OVCS COULD BE FACELESS POLITICAL KILLERS - SENATOR

MBABANE – The unknown or faceless people who are planting anarchy in the country, which has resulted in the loss of life, could be the Eswatini’s very own OVCs.

This claim was made by Senator Mkhululi Dlamini, when motivating his motion which requests the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku to submit an extensive report to Senate detailing the current status of all orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) that are, or have been supported by government. Dlamini said the report should primarily indicate, without necessarily using real names, what the OVCs were doing and how government assistance had improved their lives. Initially, the senator had requested that the report be submitted to Senate within 14 days of adoption of the motion but the DPM, successfully requested for an extension to at least 21 days to give a fully informative report.

Education

In his submission, Dlamini said a person who had been exposed to education gained wisdom, but there was a danger that manifested itself to the extreme if that person did not see their education to a comprehensive stage. He shared that unfortunately, some of the OVCs did not go far with their education, but at the time they dropped out of school, their level of thinking would have been greatly enhanced. The senator said the danger in that was that the child would be unemployed probably due to lack of an academic qualification and that situation would likely breed a citizen who had a strong aggression towards the very same government that extended a helping hand through the OVC fund.

“It is either they complete their education to the very last stage so that they have plenty options on life or they are offered employment because if that’s not the case, these people could be very dangerous as they would feel undervalued and disregarded, hence affiliate to any space that will bring hope,” he shared. The seconder, Senator Prince Mshengu, said it should not just end with paying the required fees for the child while at school, but there were other elements that formed part of educating a child holistically.

This sentiment was shared by Senator Busi Dlamini, who submitted that the OVCs needed inspectors who would look into their psychological standing, given that they had been exposed to all kinds of things in recent times. She made an example that burning of schools and infrastructure, which occurred mostly, last year, also saw the burning of feeding centres, where OVCs went to for meals and it left a scar on them. She also submitted that they had been exposed to people carrying and shooting guns, a sight that had been seldom in the country until recently. These things, coupled with other contributing factors, build so much anger in the child and they become a bomb waiting to explode, as explained by the senator.Senator Sylvia Mthethwa said the issue of OVCs was a very broad one and it was of national importance to look in to it in a broad sphere, not to scratch the surface. She submitted that the first thing to do was to define the OVC in clear terms that gave clarity to everybody.

Certificates

She also touched on the issue of certificates for the OVCs, which she said remained one of the things that posed a great challenge, particularly to the office of the DPM, as there was not enough data on the OVC, , given this challenge. Masuku accepted the motion and forwarded his gratitude to the mover for raising it as there was a lot to unpack on the issue of the OVCs. He was given 21 days to give the report on the OVCs. Prior to that, Senator Busi made a suggestion that the funding offered to OVCs should now come in the form of a loan, so that those found to be posing as OVCs but were not, were made to pay back all the money.

She made this suggestion after it came up that a great percentage of the scholars were enrolled under the OVC programme yet many of those were not qualifying to be funded through it. She even mentioned that there was a school, where 90 per cent of the pupils were enrolled as OVCs, which she did not mention and said this was a huge burden on government. Masuku suggested that currently there were 211 756 OVCs and there were only 42 residential homes accommodating them, which was meagre given the huge number of the children.

Meanwhile, the mover of the motion was now and again disturbing submissions and requesting the Deputy Senate President Ndumiso Mdluli, who was presiding yesterday, to adjourn the sitting as it was very hot in the Senate and presenting an unworkable condition magnified by lack of air-conditioning.

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