PAC REVEALS: E91M LOST TO CORRUPTION MONTHLY

LOBAMBA – Shocking as it is, the country loses about E91 million per month, due to corruption at government ministries and departments.
The shocking revelation was made by Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Deputy Chairperson and Madlangampisi MP Sibusiso ‘Scorpion’ Nxumalo, during the debate of the report of the committee, prior to its adoption in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The E91 million lost monthly amounts to E1.2 billion annually and this has been the trend since 2019, as revealed by Nxumalo. The money has risen by E51 million, from the previously known E40 monthly loss to corruption, which is over a 100 per cent growth. Nxumalo revealed that the report showed scary trends that were evidence that taxpayer’s funds were misappropriated and mismanaged.   The legislator also revealed that E7.4 billion was unauthorised expenditure by the ministries and government departments without the approval of Parliament, much to the shock of the MPs.

Scholarships

Nxumalo said the corruption came in different folds, from a simple bribe to a traffic police officer, training officers giving stipends, to seniors who initiated their scholarships and many other worse forms that account for millions of money which were unaccounted for. “Corruption is worse than prostitution (sex work), because the latter affects a few individuals while the former affects the country at large. These are monies that could change a lot in government’s operations as hospitals don’t have drugs and our roads are in a very bad state. However, it is only a few individuals benefitting from it, through criminal ways,” he said.

The legislator wondered if the people entrusted with government’s purse were the right fit if such alarming amounts were lost in a short period of time and seemingly the corruption was tempting even to the morally upright. Nxumalo said what boggled the mind was that the Chief Justice, Bheki Maphalala, did not want a Parliament resolution to have the office of the Master’s Office investigated for the loss of funds. Mkhiweni MP Ndlelayekuphila Masuku, said this was a huge amount that could cover a lot of ground in government operations. However, the MP had to withdraw the statement that legislators ‘bayatihhamula”, when making submissions on the report as nothing was done to the perpetrators of corruption.

Gilgal MP Sandla Fakudze asked the MPs if they understood the role of the PAC in bringing good governance and he asked them if they understood the power that the committee had. His question emanated from that some ‘powerful’ people implicated in the auditor general’s report were reluctant to appear before the committee despite being ordered to do so. Also entailed in the report is that E300 million was not unaccounted for at the Master’s Office, which is under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. These findings touched a lot of MPs who expressed huge disappointment on it. KuMethula MP Derrick Masuku said it was  disheartening that people were helping themselves to widows and children’s inheritance without thinking twice about it.

Lomahasha MP Ndumiso Masimula also shared the same sentiments, stating that these findings were speaking volumes on the level of corruption in the country. According to the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula’s report, the Judiciary had failed to account for over E300 million under the Guardian Fund and some people could not claim back their bail money after being acquitted. The report revealed that crucial documents were lost at the Master’s Office, leaving widows and children worse off.  

Estates

Property was undervalued (e.g. cattle were valued at E2 000 per head while goats were valued at E350 per head).  Beneficiaries of deceased persons’ estates were not notified through advertisements about funds left by their relatives as required by law and assistant masters of the High Court sign blank cheques, which were then filled by accountants on their own according to the report. “The PAC can be likened to a toothless bulldog because this is our fourth year and every year the committee brings damning evidence of mismanagement of funds but no one has been dealt with according to the magnitude of their wrongdoing. If supported well, the committee can play a good role in combating corruption,” said Gilgal MP Fakudze.

Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini said MPs should move a motion with immediate effect that would compel the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Pholile Shakantu, to unpack how the E300 million was used and if she failed to do so, she should be suspended. “Even the people who are stopping the probing of the office (Master) should give us a clear explanation why,” he said. On a positive note, Nxumalo revealed that the PAC was able to recover a sum of E34 million.

These recoveries include, among others, loans given to parastatals which had not been repaid, misappropriated funds, money overpaid to suppliers, salary overpayments, salaries not staggered when civil servants are on study leave, uncollected stamp duties, salaries from overpayments to officers on secondment, monies embezzled by civil servants, double payments to suppliers and service providers, fines imposed on controlling officers for contempt of Parliament, rent owed to government and unauthorised housing allowances.

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