, the King ordered Government to go to communities to see how Emaswati lived and work on the challenges faced by the members of the public. Dladla further told Masuku that the King specifically asked for Government to ensure that all of the elderly people were taken care of and lived a better life because elderly people were very important to the King.
Masuku was overwhelmed by emotions when she received the assistance from the DPM. She did not render any speech, but resorted to sing a gospel song titled ‘Siyabonga Jesu’, a song known to be loved by the King.
Somntongo Member of Parliament Sandile Nxumalo thanked Government for taking time to visit Masuku. Nxumalo mentioned that the situation was dire in his constituency, as there were many other people who needed help as a matter of urgency.
Nxumalo informed the Government officials that when people talked about such situations, it was easy to take it lightly, but the situation became different when people saw the conditions for themselves. Nxumalo said that was when people would start taking such situations seriously. He thanked the officials for taking time to see the situation for themselves so that they could have a clear picture of what was happening.
