NGWEMPISI YOUTH MISS OUT ON E130 000 SPONSORSHIP

MBABANE – Young people under the Ngwempisi Constituency have missed out on a E130 000 sponsorship which they were set to benefit from.

This was after some of the youth under the constituency forced the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga, and the Shukuma Eswatini activation team, to abort a physical exercise programme on Saturday. This was confirmed by the Indvuna Yenkhundla, Majaha Ngwenya, and Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Vice President Mashumi Shongwe. According to Shongwe, he decided to abandon the trip to Ngwempisi and not waste resources after receiving a call that it was not safe to continue with the event. This, he said, was after the people from the constituency could not agree as others felt they could not celebrate or host activities while their Member of Parliament (MP), Mthandeni Dube, was behind bars.

Urged

Shongwe stated that he was urged by the constituency to raise sponsorship through his capabilities in sports and the love he had for same. He added that Ngwenya had asked for support from him to assist in raising the sponsorship for a tournament. Shongwe said the indvuna yenkhudla was his ally as they previously worked together while he (Ngwenya) served as mayor for Mankayane Town and he (Shongwe), for Nhlangano Town Council. According to Shongwe, through his connections with his business associates, he was able to raise the funds which were contributed by various sponsors. He added that the youth had lost out due to the infighting in the constituency. However, he said the money would not be turned back, but was set to benefit other constituencies where there was no infighting. The EFA vice president said he could not reveal the companies which had sponsored the tournament, adding that the plan was to unveil them when the presentation of the cheques was made.

In an interview with Ngwenya, he said it was disheartening that the youth who interrupted their programme did not come from the five chiefdoms; Velezizweni, Ngcoseni, Macudvulwini, Dladleni and Bhadzeni. He said the said ‘youth’ was a group of people who were either working around Mankayane or were not attached to their chiefdoms in anyway. “Most of the young people who disrupted the event were strangers, although a few from the area were spotted,” said the indvuna yenkhundla. Ngwenya said he spotted young people from two chiefdoms, Ngcoseni and Velezizweni. Further, he added that leading the young people was resigned Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) Manzini Branch Chairperson Brian Sihlongonyane, who stayed at his mother’s homestead at Velezizweni.  He stated that a number of activities which the youth was expected to compete in, including cultural activities such as sibhaca and ingadla, had to be cancelled.

Tournament

Also, he mentioned that the youth was set to compete in a soccer and netball tournaments. According to Ngwenya, they had decided to dub the event as a Youth Day, because it was difficult to bring people together without providing any form of incentive. Ngwenya said the community members under Ngwempisi Constituency were supportive of the Shukuma exercise, adding that even the incarcerated MP, Dube was aware of the programme which he also embraced and was part of in 2019. Ngwenya said both himself and the MP committed to conducting the shukuma exercise until the end of their term in office. He mentioned that there were talks that he was now campaigning for the position of MP through the same exercise, something that he disputed. “This is part of my job to deliver towards the development of the area,” Ngwenya noted. He said they had also invited the young people to learn business skills from some institutions, including Sebenta.

Meanwhile, Sihlongonyane conceded that he lived at his mother’s parental homestead, but stated that he was born and bred at Velezizweni, which was his chief code. He said he led the youth to stop the event in his capacity as chairperson of the young people there. Sihlongonyane said the pro-democratic youth went to the constituency to urge them to stop the activities which had elements of celebration, yet their MP was behind bars. He said they felt the activity was a campaign strategy of some sort by the indvuna yenkhundla who allegedly always wanted to position himself as MP. However, Ngwenya disputed the allegations by Sihlongonyane.  

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