In the week that King Mswati III the absolute monarch
of Swaziland / Eswatini received dining
room and lounge
furniture made of gold as birthday gifts it is reported that
children collapsed with hunger in their school because the government had not
paid for food for them.
The kingdom had previously been warned to expect
children to starve because the Swazi Government had not paid its suppliers for
the food that is distributed free of charge at schools. The shortage is
reported to be widespread across the kingdom.
The Times
of Swaziland, reported on
Thursday (7 June 2018) that at least eight children had collapsed through
hunger at of KaKholwane Primary School.
It reported the school’s headteacher Smangele
Mtsefwa, saying it was because of a lack of food at the school.
The Times reported, ‘Yesterday
morning, she said a Grade II pupil soiled herself after she experienced severe
stomach cramps due to hunger, while others bled through their nostrils.’
The newspaper added, ‘In most cases, she said pupils complained of
hunger, adding that they had gone without a meal for two days.’
The Times reported, ‘Mtsefwa
said those in lower grades were more prone to falling ill, while pupils in the
senior classes slept on their desks.’
‘She said the school kitchen had been locked since the beginning of the
term and they were not preparing any meals for the pupils.’
On Monday King Mswati received gifts of furniture made of gold and at
lest E15 million in cheques to mark his 50th birthday that fell on
19 April 2018. On that day he wore a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing
6 kg studded with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of
his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but
with VIP upgrades
was estimated to have cost US$30 million.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of the 1.1 million population
live in abject poverty with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day.
The global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the
world in a report
that detailed the differences in countries between the top most earners and
those at the bottom.
In February 2018, children
in Swaziland were warned to prepare themselves for starvation as the government
once again failed to deliver free food to schools. The Swazi Observer reported at the time that schools relying on
government aid – known as the zondle programme – ‘must brace themselves for
starvation as the Ministry of Education and Training has failed to deliver food
to schools on time’.
It said food had been
promised by the
Minister of Education and Training Dr Phineas Magagula last year but it had
still not arrived in many schools.
It reported school
principals said some pupils were sick and on medication and depended on the
food which was provided at school.
It quoted one principal who
wanted to remain anonymous, ‘The pupils should brace themselves for starvation
because there is no available food in the school, and they have exhausted the
food that was left last year.’
Principals in schools
around the Shiselweni region told the newspaper that some pupils went to school
without having eaten anything and relied on the feeding programme. ‘They cannot stand the long hours
on empty stomachs,’ one said.
Acting Principal at the Ministry of Education and
Training Dr Sibongile Mtshali told the Observer
food would be delivered to various schools soon, but did not specify the exact
date of delivery.
The schools hunger crisis has been going on for at
least a year. In August 2017, members of
parliament in Swaziland accused the Ministry of Education and Training of lying
in a report on severe hunger in the kingdom’s schools.
They were told that the
crisis was over and that school
committees were stealing food intended for children.
A progress reported tabled
to the Swazi House of Assembly by Minister of Education and Training Phineas
Magagula was rejected. The shortage escalated after the government did not pay
its bills to suppliers. The food includes rice, mealie-meal, cooking oil,
beans, and peanut butter.
In a report in May 2017, the World
Food Program estimated 350,000 people (a third of the population) in
Swaziland were in need of food assistance. WFP helped 65,473 of them. It said
it was regularly feeding 52,000 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) aged
under eight years at neighbourhood care points. About 45 percent of all
children in thought to be OVCs.
It reported chronic malnutrition affected 26 percent
of all children in Swaziland aged under five.
See also
SWAZI
CABINET’S GIFT OF GOLD
‘CHILDREN
COULD SOON DIE OF HUNGER’
BAD FOOD POISONS 200 PUPILS
NO FOOD SO SCHOOLKIDS SENT HOME
HUNGER FORCES SCHOOLS TO CLOSE EARLY
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