WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Government is determined to have so greatly transformed this country in seven years that it can be classified as a first world country. That is a noble goal, certainly one I can get behind. I am curious though, do Swazis even know what Vision 2022 entails? Or what government’s 2013 to 2018 programme of action is about? I ask because there is not much time until 2018, not for a country which is still struggling with corruption, service delivery, health and economic prosperity; all these being some of the focal areas of government’s development plan. I am going to go through some of these areas and demand accountability as well as including some new necessary aspects to the conversation on Swazi development.

I am passionate about my country, young people and my continent. I am one of those peculiar people who believe in that idealistic notion that saving one person has a positive impact on the broader scheme of things. It is for this reason that I consider it my right to know where government is on a development plan it produced itself for itself. The interesting thing is that this programme of action was set up by the current Cabinet so this could be a mid-term probe, if you will. I want to weave a tale about how all of the different elements should complement one another and how they affect each other.

EDUCATION

The 2015 World Population Data Sheet from the Population Reference Bureau reflects that although secondary school enrollment in Swaziland is 60 per cent of girls and 61 per cent of boys we are still the lowest in the region. In this aspect we are lower than countries which are ranked as third world. One of the things this government wanted to focus on was improving primary school enrollment through the Free Primary Education Programme. Really great idea! Except there was no continuation plan. A few months ago the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education spoke about how there are simply not enough secondary school classes to handle next year’s intake. Government then swiftly decided to construct 54 Form I classrooms. I am a sucker for a quick reaction but does this solve the problem? We get pupils into Form I but at the end of 2016 we have the same problem of not knowing where to put them the following year. Frustrated teachers have threatened to not reopen schools until this is handled. So as far as our education system goes it pains me to say in the two years this government has been in office they have failed to provide long term solutions for a huge problem.

HEALTH

There is empirical evidence that access to education is directly linked to HIV statistics and contraception usage in that the more educated one is the more likely they are to know to protect themselves and how to go about doing so. Swaziland has failed its people when it comes to sexuality education and realistic access to contraception. Save for organisations such as the Family Life Association of Swaziland, PSI and somewhat NERCHA, government has not done enough to ensure that culture does not encroach on attitudes of contraception. We have our heads stuck in the sand and people are dying because of it. When you don’t teach nurses that they may encounter adolescents or men having sex with men in need of condoms during their careers you create a space where they believe they should preach and pass judgement to them. What that does is to make the shroud of secrecy more fertile in Swaziland’s sexual relations.

When you issue reports that HIV is under control do you factor in how many people still die because they are stigmatised by health practitioners, or frustrated because they queue all day at government hospitals to get their ARVs? Does that ever make it into your reports? I ask because I am tired of losing friends and family to something you are quite frankly doing not enough to prevent due to conversations you are not willing to have.

The World Population Data Sheet places Swaziland as the highest in the region when it comes to percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS between the ages of 15 and 24. Boys/men are at 7.2 per cent and girls/women are at 15.5 per cent. I believe the over 50 per cent difference is due to cultural inhibitions to not speak plainly about these things. When adolescents asked to be able to access contraception there was an uproar, particularly that this would be promoting sexual activity in children.
Last year 338 pupils dropped out of primary school due to pregnancy. Why can’t you realise that these things are connected? By encouraging this culture of silence we are killing the youth.

I wasn’t even able to go unpack all the other things which we are struggling with like economic prosperity. If we aren’t teaching our girls and positively socialising our boys we are ensuring there is never any substantial economic stability for them. They will continue having children, our population will be predominantly children who are dependent on these people we have not done enough to provide economic stability.
The rest of Africa is fighting to achieve a desirable demographic dividend where the largest contributors to the population are the people of working age, those who can carry the economy. Reducing the number of dependents will allow us to keep more money in our pockets. Let’s get to work, serious work.