DAUNTING TEST FOR SADC

THE political situation unfolding in Zimbabwe does not come as much of a surprise really given its precarious economic state that has driven hundreds of thousands of people into poverty.

It was not a matter of if it would happen but rather when the people would resort to take the initiative to call for a change in leadership.
After four decades of rule, who would think President Robert Mugabe would lose his grip of power due to a fundamental error of judgment that saw him line up his wife as successor and dismissing likely candidate, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Evidently this was not the plan agreed to with key stakeholders, in particular the army, so why deviate from it? Mugabe had his way for many years, even if it came at the cost of lives and economic and social hardships of his people. But not this time. Ironically, it is the army that has always ensured his extended stay in power that has ultimately decided enough is enough.

A darling of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Mugabe was never going to be forced to step down by his colleagues after 37 years in power - no matter how bad things would get in his country.

However, today he joins a long list of leaders who have been forcibly removed from power. SADC leaders are, once again, faced with the challenge of restoring order. Recently it was Lesotho where peacekeeping troops, which include Swazis, were deployed to safeguard any possible conflict following the shooting of an army general who was trying to implement SADC recommendations.

There is no telling as yet, whether or not things will get better in Zimbabwe under new leadership but it must be said that a military takeover sets a bad precedent for the country.

We are hoping for a peaceful transition as we monitor these developments. The SADC response this time around, will determine whether it serves the interests of the leaders or that of the people in member countries.

*** Govt makes them cry ***

Seeing an elderly woman weep after being turned away at a disbursement centre where her peers were receiving social grants was heartbreaking. It was to be expected though, with the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) office having indicated earlier that all those who turned 60 this year had not been included in the data base and therefore not budgeted for. But is this acceptable?

Government is not naive to the reality that the data base of the elderly increases yearly. The disbursement of grants has been ongoing for years and annual trends are well documented. The well educated officers in the DPM’s office know this and ought to cater for it in the budget request for every new financial year.
This is standard procedure with everything government does. If there are provisions for escalations in projects, why are there no provisions for such when it comes to human beings?

Government is also capable of re-allocations. We see this a lot with projects or national events so how is this not possible now with the elderly?

Each day presents more clarity to the perceptions that this Cabinet is more concerned with infrastructure than human life.
We are beginning to sound like a broken record in highlighting the absence of fiscal prudence which the citizens are expected to accept while operations remain normal in Cabinet. It came as no surprise that the acting PM Paul Dlamini and his ministers were kicked out of the House of Assembly by Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday after the MPs demanded the payment of the monthly elderly grants for those who turned 60 in April 2017. They also want Cabinet to pay the outstanding Phalala Fund bill of E170 million.
Call it grandstanding, electioneering, campaigning or whatever, but the action by the MPs is commendable. Cabinet needs a serious shake up to give serious attention to the lives of the people.
The people of this country have become mere statistics to these men and women entrusted with improving lives.
How do you explain cutting health funding so you can build more roads? Who will use these roads, ghosts? The Health minister deserves to explain to the nation how Phalala Fund ran up an unpaid bill of E170 million resulting in the suspension of specialist services in neighbouring South Africa, leaving several patients dead and hundreds of others on the edge.
Every way you turn, people are crying because of the hardships brought about by Cabinet. They need to wipe these tears today!

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