PAY CHIEFS - JAN SITHOLE

LOBAMBA – Manzini North MP Jan Sithole has called for the remuneration of chiefs.

Sithole said this would ensure chiefs were not compromised when people came to ask for pieces of land (kukhonta) for the construction of their houses.
Sithole made this submission yesterday during the debate of the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development annual performance report for the financial year 2013-2014.

“Chiefs must get paid because this is how shanty towns (tikomu) are created because they are not paid yet they are in charge of land which can be a bargaining tool,” said Sithole.
There are about 336 chiefs in the country, according to the latest Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) statistics.
He said it was very important that they were under a payroll to ensure this did not cripple development.
A majority of the MPs stated that the endless chieftaincy disputes were crippling development.

Siphofaneni MP Gundwane Gamedze said in his constituency there was a chieftaincy dispute which was stalling development.
He asked that the Minister Mduduzi ‘Small Joe’ Dlamini should arrange a meeting with the Regional Administrators and chiefs to see how they can map a way forward.

Shiselweni I MP Mandla Nxumalo suggested that government come up with a law which would punish chiefs, who deliberately stalled projects just because there was infighting.

“I know the Shiselweni region has a lot of chieftaincy disputes; please resolve these conflicts as soon as possible,” said Khubutha MP Njabulo Mabuza.
He said these conflicts retarded development and made an example that he and the regional secretary were once attacked by a mob carrying all sorts of weapons when they attempted to launch a project in one chiefdom and were asked why they had decided to have the launch in that area.

The MPs said because the chiefs were not compensated they ended up having their own people to drive development.
They alleged that the chiefs already had their candidates for the next election.

“I do not think the country will achieve vision 2022 if these disputes among chiefs are not resolved,” said Mafutseni MP Christopher Gamedze.  
The minister had mentioned that one of his ministry’s duties was to facilitate the resolution of conflicts on Swazi National Land in collaboration with chiefs which fell under the RA’s duties.

Hhukwini MP Saladin Magagula stated that the ministry had to ensure the Constitution was complied with, as it called for the Council of Chiefs to be established which would help the Regional Administrators. 
In response the minister said although he was in agreement that chiefs should be remunerated, he could not just call chiefs to a meeting to discuss issues on land disputes.

“We all know that chiefs have a leader and it is only if we approach the right structures and inform them of the workshop and give them the agenda that we can only be given a go ahead, but the concerns are noted,” said Dlamini.
He said ever since the RAs came into office they had been dealing with matters of chieftaincy disputes around the clock.

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