Times Of Swaziland: OVCS COULD BE FACELESS POLITICAL KILLERS - SENATOR

OVCS COULD BE FACELESS POLITICAL KILLERS - SENATOR
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Sabelo Majola on 18/11/2022 09:29:00


MBABANE – The unknown or faceless people who are planting anarchy in the
country, which has resulted in the loss of life, could be the Eswatini’s very
own OVCs.
This claim was made by Senator Mkhululi Dlamini, when motivating his motion
which requests the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku to submit an
extensive report to Senate detailing the current status of all orphaned and
vulnerable children (OVCs) that are, or have been supported by government.
Dlamini said the report should primarily indicate, without necessarily using
real names, what the OVCs were doing and how government assistance had improved
their lives. Initially, the senator had requested that the report be submitted
to Senate within 14 days of adoption of the motion but the DPM, successfully
requested for an extension to at least 21 days to give a fully informative
report.
Education
In his submission, Dlamini said a person who had been exposed to education
gained wisdom, but there was a danger that manifested itself to the extreme if
that person did not see their education to a comprehensive stage. He shared that
unfortunately, some of the OVCs did not go far with their education, but at the
time they dropped out of school, their level of thinking would have been greatly
enhanced. The senator said the danger in that was that the child would be
unemployed probably due to lack of an academic qualification and that situation
would likely breed a citizen who had a strong aggression towards the very same
government that extended a helping hand through the OVC fund.
“It is either they complete their education to the very last stage so that
they have plenty options on life or they are offered employment because if
that’s not the case, these people could be very dangerous as they would feel
undervalued and disregarded, hence affiliate to any space that will bring
hope,” he shared. The seconder, Senator Prince Mshengu, said it should not
just end with paying the required fees for the child while at school, but there
were other elements that formed part of educating a child holistically.
This sentiment was shared by Senator Busi Dlamini, who submitted that the OVCs
needed inspectors who would look into their psychological standing, given that
they had been exposed to all kinds of things in recent times. She made an
example that burning of schools and infrastructure, which occurred mostly, last
year, also saw the burning of feeding centres, where OVCs went to for meals and
it left a scar on them. She also submitted that they had been exposed to people
carrying and shooting guns, a sight that had been seldom in the country until
recently. These things, coupled with other contributing factors, build so much
anger in the child and they become a bomb waiting to explode, as explained by
the senator.Senator Sylvia Mthethwa said the issue of OVCs was a very broad one
and it was of national importance to look in to it in a broad sphere, not to
scratch the surface. She submitted that the first thing to do was to define the
OVC in clear terms that gave clarity to everybody.
Certificates
She also touched on the issue of certificates for the OVCs, which she said
remained one of the things that posed a great challenge, particularly to the
office of the DPM, as there was not enough data on the OVC, , given this
challenge. Masuku accepted the motion and forwarded his gratitude to the mover
for raising it as there was a lot to unpack on the issue of the OVCs. He was
given 21 days to give the report on the OVCs. Prior to that, Senator Busi made a
suggestion that the funding offered to OVCs should now come in the form of a
loan, so that those found to be posing as OVCs but were not, were made to pay
back all the money.
She made this suggestion after it came up that a great percentage of the
scholars were enrolled under the OVC programme yet many of those were not
qualifying to be funded through it. She even mentioned that there was a school,
where 90 per cent of the pupils were enrolled as OVCs, which she did not mention
and said this was a huge burden on government. Masuku suggested that currently
there were 211 756 OVCs and there were only 42 residential homes accommodating
them, which was meagre given the huge number of the children.
Meanwhile, the mover of the motion was now and again disturbing submissions and
requesting the Deputy Senate President Ndumiso Mdluli, who was presiding
yesterday, to adjourn the sitting as it was very hot in the Senate and
presenting an unworkable condition magnified by lack of air-conditioning.