CHAOS IN PARLY AS PM, DPM NO-SHOW FOR ELDERLY GRANTS

MBABANE – When a promise is not kept, there is bound to be chaos.

This was the situation in Parliament yesterday when Cabinet ministers failed to keep their promise that the elderly who had just turned 60 years would know their fate regarding the payment of their grants. The failure to keep the promise led to Members of Parliament (MPs) blasting both the  Prime Minister, Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini and the Deputy Prime Minister, Paul Dlamini, who are currently away on national duties. Making the sitting a chaotic one was the fact that the promised statement on the fate of the ‘new’ elderly was not presented, and all that the MPs were told was that the DPM had left the country on national duties and that his trip had come in the last minute. Also causing the MPs to get hot under the collar was a message communicated by the Deputy Speaker, MP Esther Dlamini, to the effect that the acting Prime Minister, Prince Hlangusemphi, had not been given anything to communicate to the House on the issue.
Most of the MPs stood up in their numbers to argue that while they respected that the two had national duties to attend to, they wanted the statement on the ‘new’ elderly presented as per the promise that was made by the PM last Friday.
The MPs made it known that they would not continue with the business of the day until they were informed on the decision that had been taken by Cabinet on the issue.

Siphofaneni MP Gundwane Gamedze, mentioned that it was the PM who had said last Friday that Cabinet needed to discuss the issue collectively and assured that yesterday was going to be the day when the MPs would know the outcome. “We left our homes and came here because we wanted the statement. The fact that both the PM and DPM are not here does not mean that all must stop. We cannot leave things hanging just because they are away on national duties,” Gamedze said. Mbabane West MP Johane Shongwe, who has for the past weeks been vocal on the matter, stood up to state that the whole world was witnessing how Cabinet was taking Parliament and the nation for a ride.
Shongwe stated that he believed that the PM was a senior person and that there was no way he would make a promise to the nation and then leave without ensuring that the burning issue was addressed while he was away. He said he understood that the premier had gone on national assignments but that did not mean that he was supposed to leave things hanging, especially those that touched on the lives of the country’s citizens.

“What is happening here is nothing but a game of jokes or football, where one team which I cannot name is always losing. It shows that we are being looked down upon and this is sad because very soon we will be going to the elections and want the same people who are being taken for a ride to vote for us,” said Shongwe. The acting prime minister then stood up to try and calm the situation by stating that Cabinet understood that the elderly were to be taken care of by government. He explained that when the PM made the promise that the elderly would know their fate, he was not aware that there would be other national duties that he and the DPM had to attend. “There is no message that I have been sent to deliver here. When a person goes, they leave a message but there is nothing regarding this issue, so I plead with the members of the House to be patient and wait for the premier and DPM to return,” Prince Hlangusemphi said.
His plea failed to convince the MPs as they became even more agitated and argued that he spoke like someone who did not understand what exactly it was that they had come for in the House.

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