By Wendy Magagula

MBABANE: *Sabelo Hlophe, a civil servant suffering from cancer has become a victim of the health crisis after failing to receive assistance due to the non-availability of medication in Mswati’s Government hospitals.

Government collects Income Tax,Value Added Tax(VAT)and Corporate Tax among others, billions fund the royal family and  King Mswati’s lavish lifestyle in a country where about 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.

“I went to Good Shepherd hospital and it was discovered that I was suffering from cancer and now I am using small pipes to urinate. I was transferred to Mbabane Government Hospital and at Mbabane, I was told to go to Mankayane on the 28th November 2022(today). When I arrived there, they told me, I cannot be assisted due to the lack of working equipment. I am appealing to Government to provide working equipment so that I can be assisted,” he said.

Pictures in our possession suggest that indeed the civil servant is now using ‘small pipes’ to urinate after suffering from cancer.

A questionnaire was sent to Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi, however, she had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

Reached for comments, Welcome Mdluli, the President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union(SWADNU) confirmed that eSwatini continues to face the shortage of medication in the various hospitals adding that they even engaged the Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku in the matter.

“Today(Monday) we were holding a meeting the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss the issue of medication in hospitals. As nurses, we are concerned about the ongoing situation and we cannot keep quiet while people are suffering just because we receive our salaries every-month. It’s true that there’s no medication for cancer, such patients are normally treated in South Africa but the problem with Phalala Fund is that it is very hard to get assistance,” said the Nurses Union President when interviewed by editor Zweli Martin Dlamini on Monday evening.

Eswatini is facing a health crisis, dozens have died as a result of the non-availability of drugs in hospitals, a large amount of the Government budget sustains Mswati’s lavish lifestyle.