KUHLEHLA A VIOLATION OF RIGHTS – MAYIWANE YOUTH

MAYIWANE – The youth of Mayiwane has given reasons why they do not go to their various chiefdoms to seek funding for their businesses.

This is because they are asked where they pay allegiance to through kuhlela, which they said must come to an end. This was one of the concerns of the youth from Mayiwane Inkhundla who expressed this yesterday when delivering a petition to their Member of Parliament (MP) Gcina Shebeleza Dlamini. The youth who had gathered at Mayiwane Inkhundla Centre said they felt being forced to kuhlehla was a form of violation of their rights.

concerned

This was after the MP told the youth that he was concerned that they were no longer applying for available funding through the inkhundla. Gcina said funding was available but that the problem was that the youth shunned going to their respective chiefdoms to seek funds to start businesses. It was then that the youth responded that they were willing to apply for funding on condition that they were not forced to perform kuhlehla. They said an identity document was enough to validate a person as a liswati. The youth said even acquiring scholarships was challenging because one had to perform kuhlehla. They mentioned that whenever they tried to get a scholarship, the first thing they were asked was where they performed kuhlehla. They said other than this being a violation of their rights, it was a form of bribery because it required that you performed certain activities at the umphakatsi or to give some offering.

performing

Kuhlehla is a customary practice which shows that you pay allegiance to the chief. This could be through giving money or performing certain functions such as weeding the fields, among many others. Mirriam Mkhonta, who is the bucopho for Mfasini umphakatsi said kuhlehla was a prerequisite for funding because this acted as a form of security. She said kuhlehla was one way of being able to identify a person that he or she was from a specific umphakatsi.

Mkhonta said just like in a bank, when you need a loan, the bank may require a payslip if you were employed. She said this was a way of determining whether you will be able to repay the money. Speaking figuratively, she said just like in the case of a child, a parent could pay school fees and provide all the necessities but that the parent could not then write his or her child’s exams. 

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