Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) Thulisile Dladla was speaking with confidence when addressing Senators,saying ‘sugar daddies’ who impregnate school children must be arrested,this narrative deserves support.
Firstly,those who justify this rape against children saying “who will then raise the child if the man is arrested”, are potential rapists who deserve to be monitored because they might be raping children within their communities.
Children must be allowed to grow until they are old enough or fully matured to take decisions who they want to have sex with.
Indeed,a child must be allowed to enjoy the right to choose the man who will break her virginity and who she wants to surrender her body to.
I know lawyer and rape suspect Martin ‘Internash’ Dlamini and I feel the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) Lomvula Hlophe is doing well in ensuring that Dlamini is kept in the right place, of course,he is innocent until proven guilty based on principles.
The Acting DPP is very passionate about issues of domestic violence and rape and I’m always encouraged with women who work tirelessly to eradicate abuse against women and children because in this country,we have monsters who think they have a right over the bodies of women and children.
Well,if the woman is old enough to take her own decisions,rape accusations are always debatable in the court of public opinion because some women would lie to destroy other men but,amid availability of evidence rape is rape and must be condemned without justification.
It’s even worse when the victim is a child not even one child but different children accusing one man of rape like in the case of lawyer Martin ‘Internash’ Dlamini.
We paying school fees for children fathered by our relatives and Government has the Free Primary Education(FPE),if the rapist is sent to jail after a fair trial,children will grow without any problem but of course,with minor challenges.
We cannot therefore,be obstructed by potential rapists who pretend to care for the children.
A rapist cannot be trusted with the welfare of child she fathered from the victim so, a rapist must go to jail while as a society, we deal with the challenges of raising both the victim and child.
As emaSwati,it is part of our culture to take care of vulnerable children within our families and we are doing just that,even the author of this article was raised by grandparents with other relatives assisting in my ways.
We have civil servants and other workers who are financially broke because their money is taking care of relatives and their children so as emaSwati,we are used to these challenges.
Therefore,this narrative by the DPM must be fully supported, that’s why we need some women in political positions because some of these issues need a woman who understands the issue based on experience of being a woman.
When a man breaks a woman’s virginity who is above twenty-one(21) years,there’s some pain and the body changes, how do you then justify the rape where an old man will rape a thirteen(13) year-old.
The DPM is a mother and a grandmother and on this issue, she articulated it very well,we need to enforce the law here to deal with rapists not justification of rape.
Even thou we disagree on other political issues,I don’t see any problem in applauding the Deputy Prime Minister where she has done well,we can’t tolerate rapists.
Deputy Prime Minister Thuli Dladla.