Times Of Swaziland: NEED TO REVIEW HIRING FREEZE - FINANCE PS

NEED TO REVIEW HIRING FREEZE - FINANCE PS
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Khulile Thwala on 24/05/2022 15:06:00


MBABANE – The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Sizakele
Dlamini, says there is a need for central agencies to question whether the
hiring freeze is still serving its intended purpose.
This, she said, during the ministry’s appearance before the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) yesterday, when the Treasury Department, through Acting
Accountant General Nomsa Simelane, disclosed that most of the reconciliation in
ministries had not been done due to a shortage of staff at the department. The
Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula, concurred with the acting accountant
general, stating that his office was also stretched and lacking in human
resource. “Reconciliations were not done properly in almost all ministries,
the staff shortage issue needs to be addressed accordingly and the situation on
the ground should be assessed with the urgency it needs. Lena yimali yesive,
this is not the time to generalise the situation.
Danger
“The Ministry of Public Service needs to see the situation beyond face value
as there is imminent danger in not addressing this efficiently. Government funds
need to be accounted for in order for people to be satisfied with the use of
their money. The frequent submissions of unaccounted for funds are not painting
the country in a good light,” he said. He requested for a reallocation of
staff where officers were more than enough to ministries or departments which
needed the human resource so that work could be done. The PAC Chairperson, Gege
Member of Parliament (MP) Musa Kunene, said it was disheartening to see the
offices which ought to assist in the prevention of funds’ misappropriation in
government being unable to do their jobs efficiently due to shortages in staff
and funding.
“It is now at a point where money is not being reconciled. The auditor general
is doing 10 people’s jobs and this poses a risk of fatigue creeping in and him
not being able to do his job efficiently. There is a clear overload and overtime
in terms of work in the two departments, such that the Accountant General’s
Office cannot reconcile,” said Kunene. He said the issuance of Circular No.3,
which initiated the hiring freeze, was resulting in an abuse of human power as
people were being hired on contract, which you find that did not come with any
benefits.
The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Dlamini, said the hiring
freeze affected everyone, including the Finance Ministry as work was increasing
daily. “Unfortunately, every ministry is feeling the pinch now. The work is
getting too much and resources are decreasing. There is a need for us as central
agencies to go back to the drawing board to answer the question of whether we
confidently say that this hiring freeze is achieving its intended purpose,”
she said.
Auditor
She said the way the hiring freeze was structured, if there was a position which
was vacant, the law said the PS responsible or auditor general or accountant
general should write to the Public Service Ministry and justify the need for an
officer and Finance should then be engaged by Public Service on whether the
budget for this was available. Once confirmed, Public Service forwarded an
application to Cabinet. “It is only when we have that Cabinet waiver that we
can proceed with hiring,” said Dlamini. Mntfongwaneni MP Roy Fanourakis asked
whether Public Service had indeed made the effort to forward these ministries’
requests for a waiver and if so, how many of the ministries had requested so
far. He said this was essential so as to know how to approach moving a motion in
Parliament on this.
The Finance PS Sizakele Dlamini, said they needed to review the way of
implementing the hiring freeze because it affected service delivery. Manzini
Region Member of Parliament (MP) Busisiwe Mavimbela said it was the
committee’s responsibility to ensure the Auditor General’s Office was
independent so as to work accordingly. “We have a responsibility to push that
the AG’s Office becomes independent from the Finance Ministry, so that they
can work freely,” said Mavimbela. The auditor general further said the Finance
Ministry had assisted in adding onto the office’s annual budget, although the
addition was barely enough.
“Rats are eating and feasting on funds and government is losing money due to
the shortage of staff in the AG’s Office. The Accountant General’s Office
and the Auditor General’s Office are essential services and should be treated
as such, and therefore, need to be considered for a waiver in the hiring
freeze,” he said. Dvokodvweni MP Mduduzi Magagula said if the one ministry
which was responsible for the government’s funds and money was complaining
about a shortage in staff then the nation would not be immune from rats which
would feast on government money.