Swaziland Newsletter No. 825 – 3 May 2024
News
from and about Swaziland, compiled by Global Aktion, Denmark (www.globalaktion.dk) in collaboration with
Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com), and sent to all with
an interest in Swaziland - free of charge.
May Day drama: PM denied
platform to address workers, leaves
By Nonduduzo Kunene,
Timothy Simelane and Siboniso Nkambule, Times of eSwatini, 2 May 2024
MBABANE:
Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini left the Prince of Wales Sports Ground
unceremoniously after he was denied the opportunity to address workers during
the Workers’ Day celebration yesterday.
So
hostile were the workers that police had to fire a stun grenade to deter them
from coming too close to the PM’s motorcade, as he was hurriedly whisked away
from the Prince of Wales.
Dlamini’s attendance of the May Day commemoration was groundbreaking, in that
it was a first for the country for the head of government to grace a Workers’
Day celebration. He was in the company of the Minister of Labour and Social
Security, Phila Buthelezi and Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs
Jane Simelane. Just before he was invited to address the thousands of workers,
the sound system was disconnected and when senior police officers went to
enquire, they were told to back off.
At that stage, the event had been taken
over by the workers, while the union executive committee members were kept at
bay. The uncontrollable workers chanted slogans and danced close to the tent
where the PM and his dignitaries were seated. Police had to form a human
barrier to prevent them from getting close to the Cabinet members. Police
officers, who are members of the PM’s security detail, were seen frequently
communicating with the PM, purportedly on the status of his safety. He kept his
calm, until a few missiles started flying from the workers. Soon, thereafter,
he rose from his feet and wade way to his motorcade. The departure of the
PM cut short the 2024 Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA)-organised May
Day commemoration, leaving some workers dissatisfied. In the two hours that the
PM graced the event, he had to stomach insults and unpalatable words that were
uttered by some of the speakers who are members of political parties, as they
were offered a platform to address the workers.
To read more of this report, click
here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/144903-may-day-drama-pm-denied-platform-to-address-workers-leaves.html
See also
PM, ministers abandon
celebrations
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22404
Over
2 000 paramedics jobless 10 years later
By
Nokuzola Thwala, eSwatini Observer, 26 April 2024
Over 2 000 interned paramedics are said to
be unemployed 10 years after completing their training.
Other paramedics have never worked since
they completed training. Some of the paramedics were self-sponsored while
others were trained at the taxpayer’s expense.
This was revealed by Eswatini Unemployed
Paramedics Chairman, Mduduzi Mabuza, after a closed door meeting at Nkhanini
Hall yesterday.
Mabuza, who was interviewed after the
meeting, said the unemployment rate increases annually because over 80
paramedics qualify and graduate.
He emphasised their importance as
paramedics, stating that they get to accident scenes first and at times reach
where nurses could not.
The chairman added that their livehood was
affected as some have families had responsibilities, and some were supposed to
be breadwinners, but instead, became a burden.
He narrated how life was hard for them,
hence the need for a quick permanent intervention.
Mabuza also noted that the interned unemployed paramedics differ in
qualifications, but their work did not.
He said the country could benchmark with
neighbouring countries so that they emulate them by having policies in place
that would have mines industries and more interned paramedics.
Emphasising, he called for government’s intervention whether directly or
indirectly while noting that they collectively decided to engage the National
Public Services and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) moving forward.
“Some have interned from 2014 until the
year 2020 in the government sector.
“We have over 600 unemployed paramedics as of last year and this number
increases annually as about 80 graduate after training annually,” he said.
To read more of this report, click
here
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22377
Shocker: 1,109 pregnant teens visit clinics in 3
months
By Siboniso Nkambule, Times of eSwatini, 26 April 2024
MBABANE: An astounding number of pregnant teenagers visited public
health facilities in the past three months.
Statistics have revealed that the number of teenagers who visited health
facilities for their first antenatal care (ANC) appointments in the last three
months was 1 109. These include three 12-year-old pre-teenagers. Four of
the teenagers were 13 years old, 29 were aged 14 years and a total of 82 were
15 year olds.
These statistics, according to the Ministry of Health, suggest a
worrying trend that must be addressed through concerted efforts. The Top
Doctor’s website defines antenatal care or ANC as the care a woman
receives while pregnant, to ensure that both mother and
baby are healthy. It involves regular check-ups with a doctor or midwife,
with scans, screenings and blood tests to check on the development of
the baby and identify any health problems in either mother or child
that could cause problems.
The Health Promotional Officer in
the Ministry of Health, Calvin Dlamini, said this painted a
worrying picture, as they were still in their first quarter. Dlamini said
recording such numbers in the first quarter meant that by the end of the year,
the numbers would have increased.
He said last year, they recorded an overall total of 4 469 teenagers who
made their first ANC visit. According to Dlamini, 1 179 came from the Hhohho
Region, 1 073 from the Lubombo Region, 1 156 from the Manzini Region, and 1 061
teenagers were from the Shiselweni Region. Dlamini stated that in the past
three months, from January to March, a total of 154 teenagers aged 16 years,
228 aged 17 years old, 297 who were 18 years old, and 312 aged 19 years, made
their first ANC visit in various health facilities.
To read more of this report. Click here
http://www.times.co.sz/news/144821-shocker-1-109-pregnant-teens-visit-clinics-in-3-months.html
See also
1,109 teen pregnancies: DPM springs
into action
http://www.times.co.sz/news/144861-1-109-teen-pregnancies-dpm-springs-into-action.html
By
Zweli Martin Dlamini, Swaziland News, 26 April, 2024
MBABANE: Mduduzi Matsebula, the Minister
of Health has amplified Cabinet lies amid the ongoing health crisis and/or
shortage of drugs in public hospitals.
This comes after Commerce Minister Mancoba
Khumalo, the then Chairman of the Health Crisis Cabinet Select Committee
promised that by January 2024, the health crisis would be over and Government
would have long delivered drugs.
But what happened thereafter, Cabinet
including the Health Minister embarked on a publicity drive, touring the
Mbabane Government hospital on what was described as a fact finding mission to
assess the situation.
A few boxes that did not fill-up the
shelves at the Central Medical Stores were delivered at the end of January 2024
and a publicity stunt was activated again to claim drugs “have been delivered”,
in the process, hundreds are dying in public hospitals amid shortage of
drugs.
In an attempt to evade accountability as
this publication is consistently publishing and exposing the health crisis,
Government then banned public officials from responding to this Swaziland News.
Cabinet touring Mbabane Government Hospital
“The Ministry is working round the clock
to resolve this issue. The Nation is assured that stocks of medicines and
medical supplies are gradually being received”, said the Health Minister
through the statement released on Thursday.
On another note, despite a forensic report
released by Funduzi Forensic Services that exposed suppliers companies linked
to SwaziPharm Director Kareem Ashraff, businesswoman Zinhle Matsebula and
irregularities in the Procument Department, no arrests have been made as the
suspects are allegedly linked to the Health Minister, Prime Minister (PM)
Russell Mmiso Dlamini and King Mswati.
The health crisis was triggered by the
widely reported and ongoing rampant corruption in public administration and
royal extravagant spending.
See also
RFM kidney patients suffering at MBA
Govt hospital
http://www.times.co.sz/news/144835-rfm-kidney-patients-suffering-at-mba-govt-hospital.html
RFM medical staff in
go-slow
http://new.observer.org.sz/details.php?id=22380
How
communities led in the HIV response, saving lives in eSwatini at the peak of a
crippling AIDS epidemic
UNAIDS,
24 April 2024
Eswatini is one of the
countries which has been most affected by HIV. At the peak of the epidemic in
2015, almost one out of three people were living with HIV. In 1995, when there
was no antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV, 73 000 people were
living with HIV. 2400 people died of AIDS that year. Worried about the rising
number of infections and deaths, communities of people living with HIV
mobilized to press that antiretroviral treatment be made available for people
living with HIV.
One of the key campaigners
for access was Hannie Dlamini. Dlamini is now 50 years old and has been living
with HIV for 32 years, after finding out about his HIV positive status at the
age of 18. He was one of the first people in Eswatini to publicly declare his
positive HIV status in 1995 at a time when the stigma and misinformation around
HIV was rife.
Dlamini rallied together
other people living with HIV as well as non-governmental organizations working
to end AIDS in Eswatini, to ensure that everyone living with HIV and in need of
treatment had access to it. They formed a community-led organization called
Swaziland AIDS Support Organization (SASO) as a support group for people living
with HIV. SASO also provided healthy living information for people living with
HIV.
“When we asked the
government [in 2002] for ARVs in Eswatini we did a pilot project with NECHA
[National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS], to see if people would use
the drugs.” Dlamini says the response was overwhelming, with many people keen
to start the lifesaving treatment. “We initially planned to enrol 200 people on
treatment but the demand was 630.” said Dlamini.
Today, Eswatini is one of
the countries which has achieved the ambitious 95-95-95 targets (95% of people
living with HIV who know their HIV status, 95% of people who know that they are
living with HIV are on life-saving antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of people
who are on treatment are virally suppressed). This achievement has put the
country a step closer to ending AIDS as a public health threat, thanks to the
work of community-led organizations, authorities and global partners like
UNAIDS, the United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria who are working with the
government and local communities to end AIDS.
Eswatini’s HIV response
strategy includes ongoing nationwide testing and treatment campaigns, use of
self-testing kits to encourage more people to take up testing at the comfort of
their homes, antiretroviral treatment, male circumcision and pre-exposure
prophylaxis (medicine to prevent HIV) and other prevention measures. Community
organizations such as Kwakha Indvodza are also key in
encouraging men to take full responsibility for their wellbeing and reducing
toxic masculinity and gender-based violence which are some of the drivers of
HIV.
To read more of this
report, click here
https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2024/april/20240425_eswatini
Textile firm lays off 200 workers
by Andile Langwenya, Independent
News (Swaziland), 30 April 2024
MBABANE: Government’s job creation plans are facing a significant
setback as close to 200 workers were recently laid off from a textile firm.
Juries Manufacturing in Nhlangano has blamed the latest action to orders
drying up.
Management of the company said they tried to make arrangements but
failed to save the jobs of the affected workers and further explained that
future orders were unpredictable.
The apparel company employs around 1050 workers at the moment.
Investigations by the Independent News discovered that about 180
workers were laid off from the company around October last year, sparking off a
labour dispute between the garment factory and the labour union looking after
the welfare of textile industry workers, the Amalgamated Trade Union of
Swaziland (ATUSWA). The dispute has already been reported at the Conciliation
Mediation & Arbitration Commission, where the matter is pending.
The situation has had a very devastating effect on the affected workers.
Most of these workers have not been receiving their salaries or lay-off
wages for the past five months, making the lives of the families of the
affected individuals miserable. Difficulties facing the families include the
disruption of the education of the children.
To read more of this report, click
here
https://independentnews.co.sz/local-news/10188/textile-firm-lays-off-200-workers/
Expanding vaccination reach through
integrated services in eSwatini
World Health Organization, 30 April 2024
MBABANE: It was an
enormous relief to mother Jabumkhaliphi Sifundza when her ten-year-old
daughter, Nozweno, was vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV). She’d
heard about the vaccine on social media and wanted to do everything possible to
protect Nozweno from cervical cancer.
Alongside Eswatini’s efforts to
vaccinate girls like Nozweno during immunization drives in schools, the
government is leveraging the opportunity to simultaneously vaccinate the boys
against COVID-19 in an innovative advance towards integrating these vaccines
into routine immunization.
High HPV rates in the country
are fuelled by high HIV rates, driving up cervical cancer case numbers and
deaths. As of 18 April, Eswatini has, with the support of partners including
World Health Organization (WHO), vaccinated over 50 000 girls in schools, with
a national coverage of 64.3%
Meanwhile, although the
emergency phase of COVID-19 is over, the virus continues to spread and endanger
people’s lives. In Eswatini, integration of COVID-19 vaccination into other
health programmes, including HPV immunization, chronic diseases and HIV, is
high on its health agenda after the recent release of the country’s COVID-19
Vaccine Post-Introduction Evaluation by the Ministry of Health.
“Expanding access to
preventative vaccines is vital to improve health and survival, as well as to
lay the foundation for countries to reach every person with the basic health
services they need to thrive. This dual immunization effort in our schools is an
excellent example of optimizing our resources to boost overall vaccine
coverage,” says Hon Mduduzi Matsebula, Eswatini’s Minister of Health.
The report says that while
Eswatini did well to achieve COVID-19 vaccine coverage of above 70% among
people 40 years and older, overall coverage as a proportion of the general
population remained low, at 36.9%, at the end of June 2023. For younger people,
aged between 12 and 39, coverage remained low at below 50%, negatively
impacting the country’s efforts to meet WHO’s global 70% target.
To read more of this report, click
here
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