LET US ALL SAVE THE CHILDREN

Children in Eswatini may not have the painful experiences of those in Palestine, Sudan and other war-torn countries, but they are also going through a lot.

These challenges lead them to depression and violent tendencies. In Palestine, war has been going on for decades but escalated to unprecedented levels on October 7, 2023 when insurgents linked to Hamas invaded Israel and killed about 1 200 people. Since that day, Israeli forces have killed more than 27 000 Palestinians, more than 10 000 of who are children, according to international organisation Save the Children. In Sudan, children are facing multiple crises as the civil war continues to escalate.

According to UNICEF, the number of children in need of humanitarian stood at 14 million in August 2023. At least 10 400 schools in areas affected by the conflict have been closed indefinitely, leaving about 19 million children without education and at risk of exploitation and abuse. Here in Eswatini, children have not experienced full-scale war. However, they were hugely affected by the social unrest of June/July 2021. Pupils were not only forced to miss lessons when schools were closed but some were involved in the violent protests. Others lost guardians. A young man of Sitjeni in Lobamba was shot and killed while standing in the yard of his home. Before the instability, there were pockets of violence here and there, with children involved in gangsterism, which is now a growing problem in the country. It starts in schools and spills over to communities. This January alone has not been friendly to the children of Eswatini.

sheer desperation

A teenage girl was the victim of cyberbullying in Siteki when, in sheer desperation, she stole only one sanitary pad from a pack in a shop. A five-year-old was killed by a 12-year-old boy with a hammer. The alleged killer was in a fit of rage and knew what he was doing, hence his decision to disappear immediately after bashing the child. It has always been said that violence begets violence. This was possibly one of the reasons corporal punishment was banned in the country’s schools. However, violence among the children of Eswatini has reached alarming levels. What exactly is happening?

I was happy on Thursday, to learn that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was involved in a meeting convened by the Children’s Consortium and promised that solutions would be explored to address children’s issues. The consortium met to discuss possible interventions, with particular emphasis on keeping children in school. Indeed, keeping them in school will reduce chances of children being sexually abused or exploited by dagga dealers and illegal miners, as it has been reported that 12-year-olds are involved in illegal gold mining on the Lufafa Mountain in Ntfonjeni. DPM Thuli Dladla recently warned that keeping a child out of school was a criminal offence in terms of the laws of the country. She said parents who fail to send their children to school would be dealt with. There is just one small problem; most parents want their children to be in school. They want a better future for their sons and daughters but do not have the economic means to make this possible. It is disheartening that in a country as small as ours, many children are unable to go to school because their parents are poor.

deeply touched

I was deeply touched and almost shed a tear when I read the story in the Times of Eswatini last Monday, of children who are doing piece jobs to raise money for school fees. While these unfortunate children wash strangers’ clothes and herd their neighbours’ cattle in exchange for paltry cash, their peers are in already in class, learning. The children go to Malindza, Mpaka and Ntandweni high schools. Twins Lerato and Lusizo Mbatha (15), who live with their unemployed mother, owe E5 690 each. The 16-year-old Anele Khoza is supposed to be in Form II but needs E5 400 to be able to start lessons. Indvuna Yenkhundla Sabelo Fakudze says about 60 children from the three schools are actually in need of urgent financial help.

Fakudze has been running from pillar to post, trying to find sponsors for them. He is worried, just as I am, that big companies are nowhere in sight when they are expected to play their corporate social responsibility. It has to be said that government is also failing these children. The OVC grants of E1 900 for secondary and E2 500 annually for high school are nowhere near what most schools charge. Even if government would pay these amounts, head teaches would still refuse to accept the children. Fakudze says some of the affected children have resorted to doing sex work. If there are 60 destitute pupils in Malindza, how many more are there around the country? Obviously, there are hundreds. Online gaming company EBet has promised to sponsor 55 of these children. If they identify a needy learner in Form I, they will pay for his or her education until the child reaches Form V. Savannah Maziya, Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) did her part, from her own pocket, when she donated 500 pairs of shoes to children under the Hlane Constituency in December 2023.  This was when she also donated wheelchairs and crutches to the elderly.

contributing

Where are the others? Sikuphi tsine labanye? Eswatini is too small a country for us to have so many children out of school. If a fund could be established, with each employed person contributing just E10, no child would be out of school. We have seen individuals, businesses and organisations contributing millions of Emalangeni when national events are to be held.
This is commendable, but why do they disappear when schools open because we always have this challenge as a nation? Cabinet ministers have embarked on an unprecedented tour of schools across the country, to establish any challenges teachers and pupils they have. They have been to many schools already, where they were warmly welcomed and, in turn, made several promises. The children they are taking pictures with are in school. What about Lerato Mbatha and the hundreds of others who are not in school? What plan does Cabinet has for them?

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