Children complain of Swazi custom
MBABANE – Children are concerned that the age-old custom of having adults to oversee and hold in trust property after the deaths of their parents deprives them of their right to the property when they come of age.
This they noted is because the people given the responsibility end up keeping the property as their own.
Samkeliso Dlamini raised this concern when addressing participants during the Second Southern Africa Conference on Children’s Rights at the Pan African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa.
He was one of two Swazi children, with Silungile Gina, who made presentations at the conference.
The conference, where the children were given an opportunity to address the participants, was hosted by Save the Children in partnership with the Child Rights Network for Southern Africa (CRNSA), the Pan African Parliament, SADC Council of Non-Governmental Organisations and Supertron under the theme ‘Building a child rights movement in Southern Africa’.
Samkeliso in his presentation noted that in Swazi tradition, children are not supposed to talk back at adults adding that because of tradition, an adult relative to their deceased parents is always appointed to oversee the property.
"We read in the newspapers about property grabbing when parents die. The children have no say because in Swazi tradition, children are not supposed to talk back at adults. It is Swazi tradition that in cases like this, a sibling to the deceased parent is appointed to oversee the property and hold it in trust for the children.
"But what happens is that these people end up keeping the property for themselves and not giving anything to the children even after they come of age. Even in rural areas you may find that the chiefs give the land our parents left us to other people. This results in the children going hungry as they cannot use the land, even for growing food," he said.
Samkeliso stated that another challenge they face as Swazi children is the issue of corporal punishment. He noted that according to a study, conducted by Save the Children on the prevalence of corporal punishment, it was found that some children are brutally beaten for things they are not in control of, like not having school uniforms.
"In terms of education, every child can now go to school, thanks to the Free Primary Education programme introduced by government in 2010. There is now even a law to ensure that all children have access to education. Also there is the OVC Fund, which is provided to indigent children, although the issue of bad head teachers who demand top up fees remains a challenge.
"That said there are still barriers, which prevent children from accessing education. One of these is the issue of limited schools, especially in the rural areas where you find that children have to walk long distances, that is, for more than 5km to the nearest school," Samkeliso said.
Further, he noted that there are challenges, which face their physically challenged brothers and sisters and this includes discrimination in that they still go to special schools.
He said the main problem is that these schools can be far away yet they should be able to attend public schools with other children.
Samkeliso stated that not all was gloom and doom as there are laws that protect children in Swaziland. He said there are organisations such as Save the Children, which are there to protect the children’s rights. He also noted that Children’s Welfare and Protection Act was there for their protection.
"As Swazi children, we understand our rights and the instruments that fully protect us. This is a result of being exposed to different platforms where we can voice our opinions like the media, schools and also in our communities. The media as a platform exposes children who are abused.
"It creates programme, which clearly explains our rights to us. The Ministry of Education, police and other NGOs have introduced toll free lines where children can report abuse. However, not all children read newspapers since they reside in rural areas where these are hard to get," he said.
Samekilso in his presentation stated that growing up in Swaziland can be a daunting challenge because some children have to overcome many difficulties like abuse and poverty. He, however, said government has made efforts to pass legislation that addresses these difficulties. Giving an example, he said there was the National Children’s Policy of 2009, the National Plan of Action for Children for 2011-2015, and also the recently enacted Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2012.
He said government has also set up the National Children’s Coordination Unit, which is housed strategically in the Deputy Prime Minister’s office.
Samkeliso said as children, they are hopeful for a better tomorrow despite the challenges they face.
‘Privileged girls always want more’
MBABANE – Silungile Gina when addressing the participants said some young girls engage in inter-generational relationships because privileged girls don’t always appreciate what they have and keep wanting more.
She noted that as a child in Swaziland, their parents cannot freely talk to them about sexual reproductive health issues because they think talking about it will make the children better at it."We only get to talk about it at school. Other girls in my country drop out of school because of teenage pregnancy. This may be a result of peer pressure in the urban areas. Imagine this ladies and gentlemen," she said.
Silungile said another challenge they face as children is the issue of stepmothers. She said the issue of men taking many wives just to prove their wealth affects them as children.
"As a result of this, we don’t get all the time with our fathers like children should have. Our mothers are supposed to provide us with love and care on their own something which they can’t do and we may feel rejected," she noted.
CRNSA to lobby SADC on Swaziland
MBABANE – The Child Rights Network for Southern Africa (CRNSA) will lobby SADC to encourage Swaziland to ratify the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
This is listed among the six resolutions taken during 2nd Southern Africa Conference on Children’s Rights at the Pan African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa.
The conference, hosted by Save the Children in partnership with the CRNSA, the SADC Council of NGOs, the Pan African Parliament and Supertron, focused on building a strong child rights movement in Southern Africa. Child rights focused organisations from across Southern Africa were brought together including parliamentarians, academic institutions, government officials, the African Union Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, other organisations in the continent that have similar interests and children from different countries. Among the Swazi representatives was Senelile Khumalo: Communications officer, Save the Children Swaziland.
Explaining about the conference, Khumalo said the conference noted Child rights advocacy has been weak in the past years at both country and regional level, which can be seen by inconsistencies in reporting mechanisms across the region and lack of ratified treaties resulting in inadequate provision in law, resource allocation and policy making.
"The outcomes of the meeting included, among other things, improved networking and collaboration between child rights organisations and regional bodies such as SADC, SADC- Parliamentary Forum and NEPAD.
"This is aimed at promoting children’s rights across the region, the need to strengthen child rights advocacy at regional level that will be effectively coordinated to influence policy change, ways to increase the involvement and visibility of children in the development of children’s rights programmes and decision making processes were identified, and also a child rights advocacy statement was developed and it will be presented to national governments and SADC Secretariat on child rights," she noted.
According to a brief from the CRNSA, participants were inspired by the desire to see children’s rights protected, promoted and fulfilled in a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.
The highlight of the conference was the launch of the CRNSA whose mission is ‘to provide a unified voice to advocate and campaign for better practice and policies that fulfil children’s rights and to ensure that children’s voices are heard by regional bodies’.　
The participants agreed on a conference statement which would be used by CRNSA to lobby the relevant states and bodies. The statement calls upon SADC to:
l Encourage the Government of Swaziland to ratify the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
l Prioritise child abuse pre- vention and early interven- tion programmes
l Advocate for state parties implement the SADC basic minimum package of services
l Ensure meaningful partici- pation of children at all levels of decision making and ensure that each country has a state funded children’s Parliament
l Allocate and increase bud- gets for children at all levels while guaranteeing meticulous budget monitor- ing
l Address violence, particu- larly sexual violence, plac- ing emphasis on rehabilita- tion and education
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