Stories by Bahle Gama
“Every business or organisation continues to market itself despite the duration of existence and we need to do the same thing with the Tinkhundla system.”
This was said by Senator Sicelo Dlamini during the budget debate of the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development where senators questioned and gave recommendations to the ministry.
The senator said the Tinkhundla system is the backbone of the country, therefore, the ministry is not expected to be seen failing and unable to deliver.
He said there is a lot that needs to be done by the ministry to ensure that people within and outside the country are well-versed about Tinkhundla and what they are about in Eswatini.
“Some people still don’t know or even understand what Tinkhundla is, and we need to fix that immediately. We want the Minister to travel to other countries to market and talk about Tinkhundla,” he said.
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He was echoed by Senator Isaac Magagula who said there should be a political manifesto, “a compendium to help publicise Tinkhundla within and outside the country.”
Meanwhile. Senator Chief Mphatfwa said the ministry’s preamble did not reflect what was spoken at the People’s Parliament in terms of including lessons about Tinkhundla in the curriculum.
He made an example with subjects like Religious Education which he said were put in the curriculum to teach about certain religions, therefore, the same should be done for the Tinkhundla system.
“Just as children learn about Christianity and other religions in school, they should also learn about Tinkhundla and have it become a language that is instilled at a younger age, so we have a well-versed generation on the system,” he said.
In responding to the recommendations, Minister Sikhumbuzo Dlamini said he noted what was being said by the senators.
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He stated that this is a process that would require discussions between all stakeholders involved before making a final decision.
This would also apply to the manifesto as well as it would have to be a well-put document that can be distributed in Eswatini and other countries globally.
According to the minister, many countries did not know about the Tinkhundla system until the 2021 unrest, whereby most of them got to know and understand what it is and its importance to Eswatini.
“Therefore, there is a need for this information to be spread globally and we will work on that, we have seen global organisations showing an understanding and interest in Tinkhundla because they were in the dark over the years,” submitted the minister.
