MP TO MINISTER: REVERSE SALE OF GOVT HOUSE TO EX-PS

MBABANE – Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini has advised Minister of Housing and Urban Development Appolo Maphalala, to reverse the sale of a government house to former PS Clifford Mamba.

However, that will be if the findings of the minister show that indeed, there is a Deed of Sale of the house to the former principal secretary (PS) to the ministry. This publication reported on Tuesday that government confirmed to have sold one of its properties to the former PS. It was also confirmed that the house, situated near St Mark’s, was worth around E2.7 million.
This was confirmed by the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Simon Zwane, as reported by this publication on Tuesday.

Preamble

In his preamble, the minister highlighted that the ministry was conducting the institutional housing programme, whose Phase I was targeting three sectors; healthcare workers, police and firefighters. The project was launched with the purpose of alleviating the civil service housing backlog. He said they were now extending it to Phase II, which would be extensive and include government offices. However, Dlamini said the sale of the house to the former PS was contradicting the minister’s presentation on the institutional housing programme. The MP said the programme was a good initiative, given the housing challenges faced by civil servants.

However, he said as far as he was aware, when a PS leaves office, the house he was occupying is reserved for the incoming PS. Dlamini sought clarity from the minister on what instrument was used to authorise the sale of the house to Mamba. The PM highlighted to the House that as a resident of Mbabane, he had seen the house and shared that it was actually beautiful. He also shared that he observed that the house was allegedly renovated before the sale.

Dlamini reminded the House that the former PS sat in the Eswatini Housing Board (EHB). He wondered if Mamba recused himself from that decision-making body when it authorised the renovation of the house or if he was part of that process. “Take us into your confidence minister, what was the actual valuation of that property and for how much did you sell it to the former PS? Can you also confirm if that house was renovated by the Eswatini Housing Board,” he enquired.  Dlamini highlighted that land was a valuable asset that ought to be treasured, even by government. With the sale of the house, he wondered how many other houses had government sold, especially to civil servants.

Proposal

On another note, Dlamini mentioned that they were aware of the proposal by government to sell its houses, because they were costing it when it came to maintenance and he wondered if that was a wise decision by government. Actually, the legislator wanted to know if government would go ahead with the proposal or it was halted. “Was it a wise decision to take, simply because government could not keep up with the maintenance of its houses? The land belonging to government is prime property and it is the land that is of great value there, not the house,” he said.

Dlamini then brought it to the attention of his colleagues that the house that was sold to the former PS was actually on prime land. Mahlangatsha MP Mgucisi Dlamini, was another MP who wanted the minister to explain how and why the sale of the land was approved to the former PS. When responding to the query of the MPs, the minister revealed that the sale of the house remained an allegation on the basis that he had not seen the Deed of Sale and he had the assignment to check and verify if indeed, the house was sold.

Circumstances

“I have to check with the ministry’s officials how the house was sold, if it was sold, and the circumstances around it,” he said.  After giving his responses, MP Dlamini put it to the minister to reverse the sale of the house to the former PS, if his findings showed that it was indeed sold. On the other hand, in a recent interview, PS in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Simon Zwane, said Mamba paid as expected, around five percent of the total value. On the issue of the initiative by government to sell its houses because it could not keep up with the cost of maintaining them, the minister revealed that the exercise was stopped.

The minister said what informed the initiative was the fact that government, being the major ratepayer in almost all the towns, was not paying its rates in full to the municipalities, resulting in the towns being crippled financially and their operations disturbed. He explained that the valuation process of the houses was carried out by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy in selected towns across the country. 

According to the minister, the intention was to find an average cost of the houses, to determine if civil servants could afford them, especially because the occupants would be prioritised.  He mentioned that the exercise did not reach an advanced stage and it was eventually halted, because the stance from government was on the question of whether it was wise to sell the government assets, especially because the houses were on government land and the more it sold the houses, the more land would be in private ownership.  It should be mentioned that unions representing civil servants have also frowned upon government selling the house worth E2.7 million to Mamba.

Condemned

The unions condemned this act by government, as reported by this publication yesterday.  National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) President Bawinile Ndlovu, said it was wrong for government to ‘pull aside’ someone and sell to them a house. Ndlovu said if government sold the house to Mamba, it was done clandestinely, because there had been no auction of same and employees failing to buy it.

Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Lot Vilakati, said the anticipation was that when Mamba retired, the current PS should take over the house.
Vilakati said they were not privy to the policy that was used when the house was sold to the retired PS. According to Vilakati, if the sale is open to all civil servants, it should be announced by government, in order to offer equal opportunities to other civil servants.

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