CTA BOSS ACCUSED OF HOLDING COUNTRY TO RANSOM

MBABANE – Central Transport Administration (CTA) boss Washington Khumalo has been accused of holding the country to ransom. 

This is with regard to the fuel crisis which hit government, where Khumalo has been accused of not following strict instruction from the secretary to Cabinet. 

As a result of the fuel crisis, most if not all critical government operations were stalled, one being the COVID-19 response under the disaster emergency programme. 

The above is one of the charges which are faced by Khumalo, who has an ongoing disciplinary hearing, where he has been charged by the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Khangeziwe Mabuza. 

Position

The disciplinary hearing follows shortly after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had recommended that Khumalo be replaced in his position. 

In a letter of invitation to the disciplinary hearing, dated November 24, 2020, Khumalo was said to have challenged the authority of his superiors in that he was alleged to have in no uncertain terms indicated to the secretary to Cabinet that he was not going to act on the information to commit to the CTA transactions under Head 53. 

Khumalo is alleged to have stated that he would only carry out the instruction on the following Monday regardless of the fuel crisis that had stalled most, if not all, critical government operations. 

Head 53 is the line ministry’s account, which is used to make payments for all departments under it. 

The letter inviting Khumalo for the disciplinary hearing was further copied to the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Peter Mamba. 

In a letter written by Mabuza on July 20, 2020, the PS had indicated that there had been gross insubordination on Khumalo’s part. 

She stated that on July 10, 2020, during a meeting that had been convened by the secretary to Cabinet, to find out the reasons behind the lack of fuel for government business it transpired that Khumalo deliberately refused to adhere to the instruction and guidance from the PS’s office. 

The instruction was Khumalo had not committed to using Head 53 and further adhere to internal procurement processes despite repeated advice to do so. 

It was stated that it was unfortunate that at this point, Khumalo in no uncertain terms, indicated to the secretary to Cabinet that he would not act until the following Monday regardless of the fuel crises. 

tantamount

“This is tantamount to holding the country to ransom, behaviour that is totally unacceptable and should not be encouraged nor promoted within the public service,” said Mabuza. 

The PS stated that the conduct by Khumalo of allegedly challenging his superiors occurred near Cabinet premises at a conference room which was the venue of the meeting with the secretary to Cabinet and Mabuza. 

“Regarding the dates on which you are alleged to have challenged the authority of your superiors, it was firstly on July 10, 2020 soon after the meeting with secretary to Cabinet as well as July 13, 2020 when you openly expressed your view not to have anything to do with Head 53 despite the clear and lawful instruction to procure under Head 53,” stated Mabuza. 

Instruction

She stated that regarding  the failure or refusal to obey reasonable instruction, such conduct was alleged to have occurred on March 23, 25, on April 16, July 6 and July 13, 2020 wherein he was made aware of the instruction to procure in terms of government processes, but he refused. 

The PS alleged that the instruction was to be carried out immediately, regard being the dire consequences of stalling critical government operations as a result of lack of fuel due to Khumalo’s conduct of failing and or refusing to procure under Head 53 as per government procurement procedure. 

Mabuza said the nature of the problem government was faced with warranted urgent action and a reasonable man or reasonable administrator in Khumalo’s position would have realised that the situation warranted urgent attention and acted accordingly, something which he failed to do. 

The PS stated that Khumalo’s insistence to procure under Head 91 (CTA Trading Account) despite numerous reminders to procure under Head 53 (the ministry) was a violation of the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, 2017. 

She stated that Khumalo’s refusal to commit CTA financial transactions under Head 53 was a contravention of Section 36 (1) (a, c, e) as well as Section 107 (3) (j,u) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2017. 

“The result of your failure to commit CTA transactions under Head 53 led to the non-processing of payment of invoices for the fuel suppliers and other service providers to the government through CTA,” she submitted. 

It was stated that as a result, the companies could not supply fuel and other motor vehicle accessories to government for non-payment of fees for the supply. 

She said as a result Khumalo insisted to process payment under Head 91, which he had been advised to stop utilising for CTA transactions in favour of Head 53. 

Operations

Mabuza said the lack of fuel had the effect of stalling critical government operations such as the COVID-19 response, which could not operate efficiently in the absence of fuel.

She said as a result, there was none or minimal movement of the much needed goods and services to the people concerned, as well as minimal movement of goods and services that were generally provided by government to the public. 

The PS said she trusted that the information given to Khumalo would suffice in the preparation of his defence.

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