By Zweli Martin Dlamini

Lobamba Member of Parliament(MP) Michael Masilela made very emotional submissions in Parliament this week, amid a proposal by the Eswatini Electricity Company(EEC) to increase electricity, not to mention the recently approved Eswatini Water Services Corporation(EWSC) proposal to increase water.

Well, let me once again warn the entire country that,it is dangerous to have a large percentage of the population living in poverty, it’s a serious threat to peace and stability.

Perhaps, it is worth mentioning that,Government has a huge responsibility to create jobs and introduce economic empowerment programs so that, the people can have something to eat and survive.

Creating a conducive environment for both Domestic and Foreign Direct Investment(FDIs) forms part of the Government fundamental responsibility to improve the ease of doing business, to enhance jobs creation, economic growth and development.

We have seen even King Mswati touring Malls, who is going to buy and support the shops within those Shopping Malls if a majority of the population is financially broke and living in poverty?.

MP Michael Masilela is a rich man, he owns buses and other properties,I will always applaud any politician who is rich but speaks for the poor because the truth is; almost all of us have a painful poverty experience.

Indeed,our background suggests that poverty is not a theory but a practical experience to some of us, it’s a very painful experience that we wouldn’t wish for anyone.

We cannot afford to have such a large percentage of the population living in poverty when we have resources that could benefit all of us, only for State owned companies like the Electricity Company and Water Services to generate profits by robbing the poor and vulnerable citizens.

State entities must provide services to the people because these entities were not established to generate profits.

Government owned companies or organizations are not, in any way, profit generating entities and as the situation stands, one day we will wake-up to news suggesting that, the police have generated millions in profits by arresting drink and drivers.

We might be told that, the Commander-in-Chief King Mswati is happy after that National Commissioner declared millions in profits.

Once State entities take pride in declaring profits while the poor languish in poverty, then we will have a serious problem in country, State companies must serve the people.

Water and electricity is a basic commodity, if you increase water tariffs you are actually saying, the natural resource that was created by God for his human beings to live, must now be a luxury for the rich, politically connected and privileged people.

A hungry poor person normally mitigates hunger by drinking water while searching for something to eat, poor citizens are being oppressed in such a way that, they might find themselves with no alternative but to consume the rich and powerful.

The Lobamba MP made strong and relevant submissions, only a fool can think there’s no crisis in this country, poverty is at the highest level and a threat to national security.

Some of us who experienced poverty are still wondering how civil servants, security guards, textile workers and all  the ‘underpaid’ workers in this country are surviving.

Even MPs are now financially broke, fifty-thousand Rands(R50,000.00) salary is nothing if you are an elected MP because, your voters in the rural areas expect more from you and those MPs end-up sharing their salaries with the people.

Indeed, there’s no way a sane Liswati could watch a relative die of hunger that’s why those who are employed are financially broke because they share their salaries with relatives.

It is therefore, our duty as citizens of this country with influential voices to push for a better life for all, poverty is affecting all of us, you can’t enjoy life while your relatives are suffering, we were not raised like that as emaSwati.

Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini became popular this week after opposing the proposed electricity increase, indeed he made a very good point, electricity is expensive in this country.

I hope now the PM fully understands that, there’s no MP who speaks for the sake of making headlines in the media, Russell Dlamini made headlines for the good reasons this time because he spoke about an issue of public interest, calling upon EEC not to increase electricity.

Any MP including the PM who speaks sense in Parliament will attract positive coverage from the media, the issue of water and electricity is indeed, of vital public interest including that of salaries.

We expect Government to increase salaries for all civil servants and issue Gazettes increasing salaries for all workers in the various industries, not water and electricity.