GOVT REPAYING E420M LOAN FOR SALARIES, PAC TOLD

LOBAMBA – Government has started repaying part of the E420 million which it borrowed from the local Strategic Oil Reserve Fund. 

The money had been borrowed by the Ministry of Finance two years ago for the payment of civil servants’ salaries. 

The fund is under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy. 

This was revealed yesterday by the ministry’s Principal Secretary, Winnie Stewart, when she appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Stewart revealed that the money was being paid bi-annually in instalments of E80 million. 

 Evidence

PAC Chairperson MP Phila Buthelezi, however, wanted evidence that the money was indeed being repaid by government. MP Buthelezi wondered why the instalments were in the amount of E80 million when the PAC was last year told that it would be paid back in instalments of E100 million. 

He wondered where the money had come from, because the country’s financial cash flow was known to be in a bad state. 

The PS said the Ministry of Finance had invested the money in bonds, and with the interest, they repaid the Strategic Oil Reserve Fund. 

However, the chairperson was not convinced that the money was indeed being repaid by government because there was no evidence of the payment. 

The agreement was made by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenburg and the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Peter Bhembe. 

According to the agreement, the money was supposed to be paid on June 25 and December 25 of every year until it was fully paid in 2024. 

MP Buthelezi wondered how government was earning any interest if it was money used to pay salaries. 

He informed the PS that the ministry should ensure that regulations or guidelines were in place with the terms and conditions of the loan. 

“As far as I am concerned, they just tell you that they are taking the money and you really do not have a say in the whole matter,” said MP Buthelezi. 

However, the PS said she had a say on how the money was allocated from the fund and had in the past denied giving permission to government to take more money from the fund. 

The PAC was informed that the fund was meant to cushion emaSwati so that fuel did not become too expensive per litre. 

Price

The director of the Energy Department told the PAC that even though crude oil prices went up, government was able to keep the price of fuel low. 

She further added that they did not owe any oil companies. 

The ministry informed the PAC that the Strategic Oil Reserve Fund was a separate entity from the Strategic Oil Reserve Facility. 

She said the facility was one that would be built at Phuzamoya and that once started, the construction of the project would take about 30 months. 

It was, however, reported that they were still looking for funding for the project. 

They further stated that once the Petroleum Bill was in place, it would be easier to manage the facility even though there were politics involved around the whole project. 

The ministry further revealed that government had further borrowed another E35 million from the fund, but it was not specified what the money was for. 

On another note, Stewart said the ministry had ironed out their issues with employees from the Rural Water Department. She said a bulk of the work was now carried out by Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC).

To this, the PAC said it was clear that most government services were delivered by parastatals and this was a chance to that of cut down the number of the civil service and reduce the wage bill. 

MP Buthelezi said this was a similar case to that of Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Buildings Department, whose work was now being conducted under the Micro Projects Unit. He said this was the reason why some of the workers spent their days just playing cards.  

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