By Zweli Martin Dlamini

Changing the lives of the poor whether it is done by Tinkhundla system or political parties must be applauded, for the first time we are seeing the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) hard at work, building houses for the elderly citizens.

But DPM Thulisile Dladla was recently criticized for failing to disclose that, the monies used in the ongoing construction of houses for the poor,were donated by Serbian First Lady Tamara Vučić.

Personally, I feel any project that seeks to change the lives of the poor even if it’s one(1) citizen, must be applauded instead of unjust criticism, the mere fact that the Deputy Prime Minister eventually declared the source of funds is enough to me.

The agreement between the donor and the Tinkhundla regime on how they will play politics while implementing this project might be a private discussion and now that, the DPM has declared that, these are monies donated by an individual from another Government not eSwatini taxpayers money, we can only applaud the generosity of the course, without disregarding the fundamental question, what happened to public funds if emaSwati are assisted with monies sourced from donor funds?.

But the project itself is a very positive initiative that deserves more publicity and encouragement for the benefit of more poor emaSwati, if the donor is happy with the project, more donors will support the idea for the benefit of poor citizens.

When it comes to projects involving the poor, we must be careful and refrain from fighting political battles that will destroy the social projects, at the end, the loser would be the poor and vulnerable.

I remember building a house for a widow in my area about ten(10) years ago, at the time I was young and had just established Zwemart(Pty)Ltd.

Worth-noting, I was renting a flat with no house of my own at home and some members of the community mocked me saying, I am building houses for people while I don’t own any house.

It’s true that in most instances, people who have never helped anyone, are quick to have opinions about those who are trying to help, sometimes they will criticize you for doing something positive just because they wish, it was them.

Personally, when I see a person whether it’s a politician or someone I disagree with politically or otherwise, helping the poor, I am touched because I remember how my grandmother used to wake me up in the middle of the night saying “vuka iyanetsa lendlu, emathayela ayaphephuka”, during heavy rains in summer.

While we focus on the leaking roofing, our stick and mud house would be showing signs of damage, it was a painful experience and for me, I would always celebrate anyone who transforms a poor person from a stick and mud to a decent house whether it’s the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO), any political party or the DPM.

When my grandfather allocated me land to build my home, I remember being advised to start with a stick and mud house to accommodate building material, and I said I don’t want to see that house near inside my home, in fact I wish to see our country with no stick and mud house, those houses are degrading.

Therefore,whether it’s the Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) and her donors or political parties who help the poor, we must just celebrate the changing of people’s lives.

The problem arise when we criticize to a point where, we even discourage projects that seeks to change the lives of the people, I know the feeling of moving from a stick and mud to a decent house and we encourage the DPM to source more funds even within Government to build houses for the poor.

We will deal with other political issues and our differences politically, for now, I am applauding a social project that is changing the lives of the people.