MBABANE – Taxpayers’ money has seemingly gone down the drain as government cannot recover E67 671 963.88 that was meant for elderly grants disbursements, which went missing in 2010.

This is because the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office Siboniso Nkambule has admitted that implicated officials on the disappearance of the grants were insolvent.

The DPM’s Office appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament yesterday where clarity was given on the issue.

The Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, reported that there was missing cash amounting to E67 671 963.88 under the Department of Social Welfare, since the financial year 2010.

The cash was received by the officials as cash imprest to be distributed as elderly grants in the respective constituencies and were not retired against the wage advance.

Matsebula revealed that in the fiscal year 2010, from the disbursement of elderly grants, cash amounting to E26 941 081.70 went missing and the missing cash had then accumulated over the financial years to E67 671 963.88, with no recoveries from the officers who received the cash.

Committee         

This is contained in the Public Accounts Committee’s Recommendations on the Auditor General’s Financial Audit Reports on Government Accounts for the financial years ended on March 31, 2022 And 2023.

The PS in the DPM’s Office revealed that the matter was reported to the police for investigations and findings pointed that some of the officers, who at the time were entrusted with the disbursement assignment, were deceased.

He said that those who were still alive were insolvent so much that the money could not be recovered from them.

“This was back at the time when the elderly grants were disbursed in cash before the DPM’s Office transitioned into disbursing same using commercial banks and Mobile Money platforms,” he said.

Ashmond Ngwenya, the Financial Auditor at the AG’s Office, relayed that at the time, the officers from the department of Social Welfare, were responsible for the disbursement of the grants but they did not retire the disbursed figure yet records should be provided for the financial activity.

“How did the paper trail disappear because the ministry requested the money through a warrant and it was handed over to the officers who supervised its disbursement?” he enquired.

PAC Clerk at Table, Arthur Mordaunt, gave further clarity on the issue, revealing that there was no paper trail to say how such was actually disbursed and how much was left from the whole exercise.

“Police, after getting advice from the director of pubic prosecution, found that there was no paper trail on the disbursement of the grants hence there was no one to pin the criminality on,” he submitted.

The PAC, through the AG’s report, highlighted that it emerged during the public hearing that the main issue was failure to retire the cash imprest against the advance by the officers who were given the cash.  They detailed that the anomaly started occurring over 14 years ago and the documents can no longer be found due to the passage of time and even those which have been found are illegible. The controlling officer was, therefore, fined E400 for this anomaly and urged to properly maintain documents in future and monitor officers to ensure that they retire such funds.

On a separate but similar query, the AG reported that there were no guidelines for the disbursement of the elderly social grants. As a result, the ministry had disbursed E340 399 031 during the 2017/2018 financial year but there were no guidelines for disbursing the money.

Assistance

The controlling officer submitted that the DPM’s Office is developing a Bill on Social Assistance which will guide the process to disburse elderly grants. He explained that the Bill had been drafted but there were amendments that the DPM requested to be made on the guidelines.

He requested that the committee give them an extension of at least three months to table a finalised draft with amendments on the Bill, including eligibility and other aspects.  When the committee enquired on what steps had been made to recover the money, Director Social Welfare Mcusi Shongwe, revealed that the implicated persons were insolvent hence government could not recover the money from them.

Leaking pipes blamed for E24m HMCS water bill

LOBAMBA – Old leaking underground water pipes have been blamed for the exorbitant bill on water at His Majesty’s Correctional Services.

The Auditor General reported to the controlling officer that the Correctional Services incurred exorbitant expenditure in respect of water and electricity amounting to E37 526 769.13 in the financial year ended March 31, 2024.

Expenditure

The water expenditure amounted to E24 362 131.09 and electricity expenditure amounted to E13 164 638.04.

The AG revealed that expenditures for water and electricity utilities are viewed as exorbitant because they are abnormally high, particularly the water utility.

He said that this indicates occurrence of fruitless and wasteful expenditures that are not sustainable and are a drain to government.

There is a risk of spending public funds on non-adding value activities and limited value and benefits to the country.

He advised the controlling officer to account for the expenditure incurred and provide the reasons for such exorbitant utilities and reduce the exorbitant expenditure due to the extremely high utility bills for water and electricity, and implement mitigation measures to eliminate the fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Deputy Commissioner General Luke Malindzisa, submitted that the exorbitant expenditure on water was caused by the old leaking pipes which needed to be replaced.

Situation

He cited budget constraints as one of the challenges in solving the issue but stated that they are working closely with the Eswatini Water Services Corporation to alleviate the situation.

HMCS congratulated on Correctional Day

LOBAMBA – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had all the good things to say on what they labelled a ‘seamless’ Correctional Day.

PAC Chairman Madala Mhlanga, congratulated His Majesty’s Correctional Service (HMCS) Commissioner General LaMakhosini  Dlamini, submitting that it was not an easy task hosting their Majesties but they managed, perfectly.

HMCS hosted the Correctional Day last week Friday, where His Majesty King Mswati III, the Indlovukazi and other distinguished guests were in attendance.

Mhlanga went on to praise the institution for the hospitality of their staff at the different rehabilitating centres around the country, stating that they were well mannered and welcoming.

HMCS was also praised for their evident efforts in implementing the recommendations made by the PAC on the AG’s findings, highlighting that their efforts were evident by the convincing responses they submitted, in collaboration with the AG’s Office.

‘HMCS equally affected by drugs shortage’

LOBAMBA – HMCS is compelled to allow relatives of inmates to purchase medication for their family members due to the ongoing shortage of drugs in the country.

This was revealed by His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) Commissioner General LaMakhosini Dlamini, when clarifying that the organisation was equally affected by the drugs shortage in the country.

She was responding to a question posed by Zombodze Emuva Member of Parliament Ntando Mkhonta who enquired on how the drugs shortage was affecting HMCS.

Dlamini explained that they also source drugs from the Central Medical Stores and if the entity is out of stock, they are also affected so much that they ended up allowing relatives of inmates to purchase medication for their relatives to mitigate the situation.

The country is currently facing a serious drugs shortage in its public hospitals and clinics, leading to a national health crisis. Reports indicate that essential medications, including those for chronic conditions and life-saving treatments, are in short supply, causing patients to be turned away or make over-the-counter purchases.