NO-WIN FOR PARENTS

NO SWEET NEWS

$1< women showed interest in the Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment Trust (SWEET) when it was established many years ago. The idea of making savings and getting handsome dividends after a certain period attracted young, old, single, married and widowed ladies.

It is now history that the entity was to be later shrouded in mystery and confusion, resulting in investors losing hope.

Its offices were eventually shut down, without the members being told what the next step would be. For a few years, some thought they had lost their investments completely. It was sweet music to their ears when reports emerged to the effect that the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) had taken charge of the process of winding up the organisation and compensated investors. The affected women were told to submit the relevant documents confirming their membership and amounts invested.

Those who had not yet filed claims were urged to do so before the end of the past week.

We now hear that 6 700 creditors stand to recover their monies while about 9 000 stand to lose out. The other disappointment is that some creditors allegedly submitted inflated claims, which were promptly disproved. This raises the issue of record keeping.

SWEET, as an organisation, was supposed to have kept all the records of creditors.

Where are these records" It is possible that some of the claimants were not up to mischief but were confused by the whole process. Maybe they did not find all the necessary documents.

$fter all, some of them are too old to even know how much they invested.

That the Central Bank was able to detect fraud means it has the records. Why demand them from the women then"

$5(176 who have schoolgoing children have had it tough over the last few years, especially since the outgoing government administration came into office.

So, the pupil is either sent home or the parent taken to court" Why not just make education affordable in Eswatini"