Swazi Observer

FULL STORY

SENATE PRESIDENT CALLS FOR GBV INDABA

By PHEPHILE MOTAU | 2024-03-26

Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini has called for an indaba on gender-based violence (GBV) and the escalating suicides.

The senate president asked the Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini if he did not think an intense dialogue needed to be held in the country, starting from chiefdoms, saying in communities, wife-beaters are well known and people just take it as a normal thing. He said the talks should happen in communities, churches and armed forces, since people from these sectors also perpetrate GBV. The senate president also raised her concern on the number of suicides, saying it was also now common for people to drink poisonous substances when they felt angry and also kill others.

“We need an indaba to talk about this as mental health has become a challenge,” she said. The senate president said a lot of attention had been given to empowering the girl child since they were left behind in many things. She said the women ended up getting too empowered as they are even taught how to carry themselves when they get married. “What we do not hear is who talks to the people who marry us,” she said. The senate president said the result was that women became wiser and earned more than men. On the other hand, she said, men are not taught how to carry themselves and they ended up oppressing the women, until they hit them. She said the boy child had been left behind and boys were found on streets and beer halls. She said the country should focus on the family, as there was no liguma or lisango and people were easily influenced by what they saw on television. Senator Lindiwe Ngwenya said GBV should be stopped in the country as not only were women victims, but men were also killed in murders orchestrated by women. He said men should not be ashamed to report if they suffer abuse. The PM said the issue of the girl child versus the boy child was extremely important and he was passionate about it. He said it was not enough for one sector to work on this issue, but every sector and every unit needed to rise against GBV. He made an example of his engagement with one of the UN agencies in 2003. The premier said he told the person in charge that they could be misleading the country by focusing on the girl child. The PM said there was an instance of boys who marked their belts on how many virgins they had had sex with. “It was a trophy for them for sleeping with young girls, who had not yet experienced men. I said it does not matter how much you empower a girl, unless you work on the man, who is the perpetrator,” the premier said. He said government needs to stop chasing the symptoms and not getting to the root cause of problems. “May I ask the whole nation and government not to wipe the water, but rush to close the tap which is the source,” he said. He said the matter of empowering the family was part of his passion. He related that on Sunday night, a man came to tell him about being abused by his wife for a long time.

“I said I was happy that he had the spirit of God because one of two things could have happened, he could have killed the wife or committed suicide. These issues are real and we should work on them,” the PM said.

...praised for engaging media

The Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini says media houses should work towards self-regulation.

The PM was speaking during his appearance at the Senate portfolio committee budget debate chaired by Senator Chief Ngangabani. The PM was responding to a comment by Senator Sigombeni Dlamini who praised him for his engagement with the media on how they work. He said the PM had done the right thing by taking the lead by engaging the media and encouraging them not to work against the country, but assist in building it.

The senator wondered where the media would be after embarrassing the country. He added that he was also happy that the PM also talked about the welfare of journalists and that the publishers should ensure that they pay them salaries that would empower them. The senator said when journalists are hungry, they will end up writing anything.

“You did great service, the media personnel also realised that they have a father figure,” he said. In response, the PM appreciated the contribution from the senator, saying it was also how government intended when it took the decision to engage the media, through the Eswatini Editors Forum. He said they did not want something big or bad, adding that the media depicted government as evil, pointing out that anything done by any arm of government is bad and should be recorded as such. Dlamini said this was not right.

“If that has occurred and if someone feels their rights have been infringed upon, everyone should know when they can get their rights redeemed,” he said.

The PM said there should be a transparent process and framework on where one should go, what they expect to get and how they should be treated.

“That means media houses should work for self-regulation, and we need to stress this, but it should be a transparent process,” Dlamini said. The issue of media regulation has been making a lot of waves since the 12th Parliament started working. It was first raised by Mbabane east MP Welcome Dlamini during their induction workshop where he said government should regulate the media. However, during the House of Assembly portfolio committee debate of the ministry of information, communication and technology, Dlamini said he was for self-regulation of the media. In response, the Minister of ICT Savannah Maziya said regulation of the media by the government would impede on media freedom. The PM also met with the executive of the Eswatini Editors Forum where he raised concern on the issue of the media and its failure to implement a self-regulatory mechanism. Meanwhile, senators also wanted to know if the new parliament building would be finished on time with no extra costs. The PM said this was a concern which was raised by Sibaya and cabinet said it should not occur again.He said the building would end on time and no extra money will go into it.

“That is possible because the type of contract signed will be that on this date, it is finished and the budget should be set. Any additional period is at the contractor’s own cost,” he said.

share story