SENATORS WANT MASKS REGULATIONS REVIEWED

MBABANE – “Our children cannot even take wives because women’s beauty is hidden behind these face masks.”

This was said by Senator Chief Ngalokhulu yesterday during the sitting of the Ministry of Health Portfolio Committee debate of the ministry’s annual performance report in Parliament.
“Bantfwa betfu solo abatsatsi nekutsatsa abawaboni emantfombatane kungenca yalama’mask,” said the senator, which can be loosely translated to; “Our sons have not been able to take wives as yet because they are hindered from seeing the beauty of females due to these face masks.” The senator decried the lack of adjustment in the regulations pertaining to the use of face masks. Senator Prince Mphatfwa, in his submission, also questioned the Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi, through the Chairperson of the committee Isaac Magagula, as to when the nation would be freed from the wearing of masks.

“Isn’t there a way the regulations on wearing masks can be reviewed? More especially for us who have vaccinated and have also proceeded to receive our booster shots?” he asked.
He further said other countries such as Ireland, had recently removed the regulation of wearing masks and others were also contemplating on following suit and had already proposed plans to do so. The prince said it was worrying that the vaccination numbers were decreasing and the population which had vaccinated stood at 29 per cent. “What is the ministry doing to counter the decrease in vaccination numbers? As we speak, some vaccines were destroyed because they had reached their expiry date, meaning less and less emaSwati are showing enthusiasm when it comes to vaccinating,” he said.

Senator Prince Hlangabeza also questioned what the minister was doing to avoid having to destroy the vaccines by ensuring that more people were vaccinated. “It should not be the ministry’s responsibility only to motivate people to vaccinate, but this should be a collective effort along with the citizenry,” said the senator. He also raised a concern on whether the country had enough machines for dialysis, as he mentioned that he had heard on radio that not all regions had this machinery. In response, the minister said the country was not ready to stop the wearing of masks because the worldwide set target had not yet been reached. She said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had set vaccination targets at 10 per cent in September 2021, 40 per cent in December of the same year and 70 per cent in June this year.

“However, the country has not reached the set target of 80 per cent, which allows for the removal of the regulation of compulsory use of masks. Other countries which have removed this regulation, such as Ireland, have reached their target, hence they no longer require wearing masks,” she said. The minister further said they had engaged neighbouring countries concerning the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requirement for cross-border travelling and currently that was the only issue on the table. “In these meetings the countries considered trial runs on the removal of the PCR test requirement to cross borders, where Botswana  recommended to pursue this because they are way ahead in terms of vaccination. “It is also worth noting that other countries such as China are back on lockdown after a rise in cases of COVID-19. Eswatini also eased its regulations recently where we allowed more movement, so the sure measure in place now is the compulsory wearing of masks to ensure less transmission among the population,” she said.

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