STRUGGLING GOVT CUTS DISABILITY GRANTS BENEFICIARIES

MBABANE – The ongoing financial crisis faced by government has resulted in people with disabilities being cut off from getting grants.
In the meantime, government will solely prioritise 20 people per constituency to continue getting the grants until its financial woes normalise.
This was revealed by the President of the Federation of People with Disabilities in Swaziland (FODSWA), Sipho Dlamini.

He explained this when addressing complaints from the organisation’s members, who said they were not getting their grants.  Dlamini stated that he discussed the issue with Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Themba Masuku, who said the selectiveness was due to government’s financial cash flow challenges.

He continued to state that the Disability Act of 2018 was clear that people with disabilities should receive a grant. He said the grant to be given to the 20 people per constituency would not be from the disability grant but it was referred to as a social grant as it was money made available for those in dire need.
When asked what strategy would be used to select the 20 people, Dlamini said they would be working closely with leaders of the constituencies, who will identify those who are most vulnerable to benefit.

“The deputy prime minister had said this programme would be done easily with the engagement of the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development which will also be working with bucopho as they were the ones who knew the people better,” stated Dlamini.

Budget

He said the DPM stated that once the budget was available, all people with disabilities would receive their grants.
“It is not to say it’s only the 20 who will get the grant but the starting number will be the 20 as it will then grow depending on what is available,” added Dlamini. In the meantime, Dlamini said they would conduct a census  solely for people with disabilities.

He further touched on the issue of people with disabilities not being represented in Parliament.
Dlamini said they would have loved it if people with disabilities were chosen the same way the four women from each region were elected if they were not voted for during the normal elections process.

He continued to state that it was due to the absence of representatives that issues of people with disabilities were not given the attention they deserved.
He mentioned that he hoped that by next elections, such will be a thing of the past.

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