MKHULU DIES AT ELDERLY VERIFICATION

MLIBA – An elderly man collapsed and later died while undergoing a verification process of ‘ghost’ elderly beneficiaries for social grants.

The unfortunate scenario, which was witnessed by other elderly people, unfolded last Friday at the Mliba Police Station. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the incident.
About a month ago, the office of the Deputy Prime Minister requested that all beneficiaries of the social grants should register at their pay points.

In an earlier interview with our sister publication, the Times of Swaziland, the DPM said this was aimed at verifying if the elders were indeed still alive.
On the Friday, it is said that Silwane Mathalithi Maziya collapsed after filling in a declaration form. An impeccable source said Maziya was then transported to Dvokolwako Health Centre in a police van where he was certified dead on arrival.
In an interview, Maziya’s second born child, Mavela Maziya, alleged that their father would not have died had he had not travelled to the pay point. “We are not blaming government entirely because he was a sickly person. However, the travelling could have contributed to his death,” Mavela said.

kidney

Detailing his father’s health condition, Mavela mentioned that Mathalithi had been diagnosed with kidney problems.
He mentioned that doctors had inserted a tube in his father’s body which helped restore urine flow. “He had to carefully  carry around the bag (container). He was also expected to empty it once it was full of urine,” said Mavela, who was in the company of his younger brother, Wandile.

Scientifically, the process of using the tubes is known as ureteral senting which helps restore the urine flow through blocked ureters and returns the kidney to normal function. Ureters are long, narrow tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder. This information was sourced from www.raidologyinfo.org

Interjecting, Wandile opined that the bumpy bus ride to the registration point could have aggravated their father’s sickness.
“The reason we are saying this is because he was energetic and looked healthy the morning he left. He was also fine the previous day. We were shocked to get a call from one of our uncles that our father was in hospital,” he said.
Asked about the distance to the police station from their homestead, Mavela estimated that it was around 16 kilometres.

travelled

However, this journalist noted that he travelled 13 kilometres from the police station to the homestead. This was after setting the mileage (odometer) in the vehicle he was travelling in.
Following their parent’s untimely death, Mavela suggested that the registration or verification should be conducted at schools close to the elderly people. “Besides utilising the schools, most areas have care-points – they can be advised to go there. The elderly people do not need to travel long distances,” he said.
On another note, Mavela announced that their father was expected to be buried tomorrow morning. About Maziya, the second-born said he was an ex-miner who returned home after falling sick. He mentioned that their father was survived by two wives and a total of 17 children.

The DPM, Themba Masuku, passed condolences to the Maziya family, saying that they had lost an asset.
He explained that the elderly were national assets because of the wealth of knowledge they possess. In March, Masuku issued a stern directive that elderly grants would not be released to relatives of beneficiaries unless they provide proof of residence.
Order

It is worth noting that the DPM issued out this order after Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg stated during his budget speech on February 27 that government would undertake an exercise to verify qualifying recipients and reduce the cost of distributing the grants. He said this would result in increased grants for each qualified recipient.

As it stands, the government has allocated an amount of E702 million for the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in order to continue the social protection improvements for emaSwati.
There are exactly eight requirements which were presented by the DPM, all of which are ways to curb the issue of beneficiaries who received money undeservingly.

It is worth noting that there are relatives of the beneficiaries who collect the monies on behalf of the elderly, regardless of the fact that they (elderly) are deceased.
The DPM mentioned that relatives will be stopped from getting grants without explaining where the rightful beneficiaries lived. Masuku said they would then visit the beneficiaries for verification purposes.
relatives
“The relatives who get the grants on the elderly people’s behalf should note that social workers will then follow up to ensure that those who the money is taken for are still alive. This will come about in that the relative who took the money will be accompanied to see the elderly at home or at the hospital,” Masuku said.

Another requirement announced by Masuku was that in the case of the elderly, who would not be in the kingdom to visit relatives in other countries, their grant would not be released until he or she returned and reported their return to their chief.
Those who received elderly grants were also requested to indicate their proof of existence to circumvent the issue of people withdrawing elderly grants illegally.

Furthermore, Masuku highlighted that the system which proves the existence of the elderly would begin to be implemented after the grant release which would be disseminated in the print and broadcasting media of the country.
police
Masuku stipulated that those who were not able to go to their constituencies were freely welcomed to come to the DPM’s offices or at the police stations nearer to them to update their proof of existence.
Those who got their grants from the bank were also requested to show up at their constituencies to indicate that they were still alive.
Masuku stated that if they did not do so, the office of the DPM would stop the grants until the beneficiaries came and updated to ensure that they were still alive.

He warned people not to be enticed into withdrawing monies of the elderly who had passed on. Masuku said they should be mindful of the country’s economy and those who deserved to get the money.      
The DPM highlighted that this exercise was as per the finance minister’s directive during the budget speech that there should be collaboration to fill the gap where the grants were being misused.

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