Marwick Khumalo,the long serving Member of Parliament(MP) successfully moved a motion of vital public interest this week,directing Government to stop the expulsion of students owing school fees and then find ways of funding education amid the COVID-19 financial constraints. (Read More Here).
It should be noted that with this motion,MP Marwick Khumalo touched the hearts of almost everyone in the country, parents and children, he executed his duties diligently as the representative of the people.
Parliament is the only institution where the people are directly represented and while we call for democracy, at least it came to the mind of one MP with the support of his colleagues, they realized that there are issues that need urgent intervention.
As the situation stands, children are dropping out of school after their parents lost jobs and some businesses were closed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, after this motion was successfully passed by Parliament, Government must ensure that funding is provided to Secondary and High Schools in line with the people’s resolution through their MPs.
Even though Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg tried to justify that funds do not come from the air, let me advise him where to source the money to fund education as per the Parliament resolution.
Minister Rijikernberg must analyse all the payslips for MPs, Ministers,Judges,civil servants and all workers in the country,he will realize that the Income Tax or Pay as You Earn(PAYE)is deducted every month, that money must be used to fund the education system.
The Minister must also analyse the receipts Swazis receive when buying groceries,at the bottom, there’s is an acknowledgment of a Value Added Tax(VAT)payment, this means even the unemployed are taxpayers, that money must fund the education system.
MP Marwick Khumalo successfully moved a motion that will benefit even the next generation if implemented,we must applaud the MPs who overwhelmingly supported him.
MPs must understand that in politics, you support the idea not the person, that they supported Marwick in this motion does not mean they won’t disagree with him when he raises another motion.
Khumalo is a pro-democracy MP but his motion will benefit both the progressives and conservatives, hence the support from a majority of the MPs.
It is important to state that by neglecting social obligations despite collecting our taxes, Mswati’s government is pushing us deeper into poverty by shifting the burden to us.
It is therefore,the duty of all the MPs and other stakeholders including parents to ensure that Government respects the Parliament resolution and fund the education system.
Furthermore,let me remind Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg and other Cabinet Ministers that a Parliament resolution is equivalent to a court order, any Minister who is opposed to this resolution must go back to Parliament to lobby for its reversal instead of rushing to the media.
In fact,a member of the House who uses the media to discredit or ‘scandalize’ a Parliament resolution risks being charged with contempt of Parliament.
Therefore, if the Finance Minister feels the resolution cannot be implemented, perhaps, due to financial constraints, he must go back to Parliament and explain to the people through their MPs where did the taxes collected by the revenue authority go.
MP Marwick Khumalo stated categorically that Swazis are broke and some can no longer afford to pay school fees after losing jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic,this is the time for the Government to prove that it cares for the people.
In conclusion, perhaps, let me state that even though MP Marwick Khumalo motivated his motion by attributing the current financial challenges to the COVID-19 pandemic, it should be noted that we have another serious pandemic in the country that continues to dig deeper into our pockets.
King Mswati is a serious pandemic in this country, Finance Minister Neal must consider consulting him to release our money to fund the education system and other social obligations.
We can’t have an unemployed King wearing a watch worth over R20 million, only for Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg to tell the Nation that money does not come from the air when urged to fund education.
MP Marwick Khumalo has given this Government a political rope, it is now up to this system of Government to drop it, do the right thing or hang itself.
As mentioned, this is a motion that impacts almost everyone directly or indirectly, if Government decides to ignore it, the people will have more reasons to hate Mswati and his Tinkhundla system.
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