‘EX-MINISTER GIDEON WAS INTERFERING WITH MY JOB’

MBABANE  –  “Political interference was the order of the day in my office.”

These are the exact words of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA) Phumelele Dlamini.
In a tell-it-all interview last Thursday with this publication, Dlamini said for a long time, she had been silent on the real issues affecting the operations of the Category A Public Enterprise.

This newspaper had asked her to explain the real reasons behind the litany of problems engulfing the government parastatal.
Dlamini alleged that constant political interference by former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Gideon Dlamini was making her job miserable and in the process crippling the operations of the parastatal that was established to solicit investors and create jobs for Swazis.
Yesterday, the CEO called to clarify that she was not making the revelations because the minister had been fired but was merely stating what she termed ‘facts’.

Dlamini described her working relationship with the former minister as sour, and said this had even permeated into the whole SIPA machinery.
“My working relationship with the (former) minister was not good at all. I have never received any support from him yet he was in charge of our portfolio ministry. My problems effectively started last year during the Trade Fair but they took a turn for the worst when I turned down a purported investment, which the former minister wanted me to facilitate in the country.

“On several occasions, the minister attempted to have me investigated for issues I had no idea about. At one stage, he even accused me of working for other ministers. I was shocked,” she alleged.

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