Times Of Swaziland: SIKHANYISO WANTS BETTER ESWATINI FOR SON, FUTURE GENERATIONS

SIKHANYISO WANTS BETTER ESWATINI FOR SON, FUTURE GENERATIONS
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BY SIBONGILE SUKATI on 29/04/2021 08:11:00


MBABANE – Princess Sikhanyiso wants to make the Kingdom of Eswatini a better
place for her son and other generations to come.
The princess says she wants her son, Phikolwezwe ‘Phiko’ Kukhanya Phasika
Elihu Dlamini, to grow up in a different Eswatini that is more advanced,
economically and holistically. The princess, who is also the Minister of
Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), revealed this during a virtual
interview she had with American News Channel ABC News under the popular
programme called Good Morning America (GMA). In a five minute clip, the princess
appears to be at the King Sobhuza II Memorial Park, which appears in the
background and she is dressed in a black and white dress while sporting a long
black straight weave and ruby red lipstick. The princess, who has been in the
spotlight after taking maternity leave which lasted for a year, tells her
interviewer that; “Motherhood is the best experience yet. I have a new earned
respect for women, the sacrifices that we make for our children, you have to
juggle everything at the same time,” she said.
Appreciate
She went on; “I also appreciate the role of men … in childrearing we should
all play our part. I have a renewed impetus, even in the workplace, to say I
want to make Eswatini a better Eswatini for my son and the generations to
come,”.  Educated at St Edmund’s College in the UK and the University of
Sydney, Princess Sikhanyiso puts her Master’s Degree in digital communication
to good use in her role as minister of ICT. It is, however, her role as a mother
that she enjoys most at the moment, she told ABC News. Her son turned one on
April 10. The news channel reported that ‘Phiko’ was the King’s seventh
grandchild. In the five-minute clip, images of Princess Sikhanyiso with her baby
and other family members were shown.
The princess is also captured walking along the corridors of her ministry. GMA
said that Princess Sikhanyiso was looking to the future while embracing her
roots. She said she was born into a life of service which was how she described
modern day royalty. She was asked if being an African royal was different as
Americans were mostly used to European royalty. “Give us a sense of what it
means to be an African royal,” said the reporter.
“I believe it is the same worldwide, it is not a privilege, it is a life of
responsibility, a life of service to the people,’’ she said. The minister,
who is also a senator, was asked if this made His Majesty King Mswati III her
father and boss.