SURELY NOT THAT NOISE AGAIN

It may have surprised the reader a year ago to learn from an article in this newspaper that it’s a biological fact that the human intestines are constantly working to move food and air through the stomach. And then the reader would perhaps start to get a little uneasy when reading that, when there’s no food there, the intestines rumble. In fact, they grumble. At that point a reasonably intelligent and empathetic individual would ask self (I’ve gone non-binary) the question – I wonder whether any person in this country is without food?

The answer, quite tragically, is yes. And furthermore, I’m ashamed to say that the noise mentioned above is being heard again in the schools. And because there’s been no food this term from the Schools Feeding Scheme. Doesn’t that make you want to weep? Tears of anger as well as empathy? Because in Eswatini there are many hundreds of learners for whom the school lunch is the only meal of the day. And all those dearly loved children are desperately hungry. No, they are desperately starving!

The first time I heard about this was last Friday,  June 28, 2024. And then, three days later on Monday, July 1, 2024, I read an article in each of the two national dailies about the government’s failure to deliver the food for the two months  of this term. And indeed, on sporadic occasions in previous months. What a coincidence. Or was it? And how can our children be neglected in this way? What is more important in this country – any country – than the lives of human beings? Certainly not the fancy buildings and little-known, but costly, expenditure items massaged into obscurity. When it comes to the crunch, the children of this country must be right at the top of government spending priorities.

Horrified
I am surely not the sole protagonist screaming about this issue. I like to feel that there are many out there – principals, teachers, civil servants and of course ministers – who are horrified about this and striving daily to resolve it. I would have liked a more frustrated reaction of the Hillside Primary principal to have been reported. But the impassioned pleas from parents were enough. I don’t have the status to go knocking on doors and demanding answers. What I can say is that on Thursday, May 25,  2023 – 13 months ago – I wrote an article on this very subject. I had done so after cycling with a pal of mine out into the rural areas. We encountered a school, where there was no food for the learners. It then emerged that it was a nationwide problem. I was assured at the highest level in the relevant government ministry that the problem was being sorted. Well, it hasn’t been sorted. It’s come back again. And that’s nothing short of a disgrace.

What was especially disappointing this week was the reaction of government, as published by those dailies. Assuming the DPM was accurately quoted, the lady argued that “always complaining about situations and demanding government to address them did not set a good example to the learners and they would grow up knowing that government had to do everything for them.” Sorry, madam, that is not a logical suggestion. The learners should, instead, grow up insisting that government should do everything for them for which government is responsible. And it has definitely taken on the responsibility to feed the learners every school day; and with not a day missed.

The DPM went on to recommend that government should request the umphakatsi to allocate land to the Sidwala Lutheran Primary School. How about the imiphakatsi allocating land to each of their respective schools? Make it countrywide.  Didn’t the Indlunkhulu Scheme, financed out of the Global Fund allocation to Eswatini, require every umphakatsi to allocate seven hectares of land for growing food for the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs)? Yes, it did, and it was not comprehensively implemented.

So even if, almost by default, much of that land is still available, why is the DPM concerned that; “the land acquisition process is not a simple one.” Eswatini Nation Land belongs to the people. The authorities should make it readily available to the people, especially for learners to grow food. And government should mobilise money for fencing, inputs and water supply, with the application of the substantial agricultural skills of the emaSwati. We said all that in May last year. Because land on its own will not address the issue.

Failing
And that’s the medium term. What possible excuse can there be for government failing to supply the food right now? And no future delays. Let’s be realistic about this. The food supplies are not being accessed from Jupiter. Not even from Mars; nor even from the Moon. The furthest source will be South Africa so there can be no excuse for failing to purchase the supplies. Huge amounts of money are pouring in from the Southern African Customs Union. Where’s it all going? Certainly not to clearing out all the longstanding debts owed to private sector companies. The cost of the food is a tiny, tiny proportion of available government resources. What is government doing about it? Let’s get an answer to this question that should not, as in the usual manner, be ignored. Because it is not the writer’s question. It’s the question from every parent and every learner in the public schools of Eswatini.

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