WIDOWS CRY FOUL, BURST INTO TEARS

MANZINI - Emotional widows burst into tears in front of the DPM’s Office representative as they narrated difficulties they face on a daily basis.

This happened during the commemoration of Widows’ Day, which was hosted by Umhluma Foundation at Millennium Park in Manzini yesterday.
Their main issue was that their homes and land were being taken from them. In fact, some widows from Hlane in the Lubombo Region alleged that their sugar cane farms were allegedly taken from them by council members who used His Majesty King Mswati III’s name.  Again, others briefly narrated how their in-laws kicked them and their children out of their marital homes, which were built by their husbands.

On the same note, Xolani Hlatshwako, the National Director of Women and Law in Eswatini (WLSA), echoed the widows’ claims by saying women in general were oppressed in the country. She said the situation was worse with widows and orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs).

She then told the widows that women were the heart of the country and assured them that His Majesty King Mswati III would never let them down. She said the main challenge in the country was that laws touching on women issues were outdated and needed to be reviewed.

Elections

Hlatshwako encouraged women and widows to join the race for the 2023 national elections. In fact, she said as WLSA, they would work together with Umhluma Foundation to assist women in general and widows, in particular to campaign during the 2023 national elections. “As Women and Law, we want women, especially widows in Parliament in 2023,” she said.

Her justification was that if they were represented in Parliament, they would be able to speed up the process of amending the outdated laws of the country, which affected them. Hlatshwako went on to plead with families to accept their sisters (widows) when they came back from their marital homes. She said they should give them land to build their own houses because, despite being married, they were also part of their parental families. Regarding the issue of outdated laws, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Themba Masuku, who spoke through Jane Simelane, said currently, there were four pieces of legislation which were under review to accommodate widows’ rights.

The laws are; Marriage Bill, Administration of Estate Bill, Intestate Succession Bill and the Legal Aid Bill.
He said all these four Bills were envisaged to provide for the full promotion and protection of widows’ rights.  The DPM said while government was working on the above legislations, there was a need for programmes to empower women and youth on skills for self-reliance and self-sustenance in preparation for all situations.

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