ONLY GENUINE ENGAGEMENT CAN WORK

We have reached a critical juncture in the life of emaSwati where the decision making has once again been put to the test by a section of our society that reared a side of it that we never wish to see again.

Finger-pointing, blame game and conspiracy theories may abound, but with or without foreign involvement, the biggest concern to our lives right now should be the fact that we have emaSwati who were agitated enough to allow it to happen. We have always been made to believe that we are capable of addressing our challenges the SiSwati way, but it is inescapable that we have a government that has inadvertently taught its people that it listens best through foreign influence. The most recent example is the removal of the soldiers at the quarry mine shortly after the American government threatened to remove the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) privileges (see page 14). When emaSwati requested this months ago, these calls fell on deaf ears.Ironically, it is foreign involvement that is being sought from SADC Troika to help the country resolve the current impasse.

It comes at a precarious moment in our lives when trust in government is as good as dead. That people were misled about the internet outage simply put the nail in the coffin. Lives have been lost and no one can be blamed for not believing government figures of 27 deaths while other sources place the numbers above 40. It comes as no surprise,also, that civic groups are questioning the sincerity of the SADC Troika process. Their call for genuine dialogue has been met, at best, with the Acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, yesterday giving assurances that the SADC fact-finding mission would continue in due course. He has pleaded with the nation to stay calm and patient while the process is ongoing.

If there is one thing the country does not have, it is time. Neither do we have patience for any more bad decision making. We are all keenly awaiting decisive action that will demonstrate important lessons learnt from this ordeal. Lives have been lost, billions worth of infrastructure has been destroyed and looted, while more than 5 000 jobs have been lost in just under a week, coming shortly after the jobs bloodbath impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are now being arraigned before the courts to face the music. It is high time bad decision making also faced similar consequences. If it did, this episode would probably never have etched itself in the annals of our history.

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