BY TANDZILE DLAMINI
MBABANE – Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla,handed over four newly built two-roomed houses to vulnerable families in the Shiselweni 1 and Sigwe Constituencies, bringing much needed shelter, dignity, and hope to the recipients.
The handover, which is part of her office’s ongoing social support efforts, included home equipment and food parcels, benefiting families previously living in unsafe and unstable conditions. DPM Dladla visited Thandeka and Mxolisi Vilakati, a couple who had been living with their six children in a leaking thatched hut. The structure, further damaged during heavy rains earlier this year, had been covered with a tent for temporary shelter. Their new home marks a significant upgrade and a safer environment for the family.
Another home in the same constituency was presented to 80 yearold Gogo Gladys Ntjangase. Her previous house had collapsed in January 2025. During the handover, she was overcome with emotion and expressed disbelief that the DPM had fulfilled her earlier promise to provide a new house.
In Sigwe Constituency, the Nxumalo family, led by Gogo Josphinah Ndlovu and her daughter-in-law Nomcebo Nxumalo, also received a new home. The family of six had been staying in a crumbling house filled with cracks and holes, leaving them exposed to snake infestations and other dangers. Their new house offers a safe and secure space for the children to grow up in.
The final house went to Ndoda and Dwana Simelane, a couple raising nine children in a single, dilapidated room. When the DPM first visited the family in January 2025, she also facilitated their reunification by tracing the father, who had been absent for three years while seeking employment. Through the Asibambaneni Sibengumndeni programme, the family will also receive goats, indigenous chickens, fencing materials, and a solar energy system to enhance their long-term sustainability.
Each family was also given food parcels, including rice and noodles, and essential household items such as basins.This initiative is part of the DPM’s broader mission to support vulnerable families across the country by ensuring access to safe housing, food security, and family reintegration. Speaking at the event, Dladla emphasized the importance of practical government intervention, stating that “restoring hope starts with restoring dignity.”
The continued roll-out of these interventions underscores government’s vision of leaving no one behind, especially in rural and underserved communities.
(Courtesy Pics)
