Times Of Swaziland: STUDENTS FINALLY RECEIVE ALLOWANCES

STUDENTS FINALLY RECEIVE ALLOWANCES
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 BY MELISA MSWELI  AND KWANELE SIBIYA on 08/11/2019 01:00:00


MBABANE- Relief! That is one word that best describes what went down at the
Ministry of Labour and Social Security when students who had gone to request
answers about their delayed allowances received notifications on their mobile
phones that their allowances had been deposited into their accounts.
The students had vented their grievances and even told the acting Principal
Secretary (PS), Norman Gamedze, about their hardships.
In fact, they said nothing showed that government cared about them. They
wondered why civil servants’ salaries were not delayed yet it was fine for
them, as students to suffer.
“What do they think we are eating? As we speak, our landlords want us out of
their houses,” they said.
It was after the students representative councils (SRCs) from some universities
had returned from the meeting with the ministry and were giving students
feedback of the meeting that notifications started popping up and they jumped in
joy while shouting “yangena (it just came through).”
They then started celebrating by dancing and singing.  However, it was not the
case for everyone as others kept checking their phones but there was no
notification.
Also confirming the payment of the allowances was Minister of Labour and Social
Security Makhosi Vilakati in a statement.
Challenges
He said those who experienced challenges were supposed to verify if their
account numbers were still active with their respective banks as information
they gathered was that some of the bank accounts were inactive.
“The ministry would like to thank all stakeholders who were involved in making
this a timely project. Assurance is given by the ministry that its mandate is
primarily for the best interests of students, stakeholders and the entire
nation,” reads part of the statement.
Vilakati stated that they remained committed to serving all stakeholders
involved in providing services and ensuring necessary support for all students.