http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=19219 Government extends suspension of adoptions By SIBONGILE SUKATI on August 04,2010 MBABANE — Government has extended the suspension period for the adoption of Swazi children. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, there was an increasing demand for Swazi children by foreign nationals and this was one of the many concerns that his office had. Although he did not have the specific number of applications, Masuku said he had seen a huge increase in the applications between last year and March hence one of the reasons for suspending it in order to review the act. The suspension was announced by the DPM in March but it had been expected that it would be lifted by the end of June. However this did not happen as there were many issues to be sorted out. Masuku said another problem was that there were very few applications for adoption from Swazi nationals and said this was also worry to government. Interviewed in his Parliament office on Monday, the DPM said the Adoption Act of 1952 was no longer relevant in the context of new laws, especially those international laws that concern human trafficking. He said Swaziland was in the process of ratifying the 1993 Hague Convention. The DPM said he was further awaiting a report that was compiled by a joint task team from the welfare offices and ministry of Health and Justice. "There is a serious lack of internal adoption and further there is a need for them to be streamlined," he said. He said they also wanted adopted children to be able to trace their roots should they want to in the future. He said, for example, if a child with a Dlamini surname is adopted, then that child’s surname should not be totally changed to that of the adoptive parents. "They should be able to be called Dlamini-Anderson for example and then the children can be allowed to change their surname should they wish to, once they are all grown up," he said. He said the number of orphans in Swaziland was shocking as evidenced by the 90 000 figure for the recently paid school fees for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs). Masuku said the recently reported adoption case where an American was allowed to take a child out of the country happened in December 2009.