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ARMY TO RECRUIT ONLY 6 PER INKHUNDLA

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HLUTI – Despite hundreds of job seekers trying their luck in being recruited into the army, only six will make the cut from each constituency.

This means only 354 people will be recruited countrywide from the 59 tinkhundla centres in the country. Already, 12 people yesterday went to bed smiling with the prospects of joining the army after they qualified during the recruitment exercise which was held at Sigwe and Ngudzeni constituencies. The Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) announced last week that His Majesty King Mswatini III had commissioned the recruitment of soldiers to join the army. A schedule of each constituency has already been publicised, showing the dates when each constituency would be visited.

Aspiring

There was a good turnout in both Sigwe and Ngudzeni constituencies yesterday, where the exercise began as over 500 young emaSwati aspiring soldiers showed up. At the beginning of the exercise in each constituency, the aspiring recruits were told to produce their national identity cards, which were double-checked by bucopho from the different chiefdoms making up the constituencies. After confirmation, they ran for two miles (3.2km) having being marked with a red marker at the starting point, a blue one at the return point and another different marker at the finish line. The first 20 males, along with the first 10 females, made it to the next round, which was physical fitness exercises. During these exercises, one was expected to do as much as they could to increase their chances of making the cut.

Instruction

There were three exercises that were done; which included jack-knives, push-ups and sit-ups. It is worth noting that during the exercises, there are observers who record the scores of all the participants. If one did not follow the instructions while doing an exercise, the counting observer would not continue counting until the exercise was done properly within the stipulated time. From the qualifying 30 participants who took part and complete were part of the physical fitness exercises, the counting of votes was done where the top six winners were announced. The six are made up of four males and two females.

It was said that after qualifying, the six would then be taken for vetting and medical check-ups, which would further qualify them to be taken in for training. Unlike in previous years, where the observing soldiers would assist the aspiring recruits, this year, they (recruits) were holding each other and were sanitised thereafter. Also, oral interviews were not done compared to previous years. Some of the interviewed participants stated that they took part in the exercise because they had always aspired to be soldiers from a young age, while others stated that it was issues of unemployment. Siphamandla Gina, one of the participants, who made it to the final six at Sigwe, stated that the exercises were challenging, especially the jack-knives. He stated that he started preparing as soon as he heard the announcement.

When asked if he was not afraid of being a soldier in light of the political instability in the country, he said he was not shaken, as he always loved being a soldier. “I am not into politics as I believe in the current system of governance and that explains why I am here,” he said.  Thabile Tsabedze said she had less than a week to prepare for the recruitment exercise, and if there was more time to prepare, she would have qualifed. She said she wanted to be a soldier because she needed employment to take care of her family. She said she was not afraid to be a soldier, as she wanted to protect the nation regardless of the political turmoil in the country. She further stated that she was for the current system of governance, tinkhundla.   
Masuku Timisile, who also qualified to be in the top six and came first in the running exercise, said she was not afraid to be a soldier. “I do not think soldiers are violent,” she said bluntly.
She said she believed in communication as the key to solve the current issues in the country.

“I do not think that soldiers are violent people, but I understand that they are there to protect the nation,” she said. One of the qualifying females, Tivetile Shongwe, broke down in tears when she was announced as one of the two qualifying females. She said this was her third time participating in the recruitment exercise. “I am happy that I have finally made it, and I did not even tell my grandmother where I was going when I left home in the morning,” she said. Shongwe said she was not scared of being a soldier even in the times of political unrest.
In an interview with UEDF Public Affairs Officer (PRO) 2nd Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo, she appreciated Their Majesties for commissioning the recruitment. She further said the first day of the exercise was a success. “We observed that others did not bring their identity cards (IDs), hence they did not qualify to participate in the recruitment exercise. I would like to remind those who are yet to participate to ensure they bring them,” she said.

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