5 key issues PM expected to answer
MBABANE - Social media users have expressed a desire for Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini to present concrete solutions on five key pressing issues, saying they have a significant impact on the lives of the people.
These include the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) and the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) financial crises, youth unemployment, salary review for civil servants, the employment of teachers and the health crisis.
This follows a social media post by Dlamini, who said he would be meeting editors and journalists this week, to answer their questions on pertinent national issues.
Questions
Dlamini allowed social media users to ask him questions they would want him to address.
He said he would pick the best five and answer them during the Editors Forum.
Social media users flooded the PM’s Facebook page, where they posed several questions.
Most questions were centred on the aforementioned issues, where they urged the PM to present viable solutions.
Several Facebook users asked the PM what government was doing to address the challenges faced by UNESWA and SANU.
Both institutions have been in the news lately, after they failed to pay staff salaries on time.
This led to UNESWA staff members threatening to march to Parliament to deliver their concerns tomorrow. The Minister of Education and Training, Owen Nxumalo, had to intervene and engage with the staff associations. Nxumalo promised that a task team would be appointed to conduct an assessment of the challenges faced by the country’s institution of higher learning.
The Facebook users expressed concerns about the institutions of higher learning failing to remunerate their staff on time.
According to the Facebook users, the institutions have been grappling with challenges that threaten their status and the quality of education they provide.
“This decline not only dims the prospects of our future leaders, but also impacts our nation’s ability to innovate and compete on the global stage,” one user said.
The users stated that UNESWA was once a beacon of excellence, producing great minds, including billionaires and chief executive officers (CEOs) of multinational companies that did not only shape the economic landscape across Africa and beyond, but also served as a testament to the university’s legacy of nurturing transformative leadership.
“Your distinguished career, and that of your Cabinet, is a shining example of this legacy.
“At this rate, it seems UNESWA is collapsing; so what will happen to the many emaSwati employed by the institution or the young people who find hope in being enrolled in the institution?” one user asked.
Additionally, the users expressed a desire to know why government was delaying the employment of teachers.
The social media users stated that some schools did not have enough teachers yet qualified teachers were lying idle at home.
They raised the plight of contract-qualified teachers, some of whom had worked for government for many years without being permanently employed, yet their contracts had not been renewed.
Learning
It was stated that some pupils allegedly spent the whole week without learning because there were no teachers in some schools. They suggested to the PM that he should make sure that teachers were employed on a full-time basis, just like it was happening in the armed forces.
Some Facebook users wanted to know what the PM was doing to address youth unemployment.
“What are your plans in dealing with unemployment among the youth, since these results in crime in the Kingdom of Eswatini?” one user asked.
Another user asked: “What is your plan, to create employment and eradicate poverty? I will await your answers PM,” the Facebook user said.
Facebook users went on to state that the country was facing a shortage of medicine in hospitals and this was a huge threat to their lives.
One user said the country was also reliant on neighbouring countries for some treatment procedures and this caused a significant burden on the country’s economy.
The user stated that this move created a strain on the economy.
He highlighted that the country had the potential to develop its healthcare facilities and not be reliant on sending patients to neighbouring countries.
Skills
“There are many individuals with skills and knowledge of the health industry who are currently unemployed, especially the youth. They also possess good ideas on how Eswatini can improve its healthcare system,” the user said. Furthermore, the PM was asked: “When will civil servants get their salary review.”
Some Facebook users expressed concerns that they kept hearing a lot of stories about the pending salary review yet to be implemented.
The users said a salary review was last implemented in 2016 yet the cost of living had drastically increased over the years.
“As my honourable prime minister, please address the issue of salary review to enjoy your premiership. Also, address the issue of job creation and hire more civil servants in education, health sector, and other departments in government,” one user pleaded.
The PM will be meeting with editors on Thursday.