Times Of Swaziland: NDMA DISBURSES OVER E15M TO THE NEEDY IN 5 DAYS

NDMA DISBURSES OVER E15M TO THE NEEDY IN 5 DAYS
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 BY SITHEMBILE HLATSHWAYO on 30/07/2020 00:49:00


NKWENE – Over E15 million has been distributed to most deserving emaSwati
through the NDMA cash-based transfer relief fund in the past five days.
NDMA is an acronym for National Disaster Management Agency.
According to NDMA Programmes Director Victor Mahlalela, the second phase of
payments was running smoothly, adding that there were fewer challenges this time
around when compared to the first phase distribution exercise.
Mahlalela said before they began issuing payments, they instructed the
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) they were working with to visit
constituencies and validate the information of beneficiaries, which greatly
assisted them. He stated that the funds were paid through the E45 million
donation made by the Kirsh Foundation and a balance of E30 million remained.
Hope
Mahlalela expressed hope that they would have exhausted the distribution of the
funds in the second phase by Friday. Constituencies which received the money
yesterday included Nkwene and Ludzeludze, among others.
To date, Mahlalela said 13 659 households, under 14 constituences, have
benefited from the fund. The constituencies include; Hhukwini, LaMgabhi,
Lomahasha, Ludzeludze, Madlangampisi, Mangcongco, Maphalaleni, Mhlume, Ngudzeni,
Nhlambeni, Nkilongo, Nkomiyahlaba, Nkwene, Shiselweni I and Zombodze Emuva.
He said last Monday, they were able to pay a total of six constituencies and
almost half of the country’s constituencies had been covered.
Mahlalela said they hoped that by the end of this week, they would have covered
almost all the constituencies they were targeting to reach through the
cash-based transfer programme.
He noted that they had completed payments for Phase-One and had started were
paying out under Phase Two. Mahlalela acknowledged that they were dealing with
challenges of few individuals who still had not received the first payment but
had almost covered 57 000 households under Phase One.
He further explained that they were able to overcome most of the challenges when
issuing the second phase payments. “There were very few instances where an
individual was not paid and mostly due to information that did not
correspond,” explained Mahlalela.
Representative of the Kirsh Foundation in the kingdom, George Lys, said having
contributed so much money for food relief in the country, which was close to E90
million, they wanted to find out if it benefitted the people, especially those
who were severely impoverished and had no other means of survival.
Ascertain
Lys said they decided to join NDMA, a partner they were working with, to
ascertain what was happening on the ground. “We also wanted to hear from the
authorities at the constituencies and further meet the people to understand how
they were using the cash,” Lys said. He stated that they would be reporting
back to the Kirsh family on the findings, whether the funds were being properly
spent. This, he said, would give the family confidence to release more funds in
the event that Eswatini would require more funding to assist in food relief
issues. “It has been a privilege for me to come and witness what is happening
on the ground,” he said during the distribution exercise.
Lys said he was impressed with what he had seen and the stories he heard from
the beneficiaries themselves on how they spent the money. Summing it up, Lys
said it was a job well done by NDMA and the NGOs they were collaborating with.
He said they noted that some households were falling off the net but they could
not reach out to all of them as there were not enough funds. Also, he noted that
they were spending about E5 million assisting random people who sought their
assistance. He said some of these people included church groups.
Lys cleared the air on the issue of the funds, which he said were sourced from
Kirsh’s businesses outside the country. He stated that there was information
that the funds were sourced from Kirsh’s local businesses, which he said was
not true. Lys said the funds which were generated in the country were directed
to projects that uplifted the lives of emaSwati, including Inhlanyelo Fund and
also installing high speed internet in schools, among others.