MHLONGO GIVES COUNCILLOR E2 000 LOAN

MBABANE – Embattled Municipal Council of Mbabane Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gideon Mhlongo gave one of the councillors E2 000 which they claim was a personal loan.

Mhlongo transferred the said amount to Ward three (3) Councillor Mbutfo Nhlengetfwa electronically through Pay To Cell from a cellphone number which belongs to the CEO. 

Documents seen by the Times SUNDAY show that the electronic transaction was made on February 24, allegedly through the Pay To Cell platform.
Ward three consists of 70 per cent of informal settlements, which were left undeveloped when  others were upgraded during the development of the MR3 Highway that links Mbabane and Manzini. The residents are currently not in the council’s Rates Registry.

The area is in the transition stage of implementing the Mbabane Upgrading & Financing Plan (MUFP) and has already gone through survey.
The councillor, according to an investigation by this publication, went to the CEO to request for financial assistance with the promise that he would pay it back.
The incident occurred almost a month before the documented contractual dispute that ensued between the council and Mhlongo.

councillor cornfims E2 000 loan request

A source, who is privy to the matter, told this publication that Nhlengetfwa had to seek assistance from a popular businessman with the view to settle the debt before the resumption of the CEO’s contractual negotiations last month which was clouded by controversy. 
“He struggled to pay it later on and he had to be assisted by someone else who gave him the cash to pay back the loan,” the source said.

Nhlengetfwa confirmed requesting a personal loan of E2 000 from Mhlongo which he said he had still not paid despite having received assistance from someone to settle it.
Nhlengetfwa said at the time he requested the loan, he wanted to take care of a personal errand in Matsapha, and the CEO came to his rescue.
“This should be clarified that it happened a few weeks before the CEO’s contract issue ensues at the council. However, when the discussions over the contract ensued, I felt that it would not be proper for me to settle the debt, lest it could be viewed otherwise,” he said.

Mhlongo surprised

Nhlengetfwa said what further made him to halt the decision to repay the loan was the fact that during the contractual negotiations, he was not on the camp that was for the idea to have Mhlongo’s contract renewed. He said he didn’t want to be seen exchanging monies with the CEO at a time when his contractual matters were being discussed.

“I did receive an offer from an individual who upon hearing about my debt with the CEO, was prepared to bail me out. And even then, the CEO had not bothered me yet about the repayment. I just took it upon myself to defer the repayment,” Nhlengetfwa said.
Mhlongo, while confirming that he did help Nhlengetfwa, who came to him for assistance early this year, said what was strange was how and why the issue had reached the public domain.

“I am surprised and disappointed as to why a personal issue is now with you. What I heard is that the councillor has been going around talking to different people about this issue; when I have not even bothered to contact him about it. He came to me desperate for help and I was busy at the golf course where I was playing golf. I helped him and that was the last time I spoke to him about it. Strangely, he is now the one going public about it,” he said.

He insisted that according to his understanding, the issue was personal between them and had nothing to do with work in council, especially because he had not pestered the councillor about payment. He said it would not have been proper for him to request a repayment during the discussions of his contract.

businessman sounded shocked

“I don’t see how it would have compromised my work, because I have never even raised it with him. It might have been an issue if I had raised it, but I have never done it,” he said.
The businessman Walter Bennett sounded shocked as to how the media got hold of the issue when quizzed on his involvement in the councillor’s loan to the CEO.
However, he confirmed that he was approached, and being a benevolent someone, he had no problem assisting a councillor who needed help.
”I was only helping a councillor who had issues, but we still cannot ignore the fact that this reflected badly on the institution,” the businessman said.   

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