Nation divided against self

Sir,

When an individual is divided in himself, in what is known as double mindedness, he barely makes progress in his life – he is no more different from a car whose driver has pressed both brakes and accelerator simultaneously. The same holds for a family whose members are divided. Divided we fall, together we stand, it is said.

Jesus taught: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand,” Matthew 12:25. Our kingdom is terribly divided. It is a polarised nation.

In politics, we have the dichotomy of those who are firm in the multiparty democracy, while others hoist the banner of monarchical democracy. Some carry the ‘messiahship’ spirit, which concerns itself with the welfare of the masses, while others are subsumed in endless selfish thoughts and actions, making them murderous at heart.

Believe

Others believe in making things happen for themselves, whereas others steal, plunder and kill their own blood, not minding that God ‘hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth…’ (Acts17:26).

Understanding

We have both the rich and the poor; the just and unjust; the humble and prideful and this produces an uproar. For there cannot be peace unless we have understanding of each other – which understanding cultivates harmony and reverence for each other.

When others believe in the cost-of-living adjustment, others oppose and raise taxes even the more. This obviously leads to people holding back on their ingenuity and industriousness, and do the bare minimum, which impacts negatively on the economy.

We are creating a dog-eat-dog world, and soon, no one will be safe, even those who think they are untouchable. Just like an individual who is not growing, we are going backwards, disintegrating and the laws of degeneracy are taking their toll on our nation.

Some are spelling doom on the kingdom, and are without faith and hope that things will ever get better. In the midst of these are those few who are optimistic in the very darkness and gloom we are in, and are working with the torch of faith, contributing positively for the common good.

Even if we are harrowed up by the diversity of believes, which is admissible, we can find common ground and work together for a common goal of unifying the debilitating kingdom.

Our salvation is within each of us. The fundamental rule in nature is cooperation. We can work together in our diversity – one of the key principles of nature.

Look how our bodies have diverse organs but work together so fine and harmoniously for the common good. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we were at when we created them,” said Albert Einstein. We’ve got to do something different.

The lessons are found in nature: “Nature… is not a system based on competition. Nature is a system based on cooperation” – to strive for a common goal – and this is a 17^th century definition of competition, not what it has turned out to be, which is to win at any costs or to see other fellow human beings not as brothers and sisters or potential friends, but as enemies or objects used as stepping stones to achieve our selfish ends.

Cooperation, not violent competition should be our motto; and then shall we, together, in a spirit of brotherhood, sing the Anthem: “Nkulunkulu mnikati wetibusiso teMaswati, siyatibonga tonkhe tinhlanhla…”

M Nkambule

Sir,

I have a problem separating politics from development because political decisions enhance or undermine development. Arguably, political interests can be attributed to the plight of the poor and vulnerable groups in society.

Poverty is a structural problem; there are those who are better positioned to live good lives while there are those who live a life of struggle because they lack opportunities.  However, there are countries that successfully adopted the Millennium Development Goals to lift millions of their people out of poverty.

Eswatini is a lower middle-income country with a population of roughly 1.1 million and has the 10^th highest income inequality in the world at 49 per cent. Poverty is often defined by one-dimensional measures; usually based on income, however, more realistically, poverty is multidimensional. According to the World Bank, these dimensions include deprivations experienced by poor people in their daily lives – such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, disempowerment, poor quality of work, the threat of violence and living in areas that are environmentally hazardous, among others.

People living in extremely poor households suffer from severe hunger, become physically weak, tend to sell or consume their productive assets (livestock, tools, seed), give up investing in their future (sending children to school) and die from infections that other people survive. For these reasons, extremely poor people are slow to respond to programmes which demand a certain amount of effort and contribution (credit and saving schemes).

The Eswatini poverty situation needs to change. To this end, emaSwati should raise their voices in organised groups. We need MPs who will stay true to their campaigns by performing their duties in the interest of their constituencies. We need a justice system and a human rights commission that will protect the rights of the poor and vulnerable groups. We also need an Anti-Corruption Commission that will stop corruption because it affects the poor. EmaSwati need a pro-poor budget where job creation, education, fighting hunger, among others will be prioritised. This includes a land policy where emaSwati will not be subjected to land grabs and evictions.

Ndlangamandla