LIQOQO SUMMONS MINISTER SAVANNAH OVER RSTP

MBABANE – Following the elapse of the contract of Vumile Dlamini as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP), Minister of ICT Savannah Maziya was summoned by Liqoqo.

The Times SUNDAY has gathered that the minister was summoned to a meeting, which was scheduled to take place last Tuesday at Lobamba. The agenda was to discuss not only the contract, but other issues related to the operations of the parastatal. The minister, according to reliable sources close to the matter, was summoned to appear together with Vumile and a senior government official. “Liqoqo wanted to ascertain why Vumile’s contract was not being renewed again,” the source said.

Attended the meeting

It was gathered that Vumile attended the meeting, while others who formed part of it included a well-known former Board member and another who is part of the new. The new Board is led by prominent attorney Tshidi Masisi-Hlanze However, Maziya was not in attendance. Through a message sent to her cellphone number, this publication sought a comment from her on whether she received the invite and why she did not attend the meeting. A correspondence was communicated by the ministry to the effect that indeed the minister had received the invite but that she could not make it due to other national commitments.

The ministry also clarified that the minister did not snub the meeting, but had other commitments and that she was more than willing to meet Liqoqo any time. Liqoqo is an advisory council, whose members are appointed by Ingwenyama from the membership of bantfwabenkhosi (emaLangeni), tikhulu (chiefs) and persons who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation.  The Constitution provides that Liqoqo traditionally advises Ingwenyama on disputes in connection with the selection of tikhulu (chiefs) boundaries of chiefdoms and any other matter Ingwenyama may assign for their advice in confidence.

Liqoqo is not new to summoning people, as it has done so in the past, whereby it called mostly politicians regarding sensitive issues. In 2012, Liqoqo summed the then Prime Minister (PM), Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini to give a briefing on the spate of strike actions in the country. At the time, it was reported that an invite was sent by Liqoqo and received by former Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku, who was acting PM. The former PM was said to have been away in Burundi to represent the King at that country’s 50th Independence celebrations. Masuku was quoted by our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini saying that there was absolutely nothing abnormal with such an invitation as Liqoqo was part of the government machinery.

It should be noted that the meeting over the contract and other issues related to the operations of the RSTP was held on the same day the contract of Vumile officially expired. It could not be ascertained if there were decisions taken during the meeting, but this publication gathered that the next step was to inform the country’s authorities. operations as a whole
When sought for comment, Liqoqo Chairman Paul Dlamini confirmed the meeting and clarified that it was not just for the CEO issue but RSTP operations as a whole. The chairman said the minister did give a reason as to why she could not make it. “Actually the meeting was to engage on certain issues about the RSTP, the one for the CEO included,” he said.

When asked if the advisory body was still keen on meeting the minister, the chairman responded by saying that they will not give up, as they had been given an assignment.
“We understand that the minister has many commitments related to her mandate and we also have an assignment so we would like to eventually meet her so that we get clarity on the RSTP issues,” he said. While the meeting was held last Tuesday, there was a new development on Thursday as Dr Andile Simphiwe Metfula was announced as the new CEO, albeit on an acting basis. Metfula was unveiled and presented to the RSTP staff by senior personnel from the ministry.

Last Sunday, this publication reported that Vumile’s contract was coming to an end and this was despite that it was only renewed in late 2022. The reason the contract did not last long was because when it was renewed, he was only given about one and a half year. This was due to the fact that it was renewed at a time when he had already worked without a contract for over a year after the previous, which was for three years, had come to an end. Before the contract was renewed after over half a year, there was a lot of noise, which led to the then Public Accounts Committee (PAC) raising a concern that the ministry had allowed Vumile to hold the position without an instrument that spoke to that.

At the time, the issue of the contract had come to the fore when the ministry was responding to a query about the non-deduction of fringe benefits from the use of company vehicles for both business and personal activities by the executive management.  It emerged that the only executive member that the RSTP had was Vumile as the CEO, who was allocated a car from the pool of motor vehicles belonging to the institution, dedicated to his office for official business. no fringe benefits paid.

However, the PAC was informed that the reason there were no fringe benefits paid was because he was not paid a car allowance, hence he received no benefit. It was when the committee was informed that the RSTP was waiting for a new contract for Vumile, which would state that he was entitled to a car allowance, that the members picked that he was currently without one. The committee’s Chairman at the time, MP Musa Kunene, wondered how Vumile was remunerated given that there was no instrument from the ministry giving him the green light to occupy the position.  He submitted that the ministry should have attended to the issue of the contract three months before it expired, because it could happen that he was remunerated unlawfully.

The duty to appoint or renew the contract of the CEO lies with the Board of the parastatal and this is provided for in the Royal Science and Technology Park, 2023.The legislation stipulates the functions of the Board and they include appointing the CEO subject to the approval of the minister after consultation with SCOPE, determining his or her remuneration as they may think fit, and subject to the scales approved by SCOPE, confer such powers to be exercised by him or her for objects and purposes and upon such terms and conditions and with such restrictions as they may think expedient. The functions of the Board also include overseeing the coordination of policies and activities on science and technology; reviewing the quarterly progress and financial reports of the CEO and reviewing and adopting as appropriate his science and technology-related policies and strategy recommendations.

Provide guidance

Furthermore, the Board has the mandate to provide guidance to the CEO on all matters relating to the park’s action plans and approve his or her annual budgets and action plans of the park. The position of a CEO is provided for in the Public Enterprises (Control & Monitoring) Act, 1989 which is the legislation that provides for the control and monitoring of public enterprises and partly owned ones. Section 8 of the Act provides for the appointment of both the CEO and chief financial officer (CFO). The section provides that except in the case of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), the governing body of each Category A public enterprise shall nominate the CEO, who shall be appointed or may be dismissed, by the minister responsible acting in consultation with the standing committee.

In terms of the functions of the CEO, the legislation stipulates that he or she has to report to the Board, manage the funds of the park, prepare a budget and submit quarterly financial reports and annual audited accounts to the Board and periodically review and develop science and technology policies and technical guidelines to the Board. Also, the CEO has a mandate to mobilise, receive, manage and allocate resources from government and other sources, in line with its budget, facilitate information sharing on local and international best practices in the field of science and technology, provide quarterly written reports to the Board and assist in the submission of the Board’s quarterly reports to the minister.

Furthermore, the CEO has to brief the minister as and when it may be required; and make regulations governing the appointment and conduct and discipline of employees of the research institutes as approved by the Board. The RSTP, located in the Kingdom of Eswatini on the continent of Africa, is a public enterprise established through an Act of Parliament in 2012.

Oasis of science

The sole objective of RSTP is not only to be the leading oasis of science and innovative technologies for wealth creation, but also to promote the development of information technology (IT) and research and development.  It is divided into two divisions, which are the Nokwane (headquarters) Site and the Phocweni Site.  The Nokwane site is responsible for biotechnology, while the Phocweni site is liable for information technology (ICT). RSTP manages a total of 317.7 hectares (ha) of land, of which its master plan comprises 159ha for industrial development ideally located in close proximity to import and export routes through highway access to the Republic of South Africa and Republic of Mozambique and a dry port railway leading to Maputo Sea Port (Mozambique) and Richards Bay (South Africa).

The entity has now been designated as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and this was implemented through the SEZ Act of 2018. The head of State is still the brains behind the SEZ Act initiative targeted at attracting foreign direct investment into the Kingdom of Eswatini. The SEZ drive is designed to help promote export- oriented growth, generate employment with the intention to ensure technology transfer among the Eswatini populace, and subsequently stimulate economic growth. Currently, at least 80ha of the industrial development land at Nokwane is serviced and readily available for the potential targeted investments to set up shop.

Despite its potential, the RSTP has been found to be heavily reliant on government finances, which it unsustainable. Also, the Office of the Auditor General Timothy Matsebula, has in recent years decried that the entity also had a huge wage bill that was 87.4 per cent of the subvention received from government and that it also witnessed significant increases in its operating costs. The public enterprise only generated income of around E2 miliion from its operations, and government was pushed to increase the shareholder loan to keep the entity running, which is deemed not sustainable.

Efforts to get a comment on whether the current Board, led by experienced attorney Tshidi Hlanze, had met to deliberate on the contract of the CEO were not successful. A questionnaire was sent to the parastatal, but there had been no response at the time of going to print. An SMS was also sent to the Board chairperson by this reporter on Friday but she had not reverted at the time of compiling this report. It should be noted that issues of senior positions not being filled for some time at the parastatal are nothing new.

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