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NO NEED FOR SA HOSPITALS

05/12/2020 23:50:00 BY Alex Nxumalo

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Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing to help improve the lives of others’ - Martin Luther King Jr.

I join the multitudes of the country’s people who sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery, to the country’s Prime Minister, who is reported to have contracted the COVID-19 virus and is being (or has already been) transferred to a South African hospital. Such has been done, in order to ‘guide and fast-track his recovery process’, that is, according to an official government statement.

Vague, though, the statement might sound, those among us who value the sanctity of human life, irrespective of social and/or political standing, wish him good health. God is good all the time, and He never fails to answer prayers from true Christians. In His own opportune time, He will respond rest assured.

truth

It is the brutal truth and a fact of life that illness - just like it is with death - is not a very nice experience to encounter - irrespective of whom it makes victim. As fallible and imperfect human beings, prone to being at the mercy of life’s unpredictable nature, it is also of paramount importance to understand that we live in an imperfect world and that what happens to the next person - good or bad - has the propensity to happen to the other person. The spirit of ubuntu - so famously inherent in us African nationals, which previously never faltered to trigger in each one of us a deeply ingrained, empathetic sense of looking out for, take care of and wish speedy recovery to those unfortunate enough to fall victim to its (illness) vicious tentacles - is relentlessly being eroded at a frenetic pace.

I dare to say, that this spirit, incessantly faces mounting threats of being relegated to being a thing of the past - in short, extinct.

In my opinion, it is a gross and grave travesty of that famous spirit of ubuntu to hear (and learn) from the grapevine, that some sectors of our society are critiquing and condemning government’s stance of transferring the country’s premier to neighbouring South Africa - which, without any shadow of doubt, is a country boasting of being one of the African countries with the best healthcare systems in the African continent. Illness, my fellow countrymen, is unpredictable and can strike at anyone, anywhere and at any time. I am quite cognisant of the fact that those sectors of our society who are aggrieved at some of our leaders’ act of ‘abandoning’ local healthcare facilities, are using the ‘away with preferential treatment’ card, pointing out that our leaders’ propensity to seek medical attention outside the country, is a glaring indication of a lack of trust in local healthcare system facilities. I can almost hear them saying that ‘not when they have the power to improve the country’s healthcare system, bringing to a screeching halt the need of seeking medical attention outside the country ....’

I could not agree more with that sentiment. At the same time, logic dictates that we also need to be as objective as we possibly can and refrain from using our hearts - instead of our heads - to interrogate contentious, national issues, which have the propensity to divide us a nation. I am also quite cognisant of the fact that our civil authority’s track record of good governance and social obligations, especially on matters touching on adherence to constitutional rights of our people, is more often than not, suspect.

Kindly allow me, then, my dear reader, to offer my two-cents, worth of opinion as an opinion writer. I will try, to the best of my ability, to be as objective as I possibly can and endeavour to use my head (and not my heart) to state my case.

opinion

Please, you be the judge, bearing it in mind that like all citizens of this God-forsaken country, I have a constitutional right to exercising my fundamental right to freedom of expression. This right is inalienable, and I will defend it (and yours, too) with my back against the wall.Without any shadow of doubt, there continues to be a pressing need for governments around the globe, especially those in the developing world (the African continent, to be precise), to invest in healthcare systems for their citizens, and such need cannot be overemphasised. The advent of the deadly COVID-19 virus caught many governments around the globe napping, inclusive of our very own, unique Kingdom of Eswatini. In light of the depressing and deplorable, healthcare systems in many countries in the continent, it is a miracle how some countries in Africa, were not as drastically affected, as their counterparts in overseas countries. God is indeed good, all the time! It is a well-known fact that many African governments pay lip service to good governance. They consistently fail dismally to adhere to true democratic values.

governments

Such governments are corrupt, greedy, loot public funds for personal gain and practice nepotism; preferring to recklessly spend taxpayer monies on vanity projects, which add no value to the development of their countries.

Speaking (and writing) truth to power, it is the brutal truth that our civil authorities are, at times, slave to this unfortunate trend. As citizens of such countries, it is important for us to peacefully call for a change to systems of governance that persistently violate fundamental human rights of their ciitizens.

For example, every citizen, irrespective of social or political affili has a right to accessing the best healthcare facilities in the country. If such is not given, government should understand that citizens have a right to be transferred to healthcare facilities outside the country - not for such to be exclusively reserved for the elite of the country. We all pay taxes... remember? The electorate need to use the power of the ballot to bring about changes to systems that violate their fundamental rights. Silently groaning in passive mode, and in docility, submitting to the oppressive violation of citizens’ human rights, by secular world governments, is just not Godly. Now, in my opinion (please kindly respect that), concerning the current, hullabaloo raised by the prime minister’s transfer to neighbouring South Africa for medical treatment, people in social media platforms, are incensed, asking themselves: Why waste public funds when we have capable, local, healthcare facilities like the Lubombo Referral Hospital available? In my opinion, it is important that we play the ball - not the man - and that we condemn the system of governance, which promotes the idea that its elite must be given preferential treatment, compared to the people, who toil hard to fund their extravagant lifestyle.

advocate

It is important to note that the prime minister is just a cog, albeit a prominent one, in the whole system of governance and targeting him individually only, instead of calling for the improvement of the system of governance, which might enable it to subscribe to democratic values, is grossly unfair to the man.

We cannot run away from the fact that as the electorate, we are guilty of opting to recycle tired politicians who perpetuate the skewed system of governance, every other five years. They benefit handsomely from it, making little or no effect at all at influencing a people-friendly government. The power lies in the hands of the people to advocate for change - peaceful change - by voting in people who will have the best interest of the electorate at heart and help usher in (or improve the current system of governance) a truly representative system of governance, based on democratic values.

We need to elect a vibrant, visionary brand of political leadership that will give priority to improving our deplorable, healthcare, education systems as well as fix many other lacking areas that glaringly require urgent repair.

I still insist that the medical facility at the Lubombo Referral Hospital, is one of the best - if not the best - in the country. I am saying this (and writing it) from experience, after I was recently discharged after having been diagnosed as being positive, requiring my being admitted to the hospital due to contracting COVID-19 early last month. As far as I am concerned, engaging in ‘medical tourism’ by the elite in government, is not necessary, because the facilities in that state-of-the-art hospital, are simply one of the best. The medical staff, including support staff like nurses, cleaners, catering company, etc., care very professional, and one’s health is regarded as a priority. In my humble opinion, there is just no need for any admitted patient to seek medical treatment for COVID-19 illness outside the country ... not unless there arises serious complications that are beyond the medical capacity (and capability) of the medical staff and institution, respectively.

politicians

As a country, we need to promulgate legislation that will prevent politicians who were given the responsibility of developing the critical systems of the country, to refrain from deciding that they have no need of utilising, say local, public health systems because they can dare to use taxpayer monies to access private, healthcare facilities outside the country.

Let us commit ourselves, as leaders and patriots, to developing our health systems that will prevent politicians from engaging in medical tourism to outside countries. Seeking medical help outside the country when our politicians have the power and the taxpayer-funded resources to improve healthcare, is a betrayal of the highest order and is very unpatriotic.

This is the downside of the system of governance.

If we are interested in seeing a happy and productive nation, there needs to be a commitment of subscribing to a system of government that will promote such.

Allowing our system of governance to waste public resources by unnecessarily sending the elite to medical facilities outside the country, when we have adequate ones locally, is not very smart?

In closing, let me hasten to caution that let us not behave in a manner that is reminiscent of leaders like the late Robert Mugabe, (who spent some of his years in power, seeking medical help in countries like Singapore) as well as Nigeria’s President Buhari, who spent most of his years in power seeking medical help in countries like Europe.

Shalom!