UNLOCK CLIMATE CHANGE MILLIONS

Some of us can still remember the devastating hailstorm that hit Ngculwini and surrounding areas in December 2023, leaving many homes, vehicles and other properties damaged.

To this day, some of those affected say they have still not received the relevant relief from structures like the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). That hailstorm damaged even quality roofing from modern houses, broke windows in many homes and left cars with tell-tale signs of having been in the area. At least 10 months later, on October 27, 2024, a severe windstorm, swept across the kingdom and had serious impact in the Manzini, Lubombo and Hhohho regions.

This windstorm accompanied by only a little rain, inflicted damage on residential areas and infrastructure. Unfortunately, a day later, another storm hit some parts of the country. In the aftermath of these two storms, 1 272 people in 236 households countrywide had been affected. No less than 14 schools were left damaged. Now, many households in our country are either child-headed or headed by elderly people who look after grandchildren. The E500 social grant senior citizens get from government each month is not even enough to cater for their daily groceries, let alone house maintenance.

Where does the NDMA place these vulnerable citizens? It is a fact that whether rich or poor, natural disasters will affect you. The difference arises in the aftermath of that disaster, when those with the financial muscle are able to quickly repair the damage and get on with their lives. Those who struggle to make ends meet rely on the intervention of agencies like the NDMA, Baphalali Swaziland Red Cross Society and Good Samaritans.
Notably, apart from the NDMA, we still have the Disaster Management Department under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM).

This department oversees and works with the NDMA, non-governmental organisations and other development partners whose mandate is to prevent and substantially reduce the impact of disasters. In the past few years, these agencies have not exactly impressed with their response to natural disasters. Unfortunately, the Disaster Management Department under the DPM’s Office, and the NDMA are seemingly never ready.  

Even when they do respond as quickly as practicable, they soon claim to have run out of resources, leaving affected emaSwati in dire straits. With climate change affecting every nation in the world, delivering storms, floods, extreme heat or extreme cold and very strong winds, Eswatini is no exception. As we have seen in the past week, climate change effects are now pounding our kingdom on a disturbingly regular basis.

Perplexed

The number of affected citizens keeps going up, with new cases arising while those affected by previous disasters are still perplexed and wondering if they will ever get the required intervention. Indeed, after a heatwave spanning several weeks between November and December, Eswatini suddenly received a lot of rain this past week. The rains were a welcome change because dams were running dry, making everybody worry, while crops and animals were dying.

Unfortunately, the rain was not what we had been praying for, as it was too heavy and fell for not less than three days in most parts of the country.
Rivers flooded, bridges were washed away and people drowned. In other areas, animals like cattle and people were stranded in the ‘longesheya ngulongesheya’ fashion. One house at Nginamadvolo was even damaged by a large boulder that rolled from a mountain after being loosened by the rain. The less said about roads, the better.

ith most gravel roads across the country already in a deplorable state before the floods, they are now virtually non-existent after the rains. By Friday, more than 60 homes had been recorded as damaged, with the number of affected people going up to more than 300. Manqoba Khumalo, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, has appealed to the private sector to assist households affected by the heavy rains.

At the same time, citizens have come out as individuals to help others or repair roads and fix drainages. Lubombo Member of Parliament (MP) Futhie Ngcamphalala is one of those who have wasted no time in offering help to those affected. Same as Minister of Information , Communication and Technology Savannah Maziya who spent yesterday morning delivering food packages at different tinkhundla.

All this is appreciated and hopefully, Minister Khumalo’s plea is heeded. Despite what naysayers say, the private sector everywhere in the world always pitches in when there are huge disasters. Even in South Africa, it is now practically an expectation that Gift of the Givers, a non-governmental disaster response organisation will always be on hand to provide relief to survivors. However, we cannot run away from the fact that it is always the responsibility of government to protect citizens and drive relief efforts in case disaster strikes.

With countries under the European Union (EU) feeling the effects of climate change, with disasters like drought, wildfires, heatwaves and floods, governments have been tasked with allocating more funds to disaster management agencies similar to our own NDMA. Acting Prime Minister Thuli Dladla, who has been running around literally comforting storm victims while assessing the damage, seems to have the right idea as she called on emaSwati to identify homesteads built using stick-and-mud.

She says government is shifting its focus towards disaster prevention, as opposed to reacting when the damage has been done. One does not have to be a prophet of doom to predict that we are still going to have more windstorms, floods, hailstorms and even snow as the months as the years go by.
In his ambitious Eswatini Government Programme of Action 2024/2025 – 2028/2029, Prime Minister Russell Dlamini revealed that E60 billion would be raised to deal with effects of climate change.

The total amount required to see the programme of action come to fruition over the next five years is about E220 billion. I am sure Cabinet understands that this past week’s floods are a stark example of climate change effects. Nothing beats preparedness. If E60 billion is the targeted amount over five years, how much is available for such occurrences right now, as in, for ‘nkwe’ purposes? That is the big question Cabinet should answer, as a matter of urgency.

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