Students to launch 'anti Lutfo campain By SAMKELO NGWENYA <http://www.times.co.sz/author/%20SAMKELO%20NGWENYA.html> on March 19,2012
<http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html#><http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html#><http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html#><http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html#><http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html#> 1 <http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html#> [image: small font] <http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html> [image: medium font] <http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html> [image: large font]<http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html> Related newsNo matching news for this article [image: image] , From left are; SNUS Deputy President Mlungisi Khumalo, President Maxwell Dlamini and Secretary General Samkeliso Ginindza at the Tucoswa congress recently. (Pic: Samkelo Ngwenya) *MANZINI The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) which had all along been planning for a mass protest action against the scholarship policy this week, has turned its focus elsewhere.* SNUS is plotting to campaign against Ndzingeni Member of Parliament and Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini, if he continues to implement the Scholarship Policy. This was said by SNUS President Maxwell Dlamini alongside his Deputy, Mlungisi Khumalo, and Secretary General Samkeliso Ginindza during a press conference held at the SNUS offices in Manzini yesterday. Dlamini said they held a meeting on Saturday with all the country’s tertiary Students Representative Councils (SRCs). He said the SRCs were from the University of Swaziland (UNISWA), William Pitcher, Ngwane Teacher College, Swaziland College of Technology (SCOT) and the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU). Dlamini said they would stage a prayer at Ndzingeni, where the Minister is a Member of Parliament. "We will rope in churches and youth organisations of the area. We will engage in an ‘anti-Lutfo campaign’ to expose him by telling the electorate that the minister is frustrating their future with this draft Scholarship Policy," the SNUS president said. Dlamini said the minister should throw the draft Scholarship Policy into the dustbin and call a consensus meeting of all stakeholders. "If government doesn’t have money, we will sponsor the meeting," he added. The president said the current draft Scholarship Policy was discriminatory and draconian. "We remain open to dialogue. The minister should start a new participatory way to start a new draft Scholarship Policy," he said. Dlamini accused the minister of shutting the door to their input towards a participatory Scholarship Policy. "Since 2008, we have been trying to engage the ministry on the issue of scholarships, but nothing has been forthcoming. Calling the SRCs alone will not help the minister," he said. The SNUS president, who was backed by his executive, stressed that, unless the draft Scholarship Policy was scrapped they would campaign against the minister in his constituency. Dlamini claimed that the minister once revealed that only 1 000 students would be sponsored this academic year. "The draft Scholarship Policy has come to discriminate against other Swazis. Why should there be priority and non-priority courses? We want a Scholarship Policy that will incorporate all Swazis," he said. ‘No march if our grievances are heard’ * MANZINI The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) will cancel the proposed march to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security only if the minister will open his doors for dialogue. * This was said by the organisation’s president, Maxwell Dlamini, yesterday during a press conference held at the organisation’s offices. "If the minister would attend to our grievances, we will halt the march," he said. Dlamini said the proposed march, which was initially scheduled for March 21, has been shifted to March 26. "We want to mobilise more people. We are aiming to have at least 10 000 marchers who will not leave the Ministry of Labour and Social Security offices until they have personally met with the minister," he said. Dlamini said they were calling on unions, students, parents and individuals to participate in the march. "We want to see a Scholarship Policy that will sponsor all Swazis," he said. The president said the minister should know that they do not like toyi-toying. "The minister should stop portraying us as ‘bandits’ who like causing confusion in the country. Picketing wastes our energy, time for studies and our money," he said. Dlamini accused the minister of allegedly going to the media, parents and chiefs, warning them against signing the scholarship application forms for those who ‘like’ picketing. "We do not like picketing. When we picket we want answers to our grievances. If our grievances are attended to, we do not picket," he said. Dlamini said the minister should, instead, go to the various tertiary institutions to address them on the scholarship issue, not to parents and chiefs who are not as affected by the scholarship crisis. He added that the minister should address the content of the draft Scholarship Policy as opposed to allegedly saying chiefs should not sign scholarship forms for those who picket. "If the minister fails to adhere to this, we will engage in an exercise sensitising the youth of the country about the implications of the draft Scholarship Policy. We will start from the countryside to urban areas. We will utilise public meetings and pamphlets to educate Swazis. We plead with the media to assist us in this regard," Dlamini said. The president further said they would sensitise chiefs on the content of the draft Scholarship Policy. In response to the utterances made by the SNUS president, the Minister of Labour and Social Security said the reason why he consulted with chiefs and parents was that they were stakeholders. "Parents and chiefs sign the scholarship application form for students applying to a tertiary institution; that’s why I consult with them," he said. The minister further said he would never consult with SNUS because, as far as he knew, the organisation was not among the stakeholders. ‘This is govt, not Ndzingeni policy’ * MBABANE—Minister of Labour and Social Security Lutfo Dlamini has questioned SNUS’ personalisation of the scholarship issue. * Responding to threats that the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) would campaign against him if he implemented the draft Scholarship Policy, Dlamini wondered why the issue was personalised. "This is a government policy, not a Ndzingeni policy. I found the scholarship issue already in debate at the ministry," Dlamini said. Dlamini said the draft scholarship was not yet implemented. He said consultations were ongoing. "This week we will be consulting with the student representative councils (SRCs) of the various institutions," he said. The minister said he did not recognise SNUS. "I don’t know SNUS. I have never dealt with them. Who do they think they are? Are they registered? In government’s books, SNUS does not exist," said the minister. Dlamini said as far as he knew he was consulting with the various stakeholders to come up with a final policy for scholarships. "I have consulted with all of them, but I have not consulted with SNUS because SNUS does not fall among the stakeholders. I deal with SRCs who represent the views of the students, not SNUS," said the minister. Dlamini said he had a letter dated July 28, 2011 in which he had a meeting with SRCs to get their input on the draft Scholarship Policy. He said there were other meetings with SRCs he has held to ensure that their input was incorporated. Present grievances in writing - minister * MBABANE—Minister of Labour and Social Security Lutfo Dlamini has advised the Student Representative Councils (SRCs) to present their grievances in writing. * In a letter in possession of this newspaper written by the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Nomathemba Hlope to the various tertiary institutions’ SRCs, the PS said the minister has advised that they present their issues in writing. The minister was responding to questions on the proposed march by the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) this coming Wednesday, which have since been shifted to the 26th of this month. SNUS had indicated that they would be joined by all SRCs. "The honourable minister has directed that if, in fact, the SRCs are part of the proposed protest action, he would expect the SRCs to present their grievances on the Scholarship Policy in writing," reads the letter. The letter, dated March 16, 2012, further says since the SRCs held a meeting on July 28, 2011, they should forward their concerns in writing in case they wished to add more input on the draft Scholarship Policy. "We also wish to assure the SRCs that consultations on the policy document are still ongoing and the policy is not yet operational," continues the letter. The letter adds that the minister could attend to matters involving SNUS once the organisation is officially registered: "The minister further advises that SRCs should be made aware that he had previously advised the executive of SNUS to register, so that the engagement between the ministry and SNUS has a proper legal basis," concludes the letter. Scholarship roll out will not decrease this year * MBABANE Minister of Labour and Social Security Lutfo Dlamini says this year’s scholarship awards will not decrease. * Dlamini assured that he did not foresee a decrease in the number of scholarships that will be awarded to potential students. The minister was responding to questions from this publication as to how many students will be sponsored this academic year, 2012/2013. This was in light of the scholarship crisis that engulfed the country last year, which saw government sponsoring 500 students to go to the University of Swaziland, while 700 students who had qualified for admission were turned down. Government did not sponsor scholarships for three subjects: Journalism, Law and Humanities. "It is difficult to state the actual figures as that will be determined by a number of factors like length of courses, places of study and the number of children who have failed. However, we don’t foresee a decrease; we are aiming at least, to maintain last year’s figures," he said. Commenting on the Scholarship Policy, the minister said he hoped the process of finalising the document was at an advanced stage. He said the Scholarship Policy has gone through all the relevant structures. Dlamini said what remained was to incorporate the views of the contributors. "All stakeholders have been consulted chiefs, academia, parent’s representatives, College Managers, Students Representative Council (SRC), Parliament and Tinkhundla," he added. Dlamini said the policy will allow the private sector to provide sponsorship to students. He said it allowed this participation through its administration. "The number of private sponsors are encouraging, but we hope once the policy is in place we will see more such players, as the policy will guarantee the appropriate accountability," Dlamini said. ...defaulters could be blacklisted * MBABANE :Students who did not repay their scholar-ship loans could be black-listed. * This was revealed by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini, in an interview concerning the draft Scholarship Policy. The draft Scholarship Policy is at an advanced stage and the minister said the only thing left was incorporating the contributions made by stakeholders. Dlamini said government was doing something towards recovering the scholarship loans from those who did not repay the fund. The minister said there was an idea to blacklist such students, even if they were working outside the country. "Government has approved the engagement of a private firm to collect all outstanding fees," he said. The minister said the company would be effective in a number of ways. "The company is to have strengths in information, communications and technology, finance and legal areas," he said. Dlamini said the company will be dealt with by the Central Tender Board (CTB). He hoped that by May this year the CTB would have finished selecting the company. The minister revealed that an exercise was already in place to persuade the currently owing students to settle their loans willingly. Dlamini said he was perturbed by the response from the ex-students, particularly those outside the country. Nevertheless, he expressed his hope that a breakthrough would come. The minister said he was optimistic that scholarship money would be recovered from the owing students. He said other initiatives were to recruit a number of clerks to update and computerise all the scholarship files, ensuring their security. http://www.times.co.sz/News/73715.html -- *Lucky Lukhele- SSN spokesperson* *Tell:011 339 3621* *Fax: 0866135762* *Mobile: 072 502 4141* *Email: [email protected] * Skype: lucky.lukhele1 website: www.ssnonline.net -- NEW!!!! SSN FORUM IS ON FACEBOOK!!!! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum Google Group. Visit the group home page at http://groups.google.com/group/sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum for more options, pages and files. To post to the group, send email to [email protected] or reply to this message. To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected]
