Appreciating our support

TPrime Minister Cleopas Dlamini delivered his inaugural address this week. The statement had some positives in it, most especially on the youth unemployment front. However, the biggest test now lies in unified implementation.

During the first Eswatini Economic Conference, renowned SA based Swati governance specialist Dumisani Tembe noted that Eswatini was one of the best when it came to formulating strategies and challenged the country to implement them more. In his words, he said, “they must not gather dust because they have the potential to really assist in developing Eswatini.” As I read with interest the statement by the PM, Tembe’s words echoed in my head. The analyst also subscribes to the fact that what makes administrators and politicians leave a positive lasting legacy is the implementation of life- changing policies and strategies that are people- eantered. He suggests that only three main policies are enough for a politician to leave his mark on a generation. For me, those three policies would have to touch on youth unemployment, Micro Small Medium Enterprises and government responsiveness/ service delivery. This is the task that Dlamini and his team have on their table for the next two years. Thankfully, we have seen the works Dlamini has done in the past while Chief Executive Officer of the Public

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Wwe wake up, we have a task. We have a responsibility to go after our dreams, and try to be a step closer to the aim. The goal is to achieve our purpose in life, and until we do that, no day can pass by without us pushing, without striving.

Looking at it closely, no ‘ man’ can make it alone. We all need an extra hand that will push us. A hand that will pull us and make us realise the potential we hold within us. The hand is our backbone, the pillar of our motivation. I too have that hand, in fact, and those hands.

In my life, I go through so much, there is pain that comes to distract me from my dreams. For me to have the courage to go on, these hands hold mine and make me see beyond my suffering. They make me realise that there are better days coming and there is an after suffering stage, all I have to do is put on courage and believe in myself more than these things that are stopping me. My family is my biggest support. Well, I’m not one with many friends, even if I did have them, I’m not the kind

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Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini.

Service Pensions Fund ( PSPF). Tangible results, not only in structures built during his time but also in administration. A time that also saw a rise in the worth of the Fund from E2 billion to E22billion.

According to the Government social media page, the Prime Minister says government is committed to addressing the concerns of emaSwati particularly on youth unemployment and service delivery. He was addressing Parliament on Wednesday afternoon. The address was quite eloquent and touched on many key points that have been a pebble in my shoe for ages.

In case you missed the speech, it is still available online. This is the kind of content that I subthat allows everyone into my life. When I am down and out, feeling as though I can not handle the heat, they always have a way of making me strong. They make me understand that I have so much potential within me and I can be the best I want to be.

Support comes in different ways really. Sometimes, it will be the people that encourage you to keep striving for your goals and tell you to never give up. Those ones are always bringing you positive energy and making you want to live. By living I mean focusing on the end goal and putting in your best shot to achieve your dream.

“Though it may seem impossible, but there is no one else more capable of doing it except you, don’t let go, you will make it, “they always tell you the right words for the right reasons. They never want to see you fall and breakdown, they want you to spread your wings and fly! At times, the support will be from these that you know need you in their lives. I mean, each one of us have people unknown to us, who are looking up to us, whenever they see us, they make a reflection of their own lives. They may not always tell us but it’s a fact that they exist. Everytime you think of a reason to fight for your dream, have them in mind, so that you never find a reason to let go, for their sake.

Some of us, we have siblings.

scribe to. Content that brings hope and speaks of solutions. Anyways in case, you cannot get online, the PM assured the House and the Nation that government is alive to the concerns of emaSwati, especially concerning inefficiencies in service delivery. He said government was equally concerned with the unacceptable rate of unemployment mainly affecting the youth. The first step towards solving a problem is identifying it, acknowledging where you may have not done well and then moving towards rectifying it. The PM’s speech personified that. It was pregnant with zest and determination to make things better for us all.

In addressing the issues, he said government had put in place several interventions to address this

Younger or older, they do look up to us. They also have dreams and aspirations. Whenever they look at us, they should see a reason to have goals as well. And to us, we should ensure that we fight to be what we have been destined for, for their sake.

They become our support in the sense that, we are forced to succeed because we do not want to let them down, we try so much to make them proud, because they make us stronger each time we look at them in relation to our goals. Then, there is the form of support that, depending on how we take it, can either make or break us; our enemies. They can be known or unknown to us at that. They make us in the sense that, they push us to prove them wrong. We never want to give up nagging challenge with haste are committed to doubling their efforts to ensure that all emaSwati have ample opportunities to grow and succeed. If this was a sermon, I would say underline the words ‘ with haste’ and also underline ‘ committed to doubling’, and lastly underline ‘ all emaSwati.’ These are keywords that bring hope to some of us. They make us want to get out of bed to try again with the expectancy that perhaps this time something will indeed be different. And in township lingo that ‘ sonkhe sito popper’ meaning we will all succeed.

He has addressed one of the three issues that can make his term a legacy if he is to follow the three- tier approach by governance specialist Tembe.

The second tier which got me purring was on youth. Before the PM’s statement, I wanted this feature to be all about the policies and strategies in place that have been set up to ensure that the youth has a better life. I wanted to challenge or rather encourage the new PM to ensure that these strategies are implemented. Mine was to request that these documents are given to him to go through so he sees just how much commitment had been made to the youth in the past, but sadly little had come to fruition.

That Eswatini has 70 per cent of its population made up of the youth means no public address should go by without the youth and empowerment being mentioned. None at all, they form the majority. That Dlamini, in his inaugural address touched on the youth, made me punch in the air in excitement. Finally, we may see the youth getting a seat on the table for the development of the country. In his words, he said, because we do not want them happy on our downfall. We always want to win over them, because they try so hard to break us and pull us down.

When striving and having the need to prove them wrong, for good reasons, we can better our lives. But be careful you do not fall prey to their wiles. Take heed in everything you do or say to prove them wrong, because you do not want to lose yourself in the process of proving them wrong, atleast that much you need to be cautious about.

Now, we get to the most important detail of support... our dreams! What wakes us up every day, what makes us to be what we are, what we keep aspiring for all the time. I mean, the very thing

“We are committed to facilitating the creation of more employment opportunities for the youth while guiding them to fully utilise the funds availed by government to assist emaSwati entrepreneurs who want to venture into business.”

That quote addressed tiers two and three for me, youth and SME. The Prime Minister has an opportunity to assist level the field on the SME front. Together with the other ministries to find ways on how to make the Ease of Doing Business better in Eswatini. Not make it better for just the large- scale enterprises but even the man on the street with a yearly turnover of less than E20 000. That turnover plays a crucial role in the economy of the country when put together with the other 60 000 SMEs. SMEs globally are referred to as the engines of the economy and they too deserve to have a chair pulled towards the table to also play their part in the economic development of Eswatini. Thankfully, if this address is anything to go by, we could be seeing that in future.

Last Sunday my fellow columnist Mfanukhona Nkambule described the new PM as an ‘ economist par excellence.’ Having also once interviewed him while he was a CEO, I can attest that he is indeed a focused results- orientated administrator. And indeed right now we need results and the biggest test for the PM is to deliver. As one unemployed man said to me this week, “I have a good feeling about this new PM, he looks like he will save us and address our issues. I like him.” Thousands of jobless people have their hope in a better tomorrow. We pray that everyone working with and around the PM will also assist in achieving these results. It is a team effort. After all if these results are achieved and he passes these tests, then we will have a better quality of life for all emaSwati. Which is all we want really. We all want is a better quality of life.

that tires our souls, this that we are hated for. If it means that you have no reason to keep striving, if you feel as though you do not have any motivation, then this should be the one thing that keeps you alive. Our very own dreams are to be our support. We need to put them to reality, that is the aim after all. Our very dreams should allow us to open our wings wide and fly up to the moon. Our dreams are the main purpose as to why we are alive. It is the design God made us to make. It is what we have been called for, the one thing that we need to do here on earth before we die.

There now I have explained it, all the sorts of support that we have. I call it support because it leads to victory, depending on how we take it. We need to learn to be thankful of it all, because it makes us strong people and makes us want to better our lives. It is our support system. Sometimes we get bitter words, they are not to make us give up. Make them help you strive for more. They should never break you down BUT let them be what you lean on, to be what you want to prove wrong.

Everything that is towards your dream and your dream itself, inclusive, show gratitude to it. It is the support you need to appreciate what you have, because without it, you have no reason to live, to love, to matter and be happy.

We all need support, no matter how strong we think we are, we can never make it on our own, even if we have made it, support played a role, one way or the other, be thankful for that.