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THE BRIGHT, DARK SIDE OF 2018

29/12/2018 09:18:00 By Bonsile Makhubu

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MBABANE – The year 2018, which is winding up in the next two days, has had more bad news than good.

An overview drawn from issues that made news headlines indicates that a lot of negative stuff happened in almost all sectors.

The health, education, political and economic spheres were the most affected, and it seems the consequences will haunt the nation for a longer period of time.
January was a rather smooth month, save for the hype that accompanied schools opening.

Victor Gamedze’s
murder

During the same month, just as most people were trying to cope with financial injuries resultant from festive and school spending, the nation was hit by the news of the murder of businessman and soccer administrator Victor Gamedze.

His death took place on the evening of January 14, at the Galp Filling Station in Mid-Way, Ezulwini. The death attracted a lot of activity in the judicial as it led to the arrest of another businessman and soccer team owner Sipho Shongwe, who has been in custody for about nine months now.
There was also a court battle between his eldest daughter Nosipho and his wife Lungile.

The bone of contention between the two was Nosipho’s paternity, which Lungile felt should be verified through DNA analysis.
Nosipho’s argument was that the Gamedze family have always know about her and that she was not content with the point of reference regarding the DNA, as it was supposed to be one of Lungile’s daughters.

Country’s name change

‘Swaziland’ is now a former name of Eswatini, a change that was announced by King Mswati III during his birthday celebration in April this year. The event was a double celebration because it also marked the 50th Independence Anniversary.
The King declared that the name change marked the complete liberation of the country from colonialism, because the name Swaziland was given by the colonists.

Like most changes, this was not accepted smoothly by the entire nation as some people criticised the move and cited cost implications relating to changing documents and companies.
Others felt the nation was not consulted before the decision was taken. Among the people who were not entirely satisfied was Human Rights Attorney Thulani Maseko, who even filed an application in court, challenging the decision.

The 50th anniversary brought the King a gift that fulfilled Parliament’s all-time dream, that of giving him a private jet.
The jet, an Airbus A340-300, was paraded over the skies during the birthday celebrations held at the Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre in Manzini.

Election time and
ritual murders

In 2016, Eswatini was among the top 10 countries with high figures of ritual murders in the world, according to the rate statistics made by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It ranked eighth in the world with 33.8 per cent.

Since 2018 was election year, the figures shot up this year and in June, over 250 pupils from around Mafutseni dropped out of school due to ritual murders.
By mid-year about 45 people had been abducted, killed and mutilated in countrywide attacks that were believed to be associated with the Parliamentary elections. The figure rose to 66 by October.

The elections are believed to have been peaceful and smooth, save for reports of alleged misconduct, cash-splashing and rigging attempts by certain candidates, most of whom did not make it though.

This time around again, the nation failed to elect enough women into Parliament, prompting the election of regional woman Members of Parliament (MPs) to counter the gap.
The highly-contested election was won by Nokunceda Bujela (Hhohho region), Busisiwe Mavimbela (Manzini region), Nokuthula Dlamini (Shiselweni region) and Lorraine Nxumalo (Lubombo region).

0.0 per cent CoLA
Once again, salary negotiations between government and civil servants yielded a 0.0 per cent increase. The public servants had anticipated a 6.5 per cent, considering that they had not received the Cost of Living Adjustment (CoLA).

Just like in almost all the previous years when negotiations hit a snag, civil servants took their frustration to the streets through a demonstration that almost sent the whole country to a complete standstill. The timing was perfect for the aggrieved workers but it was in no way favourable to pupils, parents and government.
As a mitigating measure, government had to spend millions of Emalangeni in preparations for the external examinations.

The money went into training of members of the security services who worked as invigilators while others manned security at examination centres.
The fear was teachers might sabotage the exams, something the Swaziland National Association of Teachers and Swaziland Principals Association assured would not happen.

The teachers said they had invested so much in teaching the pupils throughout the year and they would not then mess up the whole programme at the end when they were eager to reap what they had sown.

Finances, food
and fuel shortages
For the first time in eight years, government will part with approximately E15 million per year towards financing Free Primary Education (FPE), following the termination of a programme where the European Union (EU) funded the project.
Thousands of pupils from 592 public primary schools benefitted from this funding, consuming E140 million during this period. The ministry of education and training has declared that it was prepared for this because it has always known the agreement would come to an end this year.
With the financial challenges faced by government, this begs the question, “Will government afford to sustain this programme?” The health sector, which is crucial, has once again been hit by shortage of medicine and equipment.
The hardest time that the Mbabane Government Hospital may have gone through is October when the hospital shelves ran out of food, resulting in a SOS call that was attended to by members of the public and businesspeople who came together to donate food so that patients could have at least two meals per day.
There is also the recurring fuel shortage at the Central Transport Administration (CTA).

Ex-PM’s death
The late former Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini’s death was described as a huge loss to the nation. Dlamini died a month after retiring from serving government, something he had done for about 40 years. His death came hardly seven months after the whole nation had mourned the demise of Inkhosikati LaMasango.
The media industry also suffered a huge blow when long-serving editor Thulani Thwala answered the Lord’s call a few hours after he had put his last publication to bed.
Thwala had worked for both the Times of Swaziland and the Swazi Observer.

Stokvels and suicides
The two words may rhyme, but they have never been related until recently when many people killed themselves in connection with money which had been invested in informal structures.
As if the suicide figures that were recorded throughout the year, being at 78, were not alarming, people who failed to cope with financial issues decided to add to the number in the last month of the year.
The cases are now around 81 because of two people who died because they could not account for money that had been saved by them and other people in informal clubs known as stokvels. These include 31-year-old Philani Dlamini of Nkonyane who could not pay up E9 000.

The ‘firsts’ in politics
Eswatini is currently the only African country that has relations with Taiwan. This status was attained in May, when Burkina Faso cut ties with Taiwan, being the fourth African country to do so in a period of two years.
Eswatini is also the only southern African country which does not have diplomatic relations with the Republic of China.
History was recorded when the King called the nation to share its thoughts on the qualities they would like to see in the prime minister. At the Sibaya, people were given an opportunity to give advice, which led to the King appointing PM Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini.
Another ‘first’ was the appointment of Princess Sikhanyiso into cabinet, as minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).
Sibongile Mazibuko, a retired teacher and former first female President of SNAT, was appointed first female President of the Ngwane National Liberation Congress (NNLC).
Let’s see what 2019 has in store!