CANE CUTTERS OCCUPY GOVT HOUSES

MBABANE – While civil servants are grappling with lack of housing, Mozambican cane cutters and others occupy government’s two-bedroom houses in the Lubombo Region.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) made the shocking discovery at Maphobeni, under Siphofaneni Inkhundla, during an inspection-in-loco recently. The three two-bedroom houses were found with dirty windows and some without window panes. The ceiling board is used by the squatters, who include Mozambican nationals, to start fire when cooking their food.
The shocking discovery, which left the PAC and the auditor general (AG) in disbelief, was made a couple of days ago, when the PAC conducted an inspection-in-loco of the houses that were built through taxpayers’ money.

Query

The visit was prompted by an audit query that was raised by the AG in the Financial Audit Report on the Consolidated Government Accounts of the Kingdom of Eswatini for the Financial Year ended March 31, 2019. The AG reported that three government two-bedroom houses have been abandoned and vandalised.The houses belong to the Ministry of Agriculture. Upon engagement with the then controlling officer, it was mentioned that the houses used to be occupied by extension officers, who were deployed in the area, but they are no longer there.

The controlling officer communicated two options they had for the houses. The first option was to hand over the houses to the Ministry of Education and Training, so that they could be utilised by teachers. The second option was to hand the houses to the police. Notably, the nearest police station is at Siphofaneni. Since 2019, the houses have been in a dilapidated state.  This year, when the PAC requested an update from the ministry, the committee was told that an agreement with the police had been signed, to hand over the houses, and they were utilised by the police. A couple of days ago, the PAC paid a surprise visit to the premises at Maphobeni, along St Phillip’s route, under Siphofaneni Inkhundla, and they were left gobsmacked.

Lies

Contrary to the information that was given by the ministry and community leaders, when the PAC arrived at the scene, not even a community police member was occupying the houses that were built with taxpayers’ money, let alone members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). The Director of Agriculture and Extension Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Nelson Mavuso and Senior Extension Officer Phumelele Dlamini, were part of the visit by the PAC.  Mavuso told the PAC that the houses were neither occupied by police officers nor any government employees.

During the tour, Mavuso explained that when development came into the area, the officers were moved, thus leaving the houses unoccupied. “Due to the sugar cane development, the officers were no longer going to be needed and were relocated,” Mavuso said. He shared that the community had been requested to keep an eye on the property. Unfortunately, it was discovered that there were pockets of untruthfulness in the matter, as even some leaders claimed that people who tried to occupy the houses were barred from doing so by the community police.

When the PAC conducted the inspection-in-loco, it found interesting characters occupying the houses. When the team arrived, five men were relaxing under one of the trees in the vicinity of the compound. The PAC was not aware if they were occupants, hence when the committee arrived at the scene, it was discovered that these were actually people who were occupying the house, as their belongings were found there. The PAC engaged some of the occupants, who were found in the houses. These were supposed to be modern houses, with fitted cabinets, ceiling and wired. The PAC discovered that some of the rooms were used as emadladla (traditional kitchens).

This meant that the occupants were using firewood when starting fire in these houses. Material from the cabinets and ceiling from the houses were also used to start fire. Further, the area was not fenced, making it easy for people to move in and out of the compound. The PAC engaged the occupants and learnt that some of them were not emaSwati, while others were said to be emaSwati. The individuals are employed by one of the contractors in the local sugar cane schemes.

When they were asked if they pay rent and who they pay it to, they said the rent was supposed to be deducted from their salaries, since the plan was that their employer would provide them with housing. “We were shown this place as alternative accommodation, while our employer was sorting out the accommodation issue,” said one of the occupants by the surname Mondlane. One of the houses was occupied by seven males and in others there were three male occupants. This information was given to the PAC when it engaged the individuals.
There were no window panes, floors were discoloured, fittings and doors were vandalised. The walls and roofing in some of rooms of the houses were black due to the smoke from the fire when the occupants cook. There were also inscriptions on the walls. Clothes were found scattered on the floors, which showed that all the houses were occupied. Another house had curtains and seemed to be locked, but it was still not in a good state.

Houses

Noteworthy, these are not the only houses under the Ministry of Agriculture that have been found to be in a bad condition. The PAC also visited three government institutional houses at Mndobandoba, under Nkilongo Inkhundla. One of the discoveries at Mndobandoba was that the houses were taken over by traditional authorities, and one of them was allegedly sold to an individual for E47 000, while others were occupied by Mozambican nationals. Following the site visit, the PAC Chairperson, Madala Mhlanga, expressed the committee’s disappointment in finding government houses in a bad state.

The audit query is still pending, given that the PAC is yet to make further recommendations after the site visits to these areas. In the recently tabled PAC recommendations report, which was later adopted by the House of Assembly, the PAC chairperson told the Members of Parliament (MPs) that over E2 billion government funds and property had been misused or mishandled in all ministries and departments.

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