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SPTC suspends manager

02/08/2012 00:00:00 WELCOME DLAMINI

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MBABANE – Two senior managers of the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation have been implicated in a E6 million cable scandal.

One of these managers is Titus Nzima who holds the position of Senior Manager – Supply Chain Management and has since been suspended from work.

He received his letter of suspension yesterday.

The seniority of Nzima was such that he would represent even the managing director during the many functions that SPTC is associated with.

The name of the other high-ranking administrator is known to the Times newspaper but has been withheld because he has not yet been served with his suspension letter.

Sources said he was presently away from work on sick leave, and therefore, could not be served with the letter.

"He will be served with his suspension letter as soon as he returns to work," an impeccable source said.

The scandal allegedly involving the two is that SPTC purchased a cable, which is reportedly worth E6 million, only to find that it did not meet certain standards.

The sub-standard cable, sources alleged, was bought from a local supplier who imported it from China.

Management of the corporation is said to have then reached a decision to have the cable disposed of and this process was to be carried out by the audit committee.

"The committee was supposed to decide how the cable was to be disposed of and a number of options were available on how this could be done," a source said.

However, Nzima and the other senior manager are alleged to have disposed of the cable by selling it to an unnamed businessman without the involvement of the whole committee.

The corporation only found out about the disposal after Nzima and the co-accused had allegedly already finalised the transaction.

It was then that management decided to suspend the two while the matter was being investigated further.

Nzima did not want to comment about his suspension when he was contacted last night.

"I have no comment for now. Yes, when the time for me to comment comes I will do that. Thanks," he said.

SPTC Corporate Communications Manager, Sifiso Nyembe, diplomatically said there were investigations taking place within the parastatal and in such instances it was occasionally essential that some employees give way to allow for the process to go ahead unhindered. "I cannot comment on the suspensions at the moment, but can confirm that there are internal investigations currently ongoing that are to ensure efficiency of the corporation, and sometimes it is necessary that officials step aside to allow the process to proceed smoothly," he said.

The scandal happens in the midst of SPTC facing a possible E850 million demand from mobile phone company Swazi MTN over breach of a Joint venture agreement (JVA). This relates to SPTC having launched mobile phone components, which MTN said was against the spirit of the JVA and wants compensation for income it claimed to have lost due to the corporation’s actions.