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EBIS DIRECTOR CHALLENGES HIS PENDING SUSPENSION

21/11/2020 13:52:00 BY MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE

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MBABANE–- EBIS Director Martin Bonginkhosi Dlamini wants the court to interdict and restrain government from suspending him from work.

Through his attorneys, Dlamini yesterday moved an urgent application in the Industrial Court.

He is also seeking an order setting aside the report dated September 21, 2020, tabled in Parliament by the select committee that was investigating allegations of corruption, nepotism and maladministration at Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS) and the Eswatini Television Authority (ETVA).

Respondents in the matter are the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Minister of Information Communications and Technology, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Information Communications and Technology and the Civil Service Commission.

In his application, Dlamini has narrated that on October 26, 2020, a report was tabled in Parliament by the select committee investigating serious allegations of corruption, nepotism and maladministration reported to be rampant at EBIS and (ETVA).

“During the discussions following the delivery of the report, the speakers recommended that I must be removed from my position. While it was accepted that I must be removed, some members were skeptic of this course of action as it is illegal,” contends the EBIS director. He alleged that under that circumstance, it was decided that he should be suspended.

Dlamini argued that the report that was tabled in Parliament was allegedly unlawful and unjust.

report

According to the applicant (Dlamini), the report ought to be set aside as he was never given a chance to respond to a number of the allegations made against him in the report.

He also claimed that the responses he made to the allegations he was made aware of were omitted from the report. It is further Dlamini’s contention that some of the allegations were completely impractical and defamatory.

“The manner in which the information was gathered is unfair and unjust. The people making the submissions are not revealed to us. The truthfulness of the information that was gathered was not examined and the process was flawed in that regard,” he argued.

He informed the court that when he was interviewed, the members of the select committee allegedly appeared to be disorganised. Dlamini has brought it to the attention of the court that there was no questionnaire and the members of the select committee were allegedly in a hurry to conclude the process.

“The mandate of the select committee was to investigate allegations of corruption, nepotism and maladministration. There is nothing contained in the report that suggested that I am corrupt, that I practice nepotism or that I fail as an administrator at the station,” averred Dlamini.

These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is still to be tested in court and the respondents are yet to file their papers.

“In the same vein, it is inevitable the order by Parliament to have me suspended must by design be withdrawn and I humbly apply that it be so withdrawn,” contended the applicant,

ordered

Dlamini alleged that the minister Information Communications and Technology was ordered to suspend him and three others from their positions. He said while the seven days had expired, he was in consultation with his superiors concerning this matter.

He averred that he received a hint that the ministry was now under pressure to carry out the order and he realised that there was no turning back now.

The matter is pending before Industrial Court Acting Judge Banele Ngcamphalala and appearing for Dlamini is Banele Dlamini.

The report is annexed to the application that was filed by the director yesterday.

According to the report, one of the witnesses, who was invited by the committee to deliver his testimony, alleged that the staff members at EBIS were aggrieved with regard to the directorate, who they feel was not at all concerned about their plight. The witness said an example was that there was as senior reporter, who was allegedly disruptive and violent at the radio station. The witness claimed that the senior reporter threatened staff members.

“Sometimes he allegedly pulled knives on some of them and generally behaved in a very inappropriate manner that hinders the work,” read part of the select committee’s report.

Again, the witness told the select committee that this matter was supposedly reported to the directorate, however, he claimed that very little to no help had been forthcoming and the staff eventually resorted to calling the police themselves, with the administration pretty much staying out of the situation.

disorderly

“Some of the staff had to read the news with a policeman standing in the entry for fear that the disorderly staff member will show up and disrupt the newsreader. A member of staff had even resigned because of this situation,” the witness claimed in his submissions.

He submitted that thing that hurt them the most was that the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) allegedly did not want to intervene in these matters.

“Actually, at some point the PS in the ministry expressed to the witness that he understands why the director behaved in the manner he did and said it was because he has been subjected to ill-treatment himself since he started working at EBIS,” claimed the witness in his submissions before the select committee.

Also, the witness told the select committee that to them (staff), it became clear that the ministry was more concerned about the well-being of the director than it was about the staff members. He submitted that this really left very few platforms, if any, for the staff members to report their grievances which added to their frustrations.

Another witness that appeared before the select committee also claimed that the issue of the violent staff member at the station was bred by the working environment. The witness supposed that it was understandable why he (violent staff member) had become the way he was.

Furthermore, the report purported that EBIS was a toxic environment because it seemed more like a family set-up than a workplace. It was claimed that at the national radio station there were some affairs that had even resulted in some staff members having children with each other. It was claimed that when one disagreed with a staff member, a member of the administration would also enter the fray because there was a relationship there.