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PM MUST MAKE THE COUNTRY TALK - MP MACFORD

05/08/2021 08:54:00 BY NTOMBI MHLONGO

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LOBAMBA - “As part of healing, the prime minister (PM) must make this country talk.”

Manzini North Member of Parliament (MP) Macford Sibandze yesterday broadly called for the PM, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, to allow a referendum and deal with political issues in the country. The MP said the referendum would allow for a critical engagement on so many issues, including that of choosing a PM. This was during a debate of the PM’s speech which he delivered a few days after his appointment. Sibandze mentioned that the PM had come at a time of deep crisis, but that his term could be his glorious moment if he remained a humble student and open to learning. The MP said he had looked at the PM’s statement, where he said he would tackle the politics. Sibandze said he gave the PM two marks for that as there was nothing he could achieve economically if he ignored politics, especially at a time when the country was so divided. The MP said he had never seen the country divided like it currently was.

Pleading

“There is no economic stimulus that can thrive in a divided country. Thus we are pleading with the PM to be more than a politician, but be one who demonstrates leadership so he can get an opportunity called a session of hostilities in order to deal with the grudges that currently exist,” said Sibandze. He said a lot of grudges existed in the country, which could only be addressed through a political economy. Sibandze said he once spoke in jest, saying he loved the Kingdom of Eswatini so much that he could not survive staying in New York. His own New York, he said, was Bremerdorp which is an old name for Manzini Town. The legislator mentioned that there was an audio circulating where a pastor was heard saying he (Sibandze) would die in 2022.
He said there was a need for healing in this country.

“I do not want to act like a selfish pilot who wants to crash with all passengers yet I do have the capacity to direct the play. Manzini North is saying as part of healing, the PM must make this country talk just like the nation has said,” the MP said. He mentioned that the citizens of the country were already living in fear due to a tendency of avoiding to agree to disagree. He said talking would bring back the confidence that was now lost not only in the economic sphere, but everywhere due to the fact that the prize of uncertainty was too exorbitant. The PM said there was a need to create a conducive environment so that any legislator, once they quit politics, would be free to walk in any community street and not be blamed for being an oppressor. “I declare that I am not affiliated anywhere, but I am saying something from the bottom of my heart and what I have received from the people. At first I thought it was the youth, but as I followed up, I discovered that it was no longer the case. The elderly are now involved and so are the learned citizens,” he said.

He said he, therefore, believed that the only solution was for a dialogue so that future generations would find the country still intact and peaceful. The MP said it was a challenge for people like him as they had to deal with the electorate in the constituencies and that it was difficult these days due to the power of social media. Sibandze said it was good that the PM was an economist who understood the benefits of engagement. “Talk is cheap, literally, but if you do not talk, you are complicating things. We are now scared to talk yet we used to do it freely. I am in Parliament today because of ‘vusela one’. Let us not be scared of a referendum so that we can gauge ourselves on how far we score. What we will get from the nation is what will enlighten us,” the legislator submitted.

He mentioned that it would help to have the referendum to understand how serious the concerns of the people were and then forge a way forward. Sibandze also said the referendum would allow critical engagements on issues such as the review of the Constitution. The MP said as a student of politics, he believed that such would be a perfect opportunity.

Engaged

“I want to be engaged and have people tell me how they think we should elect a prime minister. I have done democratic theory. If we do not engage, it is not good. So we have to address each other before the situation undresses itself. “Honourable Speaker, change has come. If we do not manage change, change will manage us. If we do not manage change peacefully, change will manage us painfully,” said Sibandze. Elaborating, he said it was important not to be oblivious to the fact that there was now a new and different generation. Such a scenario, he said, was what was described in physics as a metamorphism, where society had shifted in identity. In the current generation, the MP said, tricks could not be solutions. This, he said, was because the current generation was politically aware and talked freely on social media on issues that he, during his days, would be scared to address.

“We are getting old and this generation is coming up and growing. There is a generation gap, we need a grand masterpiece of exclusivity so that the generation can feel part of us. They have sat at home like a person waiting at the bus station. They have been sitting at the station waiting and the bus still hasn’t arrived. So the pressure falls on us as MPs, it is difficult,” he emphasised. He then implored the PM that if he wanted to manage change successfully, he should read a book found in all local libraries themed ‘Obed Mfanyana Dlamini’. He said there was so much to learn from that manuscript. Sibandze said as the PM settled into office, he would come across statements that certain people were not in favour of the system while others were and that he (PM) should be careful of such since it spelled nothing, but division.

He said in the current state, everyone in the country needed healing, but what was happening was the opposite of it. Sibandze said there was a need to ask the question of how a person of the system was identified. “Is he a card carrying member? In 1990, His Majesty the King, at just 22 years of age, appointed Senator Obed Mfanyana Dlamini to be PM. The senator was not part of the system. In the same year, he appointed Senator Albert Shabangu to the level of DPM. Shabangu was not part of the system. We are in a very difficult era, one that needs negotiation, sacrifice and compromise. An eye for an eye will make all of us blind,” said Sibandze. He implored the PM to visit tinkhundla centres to get a feel of what was happening on the ground and what the citizens’ concerns were.

Communities

If he visits the constituencies, Sibandze said, the PM would discover that there were communities that did not have clean water while others shared the same resource with livestock. Some people, the MP said, went to bed without a meal. There were children, Sibandze said, who went to school on empty stomachs. “So PM, please address inequality in Eswatini even if it calls bringing back the poverty reduction fund. There are teachers who to date are sitting at home. Deal with the issue of scholarships. I can tell you today that the best public relations ever is service delivery,” he said. The MP then thanked the E500 million announced by His Majesty King Mswati III and said it should be distributed wisely. Sibandze was cut when he was just touching on issues of the youth, saying it was a hot potato. Deputy Speaker and Matsenjeni North MP Phila Buthelezi, who was sitting on the Speaker’s chair, said Sibandze’s time was up.