Times Of Swaziland: WE ARE A BROKEN PEOPLE

WE ARE A BROKEN PEOPLE
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Melusi Matsenjwa on 30/09/2024 08:43:00


THE ever-rising statistics of gender-based violence, even after numerous
campaigns and the much-celebrated enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic
Violence Act, are a serious cause for concern.
he latter development was seen as the perfect panacea to the worrying trends of
GBV; many were convinced that the tough ramifications that came with this piece
of legislation would arrest the situation through the double-edged sword effect
of deterrence and punishment.
Silence
Six years later, our girls and women are still being raped, beaten and killed
while many boys and men suffer in silence. Of course, it will not take six years
to rectify social ills of generations but we can be forgiven to have high
expectations of a major behavioural change in our people after all the
interventions that have been made.
This, in my view, points to deeper underlying issues in society that need the
attention of everyone, especially our leaders. It is becoming increasingly clear
that we are an angry, disillusioned society. Both our men and women are
struggling in many areas of their lives and are failing to deal with issues. We
are not at all a happy people and our mental health issues are manifesting in
destructive behaviours.
In this country, as it is right now, it takes an extremely optimistic person to
see any light at the end of the tunnel. With the economy performing as badly as
it is right now, with the huge inequality and poverty; the only light many are
seeing is that of an oncoming train. What further compounds that is the glaring
lack of vision and a sense of duty within our leadership. We only see career
leaders, hell-bent on keeping their jobs and so detached from the suffering of
the people. Our leaders have demonstrated a confused, reactionary leadership
that has a strong aversion to consultation.
Problems
If this state of affairs persists, our problems as a country will spiral out of
control. Our leadership needs to think creatively about how we can foster social
cohesion going forward. We need to see how we build our country, starting from
the primary source of socialisation; the family. The nation can benefit hugely
from a ‘Social Cohesion Indaba’ that will begin analysing our society from
that basic unit of society; the family, to see where we are losing it as a
nation.
From there, we can begin to understand, contextually, what makes up a liSwati.
We will understand the social, cultural and political context that informs our
behaviors and attitudes, as citizens and leaders. It is then that we can begin
to unravel our complex nature and see how that affects us. I am convinced that
such a reflective process will give answers to so many of our problems. From
there, we can begin to understand why we have a huge leadership crisis.
We can understand and dissect the docility in emaSwati that festers the many
human right violations which take place with impunity. Perhaps we can also
understand why a select few among us feel so entitled to resources that belong
to all bona-fide emaSwati that they are willing to use all means necessary to
reserve them for their exclusive enjoyment. We can even understand why the life
of a liSwati doesn’t seem to matter much in this country. A very good friend
of mine is wont to say: “Lelive leli alimati umuntfu.’’ It is a very sad
statement which I have reflected on many times and has proven true in many
occasions.
The point I am trying to make here is that we need to go back to the basics if
we intend fixing our nation. Attempts to fix the economy and politics at the
higher level will be an exercise in futility if we ignore the problems at the
micro level. Let’s focus on building a nation of people who are highly
patriotic and who desire to take the country to another level.
Leaders
When our people keep their end of the bargain and work to bulge the tax pool,
leaders should reciprocate this with excellence in service delivery. As a
people, we want to feel that we are not second-class citizens and that we have a
fundamental role to play in nation-building, not just churners of the resources
that are to be enjoyed by a select few, but as citizens who should be able to
influence the direction of the country.
That way, we can breed a happy, prosperous society where social ills such as
gender-based violence are so minimal as to be negligible. Morality cannot be
enforced sustainably using law only. There is honestly no excuse for a nation
with flowing rivers, fertile lands, mineral resources, fairly educated people,
one language, no history of war and a little over a million people not to be
envied by the world.