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MPS REJECT E20 HIKE ON ELDERLY GRANTS

03/03/2015 09:33:00 BY MUSA SIMELANE

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LOBAMBA – Members of Parliament (MPs) have rejected the E20 increment on elderly grants, which was allotted by government in last week’s Budget Speech.

They said the E20 increase was a joke and an embarrassment to the elderly and the Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini had better return to the drawing board to reconsider a higher figure.

There was a strong suggestion that E300 would be far better than the E240 per month they will be entitled to after the E20 increment. Zombodze Emuva MP Titus Thwala even took time to break it down for the minister and MPs in order to understand how little E240 was.

“The minister increased the grant by 9.01 per cent effectively. Maybe he thought MPs would be pleased by this just because it is above the inflation rate, but we are not. The grant is supposed to be based on the poverty-line (a minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country),” Thwala said in yesterday’s House of Assembly sitting, where the Budget Speech was being debated.

He clarified that Swaziland’s poverty-line was supposed to be no less than US$1 (E11) per day, and that should be the benchmark for government.

In his calculation he said E240 multiplied by 30 days of the month gave E8 per day for the elderly, which is not enough. “This indicates that the elderly are getting something that is below the breadline. They are still the poorest of the poor.

“In the United States it is US$20 (E220) and in Namibia US$2 (E22). MP Veli Shongwe of Ngwempisi Constituency was right that they should be getting E300 monthly,” submitted the Zombodze Emuva MP.

He stressed that E20 was retrogressive if considering that the kingdom wanted to attain First World status by 2022.

Manzini North MP Owen Nxumalo felt that the meagre increase would negatively impact on the Tinkhudla system as it strongly depended on the elderly.

Nkwene MP Sikhumbuzo Dlamini shared similar sentiments, where he described the elderly as the backbone for this system. He said the youth was becoming more attracted to systems from outside the country’s borders.

Meanwhile, MP Lucky Mabuza from Nkhaba Constituency, said if he had his way he would stop the budget allocation and request for a review.

He said E20 was very disappointing and wondered how MPs could sit and listen to anything concerning the budget. “E20 is equivalent to nothing. The elderly must get something far better,” said Mabuza.

Mtfongwaneni MP Mjuluko Dlamini submitted that the country will attract curses such as drought, among other things, if it did not give the elderly a better grant.