Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office rot has been exposed after senior officials embarrassingly exchanged jabs right in front of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at yesterday’s appearance.
So serious was the embarrassment that the PAC reacted by chucking the officials out and called off the hearing.
The Principal Secretary, Makhosini Mndawe and Under Secretary Hlobisile Dlamini took it upon themselves to expose the impasse within the office, by openly stating that the team does not jell well and the trust has been corroded and the morale’s at its lowestebb.The appearance of the two officials exposed what seemed like long a standing feud among senior officials, which has got to a point where it has become impossible to hold meetings.
The tension among the officials is so visible that they do not see eye to eye, and constantly throw jabs at one another. PS Mndawe’s failure to provide satisfactory responses to audit queries raised the alarm among PAC members, who expressed their disappointment while questioning if the ministry’s PAC standing committee existed and wonder if they ever met based on the failure to implement recommendations.
This prompted the PAC Chairperson, Gege MP Musa Kunene to prematurely call off the hearing, while directing the PS to put his house in order while the committee contemplates a new date to continue with the hearing.
This was during their appearance before the PAC to respond to audit queries, as well as provide an update on progress regarding the implementation of last year’s recommendations held yesterday.
Allocated
Due to the volume of issues of concern, the DPM’s office was allocated the better part of yesterday for the hearing, where only two ministries were scheduled to appear. However, this was in vain as the officials ended up being kicked out of the hearing.
Some of the shortfalls within the ministry was the disbursement of a sum of E12 466 240 in respect of disability grants over a period of three financial years (2014-2016) without developing guidelines. Another standing query was the unlawful collection of elderly social grants by proxies on behalf of deceased beneficiaries amounting to E130 835 and uniform and protective clothing worth E339 625.27, which were purchased between 2014 and 2019 that could not be accounted for, among a string of issues. PAC Deputy Chairperson Madlangempisi MP Sibusiso ‘Scorpion’ Nxumalo outlined that based on the submissions made by the PS, it was evident that little or nothing had been done to implement the committee’s recommendations.
Chairperson MP Kunene enquired why the rest of the team did not assist the PS with adequate responses, as it clearly seemed like they had not done what they were expected to.
Manzini Region MP Busisiwe Mavimbela enquired if the PAC standing committee even existed and if so how frequently they met.
“Does the committee exist or even meet as it clearly looks like these responses are made up by the PS and not of a collective effort. Who compiled these responses?” she wondered.
This proved to be the catalyst needed to expose the rot after the PS Mndawe admitted that there was a committee in place, while shifting the responsibility to the under-secretary, who is the standing committee chairperson to explain if and when they met.
In an effort not to be left hung out to dry, the US Dlamini boldly said it was becoming more and more difficult to constitute meetings to deliberate on the issues raised by the PAC and the auditor general’s office.
Kunene directed the US to stop beating about the bush and clearly state what challenges she was facing, so they could find a way to assist them.
“The challenges you are referring to could be the reason behind your failure to implement the recommendations please come clean so we can assist you,” said Kunene. Dlamini clarified that first of all, they received the recommendations on time in October 2021 and she instantly called for a meeting but as the heads, they did not meet.
“I raised the issue with the PS that as the heads of department, we do not work well with each other. We do not gel well as a team and I have tried my level best to address this,” she stated.
Kunene said based on what the US was saying, he summarised that what it meant was that there was no PS in the ministry. “In summary, this means there is no PS and the responses show as well. What assurances can the PS give us that this will not continue,” he enquired. He insisted that he did not want them to point fingers but to work towards having a well-functioning team and clarified that as the PAC, their aim was not to destroy ministries, as it could be believed but to work together towards a common goal and plug the holes wherever they may be.
PS Mndawe hit back and welcomed the opportunity to come clean and said he was happy that this had been brought to light early. He confirmed that he and the heads of the ministry did not break bread and as the leader, he has tried his best to hide the evident impasse.
“I have and will try to hide this ngoba tibi tendlu atikhishelwa ngephandle,” he revealed.
He elaborated that the trust within his team had been corroded and more issues would continue to come out the longer the hearing proceeded. He said he had been trying to make means to bring back the trust and honesty within the team but was struggling.
Kunene intervened and said it was clear that a lot was wrong within the ministry and directed the team to go back and resolve their issues.
“Go back, sit down and put your house in order, we will give you a new date to come back,” he said. He added that it was a shame that this was the case, as they were entrusted with millions of taxpayers’ funds and they could not just waste that with unsatisfactory responses.
Mndawe, however, insisted that they should do justice to the matter and get to the bottom of it. He further requested for a one-on-one with MP Kunene to which the chairperson declined and insisted that he had made a ruling and wanted to protect his own team.
“Just do as I say and go back. I do not want us as the PAC to be conflicted and be forced to pick sides while you continue pointing fingers. If you fail to sort this out on your own, inform us in writing and we will take it from there,” he said. After seeing that Kunene was standing his ground, Mndawe obliged and begged for a caucus, which was granted.
After about 10 minutes of the caucus, the whole team of more than 20 officials came out and made their way in small groups, while discussing what possibly was said during the caucus.
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