Cabinet's mindset exposed

In essence, it is another reason why our government has failed to come up with meaningful measures for how to arrest our fiscal problems and why we have generally been made out to be a nation of beggars.

When you consider that this country has literally struggled for the whole year to make ends meet; to pay civil servants’ salaries and, in the process, to pay its own bills—in particular the small businessmen whose companies have been forced to close down—and yet Cabinet still believes that it is entitled to some sort of status...it makes one cringe.

I say this because it is becoming obvious that our problem has mainly been accepting that the well has dried up and that we need to use what we have very wisely. However, this Cabinet, in particular, has insisted on being rewarded for its work and for living the life as politicians.

How then would we expect these people to understand the concept of cutting costs? It is impossible, for instance, to make a minister believe that there is no money for him to attend a conference, whether or not it is important.

In fact, let me hasten to add that when I learned the DPM Themba Masuku—who returned on the weekend—had to fly out of the country again, to Tanzania, to attend or represent His Majesty the King at some event I do not care about, it raised some questions.

Why does the DPM have to attend this event? Couldn’t government decline this invitation because, clearly, we have no money?

Of course I am aware that this was an invitation extended to the King, but then again everyone knows that the King is in seclusion and therefore unable to attend. Yes, it is courteous to attend and honour an invitation, but our circumstances are very dire—therefore, we have a very valid reason, if not reasons, not to attend.

But it seems as though it is Cabinet that is in denial about our situation, and insisting on living life as though we are not going through such a difficult financial period again. Perhaps that explains why the public is seriously sceptical about the real financial situation this country is in.

I mean, let me say again that I am still upset that government has still not explained how it got to pay the November salaries. While it is good that the civil servants did get paid, I am worried about the secrecy surrounding this whole financial situation, when we do not know where we got the money for these salaries.

I say this because if government has money stashed somewhere, perhaps in the many slush funds as we have come to discover, then the public must know. The conduct of our Cabinet seems to suggest that the fiscal crisis is only to affect the small man in the street—the small and medium businessmen who will not be paid for the services rendered to government.

This is why it is upsetting, and truly scandalous, to hear some of the comments that come from our ministers.

I want to draw particular reference to the comment Minister Macford Sibandze made when trying to justify why he was still travelling Business Class in the face of such perceived financial difficulty.

What is that the ministers do not understand about this? The answer to how much they are refusing to accept this real position is in the extent the minister went to find the money to finance his external travel. It is seriously worrying the extent to which he has gone to ensure he attended conferences that will not benefit this country—no matter how hard he believes they will.

The reality is that, in the face of our situation, those trips become a luxury and I find it scandalous that Cabinet endorsed these trips—whether or not they had been sponsored.

How dare a minister and a delegation be allowed to travel to the Far East and spend so much money on such trips? For what direct benefit? It does not matter if the trip was sponsored; that money could have gone elsewhere, even if the minister claimed he had got a sponsor for it.

But, the fact that Cabinet could actually endorse the trip on the basis that there was a sponsor for it also goes to show how much Cabinet is refusing to accept that there is a need to save the little and spend the little wisely. Why couldn’t they just decline the request, end of story?

To emphasise the extent of the problem, Cabinet has gone ahead and sent Winnie Magagula to Durban, in place of Macford who had been asked to take leave. You would have thought that this country would have been conspicuous by its absence at the conference, because we clearly have a financial problem and also because the minister for the portfolio was no longer able to make it.

Most importantly though, the minister being asked to attend the conference would contribute nothing to this event, because she is a late substitute, and the Principal Secretary who would have briefed her of the event has been recalled!

It is of course shambolic, but it is also telling of the thinking that is behind our Cabinet. Here was an opportunity to be seen to be taking this whole financial problem seriously and we missed it. In fact, I dare say, it did not even cross the minds of our Cabinet.

How then can this country really survive if it is being led by ministers who do not understand the very notion of saving? Oh, do not tell me Majozi Sithole has announced the good news; the SACU pool next year will be something like normal so we can expect that the good times are going to roll on once again.

This is a shame, because we have missed the opportunity to cut the wage bill and our expenditure and wastefulness has not gone one bit.

The money, therefore, is going to be spent much the same way, and go into the dungeon and, Lord save us, we are going to be confronted with a similar situation in no time.

What best demonstrates our plight at the hands of this Cabinet is the extent the Tourism minister went to look for money to ensure he travelled First Class—never mind coming down some two levels, so that at least it is seen that he takes cognisance of the situation on the ground.

No, the minister went all out—and found the cookie jar. He then sought the advice of whoever he found and was told to take the money.

It is interesting that the minister has been exposed to have lied to both the prime minister and the principal secretary, if both their statements are anything to go by. The PM vehemently denied being informed that the money funding the trips came from a slush fund. The PS, Lucy Dlamini, has distanced herself from this by saying she advised the minister to follow proper channels.

The scandal here is that the minister could not accept that he could not travel so far away, at least. He had to find means to go, and did, with the help of some money stashed somewhere.

The public has inadvertently been alerted to a bigger problem; that there are slush funds with millions stashed in them that are not being monitored and from which ministers are helping themselves to the taxpayers’ money.

As for this slush fund, it is such a scandal—who signs for this account? How much was there, and how much is now left? Who authorised the usage of the fund, if the PM wasn’t aware of it and we are made to believe the PEU also had no clue? For what other purposes has this fund been used? Why was this money not deposited into the treasury—and whose idea is it now to separate these two accounts, as we are told it has been reinvested?

There are so many questions arising from the illegal usage of one account and the desperation of one minister to find some money. I shudder to think what else the public is not being informed of, and where else we have had sponsors ‘sponsoring’ the spending for ministers.

It therefore follows that the unions are right when they say they will not accept having their salaries cuts because, based on the conduct of the Cabinet, there is not enough to suggest this country is broke.

When you consider the splashing out on a piece of land for E31m, the land grab saga, Circular no. 1 of 2010, the car allowance and the fact that ministers say they have a status to protect; you realise that this Cabinet has a penchant for the finer things.

Oh, yes, and let us not forget the iPads.

Comments

The condition you have just described is called schizophrenia (Cabinet's mindset exposed, Friday Edition). They seem to have split personalities as they'd say one thing and do the opposite. E.G. they'd say let's all tighten our belts while on the other hand they loosen theirs. Cabinet is delusional,morally diabolical, and ethically bankrupt. And the land-grab saga was an an early indicator of the rare animal we're having to contend with as a nation. Their bad legacy is one of history books in which the title will be the 'fall of Swaziland'. We lack good leadership in this country, and you can't squeeze it from the PM because he's proven that he is incapable, no matter how much he tried.
Dec 9, 2011, 1:48 PM, Watcher (watcher@yahoo.com)

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