KING’S ‘NKWE’ CALL CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED IF ... - MPHANDLANA

SIDVOKODVO – Political activist Mphandlana Shongwe has headed the ‘nkwe’ call by His Majesty King Mswati III.

In what may come as a surprise to many, including political activists, Shongwe has taken a leap of faith and risking it all in a farming project as he attempts to empower himself and others in the country. The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) member has urged all emaSwati to take the initiative and ensure that His Majesty the King’s call is successfully implemented. He said to make this dream a reality; there was a need for every liSwati to work together, including government.

This was during an interview with the Times SUNDAY. This year, Shongwe has decided to venture into farming as the next step in his life in pursuit for economic empowerment which he said was in line with the King’s call and should be embraced by all citizens in the country. He, however, has voiced that in order for the King’s call to be made a reality, there was a need to give it an identity and a point of reference. He further appealed to the King to set up a committee to give his call an identity.

Dream

He said his new project was a marriage between his second life project and His Majesty the King’s dream. He said the King’s call has come at a time when he had decided to stand up to the issue of unemployment and work. Explaining how the two dreams could be married, Shongwe said economic empowerment and the King’s call for ‘nkwe’ could be achieved by working together (Kuhlangabetana). He said as much as he could run the race on his own, the King’s dream could not be realised while insisting that this should be a relay race for all emaSwati.

“This should be a relay race, I have taken the baton and came up with this project, now it is up to every liSwati to do their part. Nkwe! yedvwa angeke asisite,” he said. Shongwe said in order to successfully implement the King’s call, there was a need to have a starting and finishing point where everyone clearly knew their various roles.  He recalled past experiences, where His Majesty the King and government made similar calls and commitments such as ‘speed’ and ‘business unusual’, which were never successfully finished or implemented.
“We have had all these experiences in the past where resolutions were never accomplished or successfully implemented,” added Shongwe.

Logically

He emphasised on the need to have the slogan logically located in each and every community around the country. Shongwe appealed to the King to set up a committee to kick start the ‘nkwe’ call and give a clear direction and identity. He made an example about South Africa, when they were faced with the electricity shortage and established a specific ministry to address the issue.  He pointed out that various funds that have been set up by government such as the Youth Empowerment Fund, The Regional Development Fund (RDF) have all failed to adequately fulfil their mandate.The political activist highlighted on the need to clearly spell out what the ‘nkwe’ call means as there are some people who are already implementing the call but were lacking the proper support and capacitation from government.  “Lo nkwe ngeke aze abe khona without clear guidelines and the necessary support such as farm inputs for aspiring farmers,” he said.

Sufficiency

He said for a number of years, there have been numerous calls for government to release farms to emaSwati so they could utilise the land to achieve the country’s goal of attaining food sufficiency.  He said it was well-known that government was not effective in service delivery, but that did not mean emaSwati should sit on their laurels and wait to be fed.  He said the reason it was not practical to sit and wait for government to deliver was that it was critical for people not to sit and ask what people or government could do for them but for them to stand up and do it for themselves.

He said before people asked what one wanted, it was up to them to decide what they wanted for themselves and in that spirit, the issue of poverty and unemployment could be addressed. Shongwe quoted former United States of America (USA) President, John Kennedy’s inaugural address which inspired children and adults to see the importance of civic action and public service. His historic words, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good.
He said if emaSwati could adopt such a culture, the country would prosper.

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