Times Of Swaziland: AN ACT TO FOLLOW

AN ACT TO FOLLOW
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By Martin Dlamini on 13/10/2017 00:09:00


A very positive development has occurred in the country’s fight against
corruption which cannot be allowed to go without due recognition. Government has
just pocketed a cool E650 000, plus two vehicles without even breaking a sweat.
All it took was for one man to pick up a phone and make that call. With this
kind of money, government can afford to pay over 1 500 elderly grants or buy
food that could last months for some schools.
This thanks to a whistleblower, Walter Bennett, the outspoken Mbabane
businessman. It is not a donation he made but money forfeited to the state after
a businessman Patel Akhter Husein tried to bribe Bennett but ended up in court
when the attempt was reported to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) just as he
was about to slip E100 000 to Bennett ‘under the table’ as it were.
For the benefit of those who may not have been following this case, well in 2015
Bennett, as co-director of Buzzby Services (Pty) Ltd,  was approached by the
Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications (SPTC) and contracted to sell copper
cables amounting to E3 million and weighing 60 tonnes by public auction to the
highest bidder. After an advert for the sale was published in local newspapers,
Hussein approached Bennett and the two met at the Buzzby Services offices at
Dlanubeka Building. Husein asked Bennett to ensure that his company won the bid
in return for a bribe of E150 000. He told Bennett to place a sealed bid of E700
000 against the E3 million that the copper cables had been valued at.
After the discussion, Husein gave Bennett E50 000 as part of the bribe payment
on February 19, 2015 near Sidwashini Engen Filling Station. Bennett handed the
money to the police and ACC officials.
The balance of E100 000 was to be paid on February 23 of the same year at the
Engen Filling Station. Husein was travelling in a Toyota Mark II registered OSD
527 AH and he kept the money in the car. While he negotiated with Bennett to
have him take the money from the car, ACC investigators and police officers
arrived and arrested Husein who was with his friends. The case was concluded
recently and Husein got a two month sentence which was wholly suspended for two
years by High Court Judge Sipho Nkosi who, however, ordered that a sum of E500
000 which was paid by Husein to Bennett as a deposit for the copper cable stock
be forfeited to the state.
An application for forfeiture had been moved on the basis that these items were
proceeds of a serious offence. Husein was not opposed to the forfeiture
application. These developments are what we would love to see on a day to day
basis because each of us is exposed to this sort of crime every other day. We
may not know if Bennett has been rewarded for his commendable effort but it
should not even be about looking forward to an incentive.
Our vigilance against corruption should be motivated by determination to save
this country from losing money that should otherwise be used to purchase drugs
for our hospitals and clinics; to ensure there is enough food in schools for our
children and to help increase the number of scholarships awarded to deserving
students among dozens of other priority needs.
This case also raises the need for the establishment of a Corruption Court for
speedy trials. Husein had pleaded guilty to contravening the Prevention of
Corruption Act No.3 of 2006 when he was charged with I.M.M Investments (Pty) Ltd
in which he is a co-director and holds 60 percent shares. The offence was
committed between February 19 and 23, 2015 in Mbabane. So why take two years for
a guilty plea?
The cables were eventually sold for E2 850 000 instead of the E700 000 that SPTC
would have received if Bennett decided to corrupt himself.
One also has to look at the company that was being defrauded. SPTC is in dire
need of a cash injection to keep it afloat. It has a massive deficit on its
pension scheme and is struggling to find resources for the stalled un-bungling
into three entities. The future of hundreds of employees hangs in the balance
but here we have people who are willing to plunge these lives into further
jeopardy by fleecing the company of the little it has left.
For what it’s worth, we say thank you Mr Bennett. Here’s to hoping many of
us will emulate your brave deed and rid our corrupt society of this evil.