For the next few weeks my mouth will be out of order (for lack of a proper phrase).
This is because sometime last week I woke up with what I thought was just one throbbing toothache yet it turned out that my entire teeth nje needed an overhaul.
That is entirely my fault because I should have taken much better care of them. Anyway, the issue here is I was forced to visit a private doctor because I was in so much pain (still am) I couldn’t risk going to queue at the Mbabane Government Hospital and risk not getting treatment because of the ongoing challenges there and other public health facilities.
So imagine my shock when I read that the seven-member House of Assembly select committee tasked with investigating the contents of the petition that was delivered by the hospital’s health workers in Parliament last month asked for a 21-day extension.
The message was conveyed by Chairperson of the committee Lomahasha MP Zanele Mashaba who said they needed the extension because for some reason or the other they couldn’t meet due to other engagements.
Clearly, this is a sign that the health crisis will not be going away anytime soon. While the Minister, Mduduzi Matsebula and the Cabinet team were asked to provide answers in 14 days about the nationwide crises, the MPs themselves want an additional 21 days to look into the contents of a petition from just one health institution.
It is for this reason that I would call upon the MPs to drop not only this probe, but many others which have been raised in the House and yet there have been no solutions or answers tabled.
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Instead, more money will be going to waste as the members of the select committee claim sittings for engaging in the probe including more money spent on fuel costs. Last I checked, sitting allowances were E350 for ordinary members and E400 for the chairperson.
Why should we allow our legislators to claim more money for a probe into Mbabane Government Hospital?
Can’t the health workers furnish them with the information and evidence they will present and the ministry forwards responses because these issues are well known—especially in staff shortages and lack of some medicines?
That is why I couldn’t risk going to the dentist department because I am sure, in fact I know they are overwhelmed. I tried another private medical facility and they said they were short of dentists so I can imagine what the situation is at the government facilities.
It is for this reason that I would suggest that the MPs drop the whole thing.
I guess the probes are just a Southern Africa issue, because just next door a majority of South Africans are also up in arms against President Cyril Ramaphosa for announcing that there would be a commission of enquiry into the allegations made by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who allegedly said that organised crime groups had penetrated the upper echelons of Ramaphosa’s administration.
Mkhwanazi’s explosive allegations won the admiration of many ordinary people. However, the people were not happy when the president announced that a commission of enquiry would take place, as they stated that the president was not being hard enough on the people who were alleged to be on the wrong side of the law—but hey, there is a case of being innocent till proven guilty.
Back to our shores, in the height of public outcry especially at Sibaya about alleged maladministration at the offices of the Master’s Office, the chief justice last year quickly set up a commission of enquiry to look into these and was made up of equally important judges.
The enquiry started on a high where the public was allowed to sit in and listen to all the allegations made, but almost 16 months later we have still not had any feedback or even preliminary findings on the probe.
Even in instances where probes have been made and forensic investigations have been launched, there is no action taken by government or the relevant bodies.
Take for example a forensic audit into the construction of the Sicunusa–Nhlangano road was undertaken, but I cannot remember any action taken against those who were found to have been in the wrong.
And of course, most recently we find ourselves back on the issue of the—I do not know if it’s famous or infamous—Funduzi Report which was supposed to help us cross this medical crisis bridge.
According to the initial report, some officers and suppliers were fingered, but the recommendations of that report, whether true or false, have not been implemented.
It is for this reason that I strongly recommend (not that this will be implemented either) that we drop all these probes, investigations, commissions of enquiry etc., because they are not yielding any results and instead the taxpayer is the one continuously footing the bill.
If I sound angry, my apologies, my mouth is currently a battlefield.
Till next week, let’s not forget to Be Kind!
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