UNESWA ARSON: E6M PHOTOCOPIERS DAMAGED

MATSAPHA - Photocopiers worth about E6 million were damaged during the supposed arson attack at UNESWA.

This was revealed by the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Justice Thwala yesterday when the Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Dlamini toured the damages at the rooms and offices that were affected during the fire incident which took place on Monday morning at the institution of higher learning. Dr Thwala said there were five photocopiers inside the strong room which was affected and each of them were worth about E1.2 million. It is worth noting that other things that were damaged included computers, office furniture and walls, which would need to be repainted, among other things. The vice chancellor said they were still trying to compute the total damages.

Examination

He said the examination papers which were kept in part of the strong room which was extensively burnt, were not affected because the metal doors prevented the flames from getting inside. Meanwhile, after touring the damaged rooms and offices, the PM said the fire almost wiped out one of the buildings which were in the history books of the country. He said he was among the first students to enrol at the university as when they were admitted, the contractor was still on site, constructing it.

Graduating

He said the university did not belong to government or current students, but was for all emaSwati as the scholars who were enrolled at the institution, would leave it after graduating. In that regard, he said; “emaSwati, including tertiary students should stop being selfish.” He said some people might feel like they do not need the institution because they had completed or were completing and decide to burn it down. He said this was not good because more emaSwati would need it. Again, to students, the premier said they should not be misled that they could wear graduation gowns and hoods without sitting for an examination. He said they should know that in education, there was no short cut. He said even if the examination papers were burnt during the fire incident, the examination would not have been cancelled, but postponed while other examination scripts were being printed.  “If you do not sit for the examination, no one will consider hiring you because the value of the degrees you attain will be affected,” the PM said.

Warned

He warned students to differentiate things which were part time and full time. He said they should know that learning was full-time, not part-time, like toyi-toying. He warned them against prioritising toyi-toying over learning. He said even if there were those who did not want to learn, they should not disturb their colleagues who put education first. On top of that, he said students who would keep on failing would end up losing their scholarship as government did not have enough money. In fact, he said there were many students who needed government support for their studies. He said since they had seen the damage, government would try to fix it and also provide security for those who wanted to learn. He urged the students to take good care of the institution so that it could benefit the next generations.“Stop vandalising the property. If you have grievances, raise them through proper channels as there are structures for that,” the PM said. On another note, the cause of the fire was still being investigated by the police, but the PM mentioned that if it was indeed set alight by people, the long hand of the arm would catch them.

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