What was supposed to be an exciting day, turned emotional as Shiselweni II Member of Parliament, Strydom Mpanza handed over a house to an elderly woman of Sibovu.
This was at an event that was held on the 04th July 2020, Saturday at gogo Viera Dlamini’s homestead where she officially received a house built for her by the MP and the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
The beneficiary could not hold herself and was hysterical throughout the event, such that it could be mistaken for a funeral as she could not believe she was an owner of a new house. Not only did she receive keys for her newly built house, but she also received a bed, wardrobe, blankets, and food parcels, all from Mpanza. Previously, gogo stayed in a stick and mud house which was evidently built decades ago.
In a brief, emotional speech, gogo thanked Mpanza for coming through and building a house for her. “I still recall how I got introduced to Mpanza where he had made a visit to come a see my then sickly daughter, who later passed on.” Gogo Dlamini went on to state that her late daughter told me to stick my Mpanza’s side, despite that he hadn’t been elected to be an MP at that time, but they had belief in him that he would one day assist their family.
Mahlalini Umgijimi, identified as babe Khumalo also had his moment to thank the member of parliament and his family for assisting gogo. “There are fewer people with a heart as good as Mpanza’s, not even from any of our previous members of parliaments as none came near what our current has done for our community,” said Khumalo.
He went on to state that as the inner Council they were out of words for this kind gesture, especially because they are understanding of the fact that he had a huge responsibility to take care of all nine chiefdoms under his Constituency, but what he has done for gogo is truly commendable. Khumalo concluded by thanking the community for holding hands and assisting the construction of the house and advised the community that the MP now had to shift his focus to other communities.
Echoing his words was the area’s Indvuna, Mandlenkhosi Lushaba who said they had never seen this before, in all their lives. “I would like to urge our MP to continue assisting the underprivileged in our constituency and also appreciate him for assisting gogo,” Lushaba said.
He mentioned that Mpanza had given everyone a lesson that as Shiselweni II they once witnessed a legislator do something good for a needy person, as gogo has witnessed a huge change in his life. “Gogo had reached a stage where she probably never saw herself owning a new house, bed and wardrobe, but through God’s grace we are here today to witness the Lord’s work,” said Lushaba.
Sought for comment, Mpanza stated that it was his passion to mitigate the pains and suffering of vulnerable and underprivileged people in his constituency. He alluded that his passion was witnessed a few weeks ago when another house was handed over to a Malindzisa family which had been built through the support of SOS, where he also made a meaningful contribution.
“I was introduced to gogo Dlamini through a situation which later became tragic as I had gone to her home to donate to gogo’s sickly daughter. Poverty could be read just from the mere sight of those stick and mud houses, which indicated they had been built decades ago” biefly explained Mpanza.
The MP concluded by thanking the Mahlalini Leadership for their continued support on any endeavours that the community engages on. He said he was grateful to the leadership of Mandlenkhosi Lushaba and his team for the humble support they offer everyone without observing status. He also appreciated NDMA for always coming through whenever he sought for their support to mitigate situations under his constituency, as well as thanked the community of Sibovu for their willing heart to improve the livelihood of their neighbours.
