ELDERLY GRANTS Nationality documents a stumbling block

MBABANE – Despite the strides that have been made by government to avail social grants to improve the lives of elderly people, some cannot access them.

6eemingly, the stumbling blocN be tween elderly people and their grant is nationality documents. *overnment introduced the elderly grant in 005 and it is accessible to all elderly people above the age of 60 years. To date, around 0 000 elderly people receive the elderly grant.

At the inception of the grant, govern ment engaged teams that collected data of people who were above the age of 60 in communities. Through the e[ercise, it was uncovered that some of the elderly did not have birth certificates and Per sonal Identity 1umbers PI1s .

Temporary PI1s were made through a partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs in order to ensure that the elderly people registered for the grant.

Registered

One of those is /ina Dlamini 6 from .wend]eni Community for under Mtsambama Constituency. Dlamini said she was born in Eswatini, but her parents never registered her. 6he also has four children who are also not registered.

Dlamini who has lived in the commu nity for as long as she can remember turned 60 years old four years ago, a decade after the introduction of the government elderly grant. )our years ago, when she turned 60, she said she thought she would receive the grant without any hassles, as she was made to believe that every li6wati who attains 60 years could be a beneficiary. However, she learnt that she needed to produce an identity document ID card upon reg istration. Dlamini said she did not have an ID card or a birth certificate. When she was asNed why she did not obtain the documents years ago, she counted a number of challenges.

These included the offices providing such a service being far away and an unwelcoming staff each time she went there. Another stumbling blocN was the money she was e[pected to pay in order for her to get all the documents reTuired. Dlamini’s nearest Home Affairs Office is Hlatsi service centre. 6he said she was told that she had to pay a fee for late registration. In total, she was reTuired to pay E600 for a birth certificate and an ID card. 6he said she did not have the funds to pay that amount of money. The elderly woman stays alone in an old sticN and mud house with a leaNing roof and falling walls. 6he pleaded with the nation to assist her with proper shelter and funds so that she could be able to obtain the nationality documents.

Dlamini said if she could have the documents, she would be in a better position to apply for the elderly grant. The elderly grant is set at E500 per month and it is paid through MT1 Mobile Money MoMo . Dlamini said since she stayed alone, the government grant would be able to feed her. )urther, the elderly woman mentioned that she last saw her four children five years ago.

Procedure

Worth noting is that government, in )ebruary this year, introduced the el derly funeral cover. )or one to Tualify for the cover, they would need to be beneficiary of the elderly grant, and national documents are also a standard procedure. Dlamini’s neighbour Percy Mdluli mentioned that they had tried to get assistance from several offices, including that of their member of par liament MP , but no one had come to the elderly woman’s rescue. “We last saw our elected officers during the elections,´ he said. Individuals who might be willing to assist Dlamini may contact the neighbour Mdluli on

. To Tualify for the elderly grant, beneficiaries would need to fill in the form at inkhundla centre. The form reTuires documents including an ID card, proof of income or dividend if any. The forms are then taNen to the 6ocial Welfare Department under the deputy prime minister’s DPM Office. The application process may taNe up to three months and is free of charge.

In most cases, bucopho and tindvuna tetinkhundla assist the elderly person in filling in the forms by collecting the necessary documents and help with the entire application process. Mtsambama Indvuna yenkhundla )reddie 6hongwe, when reached for comment regarding this matter, more especially on what they have done to assist Dlamini in getting the nationality documents and Tualify for the grants, referred Tuestions to bucopho.

Information

“I may not have enough information about this issue. .indly refer your Tues tions to .wend]eni Bucopho Mandla 6imelane because the issue is in his community,´ he said.

Meanwhile, 6imelane stated that they were surprised to learn that Dlamini was not on government elderly grant list and did not have national identity documents. “We are eTually surprised, including the royal Nraal because she never communicated that with anyone in the community or structures,´ he said.

6imelane said he was planning on vis iting Dlamini to find out the real problem together in order for her to get assistance.

Apart from elderly people, there is also a number of children who are currently not in school because they do not have birth certificates.

A study that was conducted by 8m hluma Widows and

(Pics: Nonduduzo Kunene) Lina Dlamini who lives in poverty and not benefiting from the elderly grant.

The delegates being briefed about the donated items and the project supported by the European Union.