Times Of Swaziland: PAUL SHABANGU, TEAM AGREE TO PAY BACK THE MONEY

PAUL SHABANGU, TEAM AGREE TO PAY BACK THE MONEY
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BY SIBONGILE SUKATI on 16/06/2016 08:19:00


LOBAMBA - In an unprecedented appearance, the Citizenship Board led by former
Private Secretary to the King, Paul Shabangu, yesterday appeared before the
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to explain why they had allegedly received
sitting allowances yet there were no meetings held.
Shabangu and the six other members of the board, who include Chief Mkhumbi,
Princess Kwatiwako and Reverend Griffiths Dlamini, are alleged to have received
about E26 000 yet the claims were not documented.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Anthony Masilela quickly
admitted before the PAC that the whole mess was the ministry’s fault and
stated that they had met with the Board and briefed it that they had been
irregularly paid and the Board members had since undertaken to repay the money.
In response to the missing supporting documents, the Board secretary, Wilson
Nkambule, said some of the missing documentation dated back to 2013/2014.
He said most of the minutes were taken manually in an old-fashioned way which in
vernacular he said “besisebenta sintfu”.
Nkambule said they had tried to look for the minutes, but to no avail and as a
result he had no choice but to apologise on behalf of the ministry and board.
PAC member Manzini North Member of Parliament (MP) Jan Sithole said it was
shocking that there were missing documents, even if the minutes had been taken
manually. He said the days of typewriters had long gone and, as a result, some
of the minutes had to be saved in one of the computers.
Manzini South MP Owen Nxumalo said if the Board had agreed to pay back the E26
000, it was an admission of sorts that they had received money yet they had not
attended any meeting. Meanwhile, chairperson of the PAC appointed MP Thuli
Dladla said it was not only the Board’s duty to repay the money, but also the
secretary needed to be surcharged for dereliction of duty.
However, Nkambule said he was not comfortable with deductions being made from
him, particularly since he was not the secretary at the time the transactions
were made.
Dladla advised Nkambule to bring evidence to the effect that he was not the
officer in charge at the time the minutes went missing.
Speaking on behalf of the Board, Shabangu said the missing minutes were actually
supposed to be reports written by the secretary as they had carried out site
inspections. “We sometimes go and inspect the businesses of the people who
apply for citizenship,” said Shabangu.