CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, Swaziland, August 1999
THEME = CHILDREN
Recently, a number of Swaziland's street children
were interviewed as to why they are "on the streets"
and what kind of conditions they live in
In Manzini city centre, when night falls, all business virtually comes to a halt and those who can, get out of town back to the comfort of their homes. But there are some people - children without homes - who have to brave the cold of the winter (July) nights and the pangs of hunger, as there is nobody left in town willing to part with a few coins or a bit of food, apart from a few good Samaritans. Except for a few fast food shops, take-aways and service stations on Nkoseluhlaza Road, the main thoroughfare, the whole city is blanketed in a veil of inactivity and darkness.
Nights for these children are cold and long, as some of them claim to have no homes to return to. 11-year-old Themba Dlamini says shyly: "The only places where we can sleep warmly and safely, are shop verandas and close to the steel dumping box where we can ferret for rubbish. Early in the morning we make a fire to warm ourselves".
Themba's story is typical of those children who are orphans or victims of negligence or horrendous abuse. He was treated badly by his stepfather at home, and eventually ended up at Njabulweni Home for Destitute Children where he was beaten up by older boys. So he ran away and joined the gangs of street children in Swaziland's urban centres.
It was here that he came into contact with Fr. Larry McDonald, a Salesian Father, who is involved in the rehabilitation of street children. Fr. McDonald says there are at least sixty of these in the city of Manzini. Kevin Ward who runs The Lighthouse Centre for the street children of Mbabane, says there are 56 in Mbabane. Of these, 11 are young girls. The fact is, the number of street kids is growing all the time.
Nkosinathi Mdluli is 13. He tells how when his mother died in the southern town of Nhlangano, his father remarried and his stepmother ill-treated him; denying him food, beating him up at will and not paying his school fees. Though he had never been to Manzini, he wanted to escape from home so he jumped on a Manzini-bound bus without paying the appropriate fare to join other children whom, he believed, had similar problems as his.
Nkosinathi continues: "When I arrived in town, I mixed with this group of boys as I thought their life was better than what I had been going through". These waifs and strays huddle near the steel rubbish box as they are waiting for "Kowloon Fast Food" to dump garbage in the box. They then rummage through the remains of half-eaten meals. This is their daily supper.
Then there's Thembinkosi Dlamini who is 10. He's munching away on a dry crust as though he's not sure where the next meal's coming from. He complains that while some of his friends have stinking ragged blankets, he doesn't have any. All the street children say how cold it is at night and all say they're afraid of the thugs who harass them. "At night while we're trying to get some sleep on the ground, some thieves rob us of the little money we've been able to raise through begging and carrying luggage for shoppers. There's one called Malume Zakes, who always comes around taking our money", grumbles Thembinkosi.
The Swaziland Government appears to be adopting a rather lackadaisical approach in addressing the problem, but evidence points to a much bigger problem beyond the government's control. Some of the children admit to having come from poverty- stricken Mozambique.
Paulos Buochi, 16, says he came to Swaziland because his mother could not support him. He hastily adds that he came with a brother he has now lost touch with, when his brother accused him of having stolen his money. "My brother kicked me out of his flat, threatening to kill me for having stolen his money", says Paulos.
Although these are tales of broken homes, orphaned children and poverty, one street child, Roger Nxumalo, 14, says he's not really one of the above statistics. "I just admired how my friends lived on the streets. There are no rules to follow like at home. I like it here and I don't mind the cold. After all, I just sniff my glue to brave the freezing night", he says.
All the street children interviewed agreed that they would be very happy to get some kind of education. They would like to contribute to the welfare of their respective communities by doing various worthwhile jobs. Meanwhile, they have to make do with their inadequate thin clothes and the hard-to-find blankets. They resort to using dangerous substances for comfort. Some of them admit they had already taken turns at sniffing glue in a beer bottle. "This help us to sleep, as after inhaling the fumes, we can sleep without feeling the cold", explains the youngest.
Kevin Ward attributes the increasing number of street children to the results of HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, unemployment and the breaking down of traditional family ties in Swaziland. "Swazi society is increasingly losing its traditional values of close family networks. Modern families can no longer afford to share their dwindling material resources with relatives", he says.
Social Welfare Officer Gugu Made accuses the government of doing nothing to address the problem of the street children. "All the government tries to do is to find out where the children come from and return them to their parents. In some rare cases, the government helps the parents with school fees. But what about those children who are still on the streets? They need clothing, food and shelter.
END
ENGL.CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1999 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement