Senator-elect Fezeka Dlamini has distanced herself from bribery claims for senate seats.
Dlamini who won the senate elections by a landslide, has come out to declare that she only sold her vision to the members of Parliament (MPs), who in turn believed in her and loved her ideas, which are centred around empowering the youth.
Dlamini cleared her name and assured that she was not associated with the bribery claims for senate seats.
The aftermath of the recent senate elections has been clouded by bribery claims, which have surfaced as some hopefuls allegedly demanded their money back from the MPs who they felt betrayed them.
This is, however, not a new phenomenon as such claims have been made in the past after elections.
Dlamini was the first confirmed senator in the female category after she won the senate seat in astonishing fashion where she attained 14 original votes, which was above the required quota of 12 votes to win the elections.
She said her journey was eventful and a learning curve, but she had no regrets as she managed to find favour with the MPs who showed faith in her and her vision.
She said she was encouraged by her husband to venture into politics and revealed that he has also supported her fully throughout the tough journey. She said she was overwhelmed by emotions when she was announced as a senator, which had been her sole purpose and dream from the moment she decided to enter the race.
Dlamini reaffirmed her commitment to being the voice of the youth in the country. He stated that in order for the country to develop, the youth had to be empowered.
Hlamini, who is a farmer, further said her vision was to empower the youth to venture into the agricultural sector in order to create jobs and ensure food sufficiency in the country.
“Our country is blessed with a lot of resources such as arable land and water for irrigation, particularly in the lowveld. I believe in the youth and would advocate for government to ensure the youth is empowered so they could be in a better position to develop themselves and contribute to the economic growth,” she said.
She said she was passionate about agriculture. She said as a farmer she noticed that local farmers and crop producers could not even meet the demand which raised questions as to why that was the case.
She said there were a lot of graduates in the country who were lying idle and government had to tap into the potential they have as young, innovative and energetic people.
enrolled
She said, for instance, the graduates who enrolled at Luyengo did so because they had love and passion for agriculture, however, there was a need to advocate for agriculture among young people, which was her sole purpose for venturing into politics.
Dlamini said a majority of these graduates were unemployed and she said she believed that if they were given the knowledge and knowhow, they could develop themselves and the country as well.
She said she believed that it was time to do things differently and grant the youth an opportunity in agriculture.
She added that said it was time to utilise the resources that were available.
Dlamini said she had been lucky to travel the world and had learnt a lot along the way. She said she believed that her experience in farming and life in general was her main asset, which she hoped to share with other young people in the country.
She said there was an abundant market across the world for agricultural products and it was important for the country to make relations with other countries in order to open the market for produce.
The senator-elect said the youth in the country had the capacity to contribute towards economic growth. “We need to make agriculture fashionable to the youth and the only thing that is needed is a change in thinking,” she said.
She further mentioned that there were a lot of government owned farms that were lying idle yet these were resources that could be utilised by the youth. She said there was also a need to ensure that the youth was adequately capacitated to venture into agriculture, which could go a long way in eradicating unemployment in the country.
Dlamini acknowledged that government had in the past revealed that there were farms that were available, but people were not capacitated and given the knowledge they needed to venture into agriculture.
“I believe that the reason this did not work was because people were not given the knowledge they needed to venture into farming. One needs to have passion and commitment in order to succeed,” she said.
She further affirmed that it was important to capacitate the youth with all the knowledge they needed to view agriculture as an opportunity.
She said as senators they were there to serve the nation and her number one priority was to serve the youth and voice out their concerns and help.
She said her vision was to change the mindset and how things were done by government in order to empower the youth and the marginalised in the country.
Bribe not my thing – Senator-elect Tony
Senator-elect Tony Sibandze has also distanced himself from the ongoing bribery claims.
Sibandze, who was the second officially confirmed senator in the male category during the voting, said bribery was not his thing.
The first winner Siphelele Majaha Mkhonta made it clear that he would not be dealing with the media during the elections and nomination exercise.
Sibandze, who is returning for the second term as a senator, said he was aware of the ongoing allegations, but insisted he did not buy his way into senate and distanced himself from the ongoing bribery claims for senate seats.
He said he won the race because of the work he has done in the past. He also stated that he found favour with the MPs solely based on his ideas which he presented to them regarding the sustainable development programs in their constituencies and assisting the under privileged in the country. “It’s the same thing I did in my previous term and that has always been my strategy,” said Sibandze.
