Not all emaSwati with disabilities receive grants
MBABANE- No grants!
The above sentiment was where shared by a group of people with different kinds of disabilities. They claimed to have never received social or disability grants.
This was despite other persons with disabilities getting grants from the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO).
According to the DPMO’s regulations, a person with a physical or mental disability that made them unfit to work for a period of longer than six months can apply for a disability grant.
Such persons, according to the regulations, are eligible for permanent disability grants if their disability would continue for more than a year.
Also, the regulations provide for a temporary disability grant if the disability will last for a continuous period of not less than six months and not more than 12 months.
According to the group, they have not received anything as a form of grant. Speaking on behalf of the group,*Sabelo said life was hard for them.
“We are having it tough because no one is giving us anything to survive on. Life is not easy for us as we have to work twice as hard just to survive,’’ said Sabelo.
Plight
He said they formed a group so they could speak as one, as they all shared the same plight.
In detail, he mentioned that as a group they had different disabilities and some were worse than others.
“Some of us cannot see, others cannot walk or hear properly so it becomes very difficult when we are excluded from the little that the others get,’’ said Sabelo during an interview.
Sharing further insight on the issue was Federation Organisation of the Disabled People in Swaziland (FODSWA) President Sipho Dlamini who said this was a complex situation.
He mentioned that they were a large number and only a small percentage of them benefitted.
“We are approximately 200 000 and from that, about 176 000 benefit from the social grant. We try by all means to make sure that the ones receiving the grant are those who critically need it,’’ said Dlamini. In addition, he said the grant they were receiving was way too little for practical usage. According to him the social grant
FODSWA President Sipho Dlamini. was currently E280 per month.
“The first step is usually to ascertain the disability then if the urgency is identified, a person is then registered for the E280 per month grant,’’ said Dlamini.
Meanwhile, DPMO’s Communication Officer, Mihla Khumalo, said the DPMO had an inclusive social grant.
He said enrolment for social grants was done through the tinkhundla centres and assessments were carried out by the department of social welfare where needed.
“The grant does not discriminate according to one’s physical challenge. The enrolment to the social grant is not automatic, meaning the potential recipient has to register interest to benefit by filling in the forms placed at all Tinkhundla centres for convenience,’’ said Khumalo.