… As submissions continue
BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
LUDZIDZINI – Day 7 of the Sibaya People’s Parliament is in full swing at Ludzidzini Royal Residence today.
Of the many issues raised in the past 7 days, Emaswati continue to cover more ground with their submissions at Sibaya.
Nonhnlanhla Ginindza from Mbekelweni, who also works at the King’s Office, requested His Majesty to continue his tradition of meeting every single member of the King’s Office.
“As a woman, Your Majesty, I request that the Prime Minister you appoint be someone who will remember the issues of pensions. As women we have a problem whereby we marry men who were previously married. Upon the man’s death, this causes pension allocation challenges when the previous wives also come to claim portions of the pensions. We request that the Prime Minister address these pension issues,” concluded Ginindza.
Mabuya Endiya Nxumalo from Mtfongwaneni took a different approach as he read his submissions from a notebook.
“Your Majesty, I will speak about Eswatini Nation Land, that your land is being sold away, Your Majesty, so the next Prime Minister should give this attention. Your Majesty, the issue of traditional procurement of land (kukhonta) was left on the table by King Sobhuza II, as my elders will remain. We should not lose the tradition of using a cow to procure the land, as the issue of using money is being determined,” submitted Nxumalo.
“Your Majesty, I will also submit on the issue of farms. I propose that a farm owner should give the chief the right of first refusal, before they are allowed to sell it to a party from outside the community, as it happened at Gebeni. We thank you for that, Your Majesty,” added Nxumalo.
He also strongly advised that the Regional Development Funds (RDF) is getting prone to corruption for political campaign goals. He advised that the RDF should also be administered through the Regional Administrators who are responsible for developing the regions. Nxumalo concluded his submission by advising His Majesty that the next Prime Minister should also prioritise the implementation of Chief Councils, as per the constitution.
Following Nxumalo was Visile Dlamini from Lobamba who also spoke on the regulations around Tinkhundla and chiefs.
“We request, Your Majesty, that there be some standardisation of how much a cow costs in a chiefdom, so we don’t have very different prices for a cow at different chiefdoms,” she submitted.
Dlamini also strongly advised that Agricultural education be prioritised in order to curb the issue of unemployment, as Agriculture was always needed, and hence always provides jobs.
Other submissions presented personal issues concerning land disputes, and recent issues of corruption, like the disappearance of funds from ECSPONENT.
