WE ARE SWIMMING IN DEBT – GARNISHEED SOLDIERS

MBABANE – “We are caught in a web of debts.”

This was the general claim by some members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF), who were once garnisheed for child support. Yesterday, this publication reported that the Manzini Magistrates Court had issued at least 30 orders for maintenance for members of the UEDF in three months. This is since mid-October 2020 to late January 2021. According to Section 11 of the Maintenance Act, a court may, on application by or on behalf of a dependant, order the respondent named in the application to maintain that dependant and in making such an order, the court shall, where the order is a monetary order, determine the amount to be paid. In random interviews with some troops who requested to comment on condition of anonymity, they claimed that their main reason for failure to maintain their children was that they were broke due to debts incurred, while others claimed the mothers of their children ended up using the money for themselves. One member of the UEDF alleged that he was still paying a loan which he took for his car. “I took a loan in 2018 to pay off my car which was recently involved in an accident. I am paying for the car’s repairs,” claimed the soldier. As a result, he said he failed to pay for his child’s maintenance.

Another member of the UEDF said he disagreed with the amount that he was required to pay. He said he was required to contribute E2 000 monthly for the minor’s maintenance. “The money is a lot for a six-year-old. I have a wife and family to take care of, and on top of that, the child’s mother makes ridiculous demands for our child, which I cannot afford because I have some debts to pay,” he purported. When asked if he was aware that his priority should be his children, his response was that he was fully aware. However, he said some mothers made demands just to spite them. “From experience, I have learnt that the mother of my child used the money for herself, rather than on our child. This discouraged me from paying maintenance and I stopped,” another soldier said. He said he had no contact with his children and did not see why he should pay unless their mother allowed them to stay with him and his wife.

UEDF Public Relations Officer (PRO) Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo said sanity dictated that the fulfilment of social obligations and responsibilities was an intricate and personal subject. Nevertheless, she articulated that the defence force always preached to its personnel to fulfill all social responsibilities. “The UEDF can only advocate for the fulfilment of those responsibilities; we cannot enforce that. As such, the defence force has a number of structures in place which preach the gospel of encouraging our troops to conduct their personal and professional lives in a certain way,” said Khumalo. She listed Chaplaincy and Social Welfare among others.

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