Times Of Swaziland: TOP OFFICIALS REPORT SPORTS PS TO PM

TOP OFFICIALS REPORT SPORTS PS TO PM
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 BY STANLEY KHUMALO on 29/07/2019 07:34:00


MBABANE – Could the fulfilment of the Eswatini Economic Recovery Road map be a
farfetched dream for the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs?
Government in its Eswatini Economic Recovery Road map cited that it wanted to
have a civil service that was founded on a culture of excellence across all
ministries, departments and agencies - where merit and delivery were rewarded.
This seems to be a challenge at the ministry as the management does not see eye
to eye.
This is according to a letter, seen by this publication, that was sent to the
Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, and attached to the Secretary to
Cabinet, Mbuso Dlamini, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Peter
Mamba and the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Harries Bulunga.
The letter detailed that some senior  officials in the ministry were aggrieved
by the style of management used by the Principal Secretary, Mlayeto Dlamini.
Signatories
The signatories to the letter, which was seen by this publication, are: Bheki
Thwala and two senior officials.
Information gathered by this publication was that the letter was hand-delivered
to the office of the premier and that of the secretary to Cabinet on Monday July
15, 2019.
On the other hand, the minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, was served
with the letter a day after as he had been out of the country on official duty.
In the letter, there are a litany of allegations made against the PS – but
cannot be repeated for now as their veracity is still being investigated by the
relevant structures.
However, most of them border on the PS’s management style, which certain
officials within the ministry are not happy about.
According to sources within the ministry, the issues outlined in the letter have
been brought to the attention of the ministry for some time. However, nothing
fruitful has ever been achieved – hence the decision to engage the leader of
Cabinet.
When Government Press Secretary, Percy Simelane was sought for comment,
specifically to shed light on whether the PM had responded to the letter that
was sent to him at or around July 15, 2019 citing serious leadership
discrepancies at the aforementioned ministry, he said the letter could have been
confidential.
Simelane was also requested to assist on what was the resolution, if any, that
was taken by the premier and if not, what had caused the delay in responding to
the challenges - more so, with government having resolved to instil a culture of
excellence in all ministries and departments.
To this, the former director of the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information
Services (EBIS) said: “If it was a letter to the Prime Minister and not a
press release or press statement, then it was confidential. Since we were not
privy to that confidential correspondence, it would not be possible to know if
there are deadlines that have not been met and that there is already a delay in
replying.”
Confidential
He said a letter was treated differently as per Government General Orders. The
press secretary said letters were confidential and different from the rest of
government communication.
When pressed to give government’s position, as the senior officials did not
send the letter to the PM on their personal capacities; but did so as employees
of the administration, Simelane said: “We will cross that bridge when we come
to it. As a government we are slowly but surely turning to ‘what we have
done’ mode as opposed to ‘what we shall do’ syndrome.”
He said if faced with a challenge such as the one alleged, government needed to
quietly study it and take a position that could be made public through a press
statement.
On the other hand, PS Mlayeto acknowledged being aware of a letter that was sent
to the office of the premier. However, he said nothing was sent to him formally.
“There is no letter that I have received but I have heard of the said letter
but it would be best to contact the communications officer of the ministry,”
said Dlamini.
Relations
When probed on his relations with the senior officials in the ministry. The PS 
said, “They were employed by government, not me.”
He said all officers were assigned to execute certain tasks – some of them,
according to the PS were able to deliver while others did not deliver.
The PS said those who had written the letter may have gone behind his back
,which made it difficult for him to respond to something that he was not aware
of. Dlamini supposed that the three senior officials had also bypassed the
minister as well.
He said this was so because the minister only got to know of the letter after he
had been called to answer on it by the premier.
“It is untidy when you are colleagues not to be in speaking terms; if there is
a grievance it should be resolved.”
Also, the Communications Officer in the ministry, Sibongiseni Zondi, said:
“The ministry, through it’s clearly laid down procedures, has not received
any letter detailing any staff members’ concerns. As such, the ministry cannot
comment on a letter whose existence and authenticity is unknown and cannot be
proven.
In addition, the ministry has not, at any point, held any discussions or
meetings on any issues that staff members have concerning the leadership. It
therefore makes the motive of this letter, if there is any, highly
questionable.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Portfolio Committee, Siphofaneni Constituency
Member of Parliament (MP), Mduduzi Simelane, confirmed knowledge of the letter.
He said the letter was brought to the committee formally and they could not
action on it due to the presentation of quarterly reports by the various
ministries.
“We have the letter and we’ll handle the matter after completing the work
related to the first quarter reports.”
Meanwhile, Director of Youth Affairs, Thwala said he had no comment while, the
mobile numbers of the other senior officials were not available on the network
since Friday afternoon.
Worth noting is that all is not well at the Ministry of Sports, Culture and
Youth Affairs.
This is because a meeting was reported to have turned chaotic after a serious
misunderstanding between two senior officials, where the intervention of the
police had to be sought.
Our sister publication, the Times SUNDAY, reported that the Under Secretary
Nhlanhla Motsa had to lock himself in his room at the Pigg’s Peak Hotel after
the director of Youth Affairs allegedly threatened to stab him.