Tsambokhulu: An elderly woman, Mapishi Maziya is complaining bitterly about the neglect that she is receiving from her son who is a soldier with the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF). Mapishi claims that this state of affairs has been happening for as long as nine years.
The 73-year-old Mapishi laments that she has been deserted and has nobody to look after her. She explained that she is living the life of a hobo as she is compelled to beg for morsels of food from the neighboring homesteads. Mapishi feels that she is now the laughing stock of the community because she no longer has a house to accommodate her. She says “I don’t even have a roof to sleep under because the stick and mud shelter that I used to own was gutted down by fire four years ago forcing me to become a charity case.”
“I haven’t seen my son Themba for more than nine years, the last time that I spoke to him was on the phone when he told me that he had married a woman from the Msibi family. All I request from him is that he at least build a structure that I can sleep in. This would provide me with some dignity rather than the poverty that I’m living in right now.”
Maziya’s situation is compounded by the fact that she doesn’t even receive an elderly grant because she has lost her identity documentation. A community member, Dolly Sifundza confirmed that Maziya does have a son who is gainfully employed by the UEDF but who doesn’t even pay her a visit. Sifundza says “the elderly woman cannot bring herself to chase after her son who knows full well that his mother is in need of support. She is always complaining about the son who neglected her after he met and married a woman.”
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