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GOVT MECHANIC OWNS FORMER MINISTERS’ BMWS

08/12/2018 23:15:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

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MBABANE – There is reason to believe that something is amiss in the registration of government vehicles at the CTA.

It has been uncovered that cars which belong to government are registered under a civil servant’s name. The cars, according to documents the Times SUNDAY has seen, include the BMW X5s which were used by former Cabinet ministers and another used by the police.

The cars’ registration numbers, according to government documents for the central motor registry, belong to one Mandla Tycoon Shongwe - a government mechanic employed under the Central Transport Administration (CTA).

The BMWs are registered as being black and the year of manufacture being 2014. The documents were obtained on December 3, 2018 and they show that the last update was on November 21 and November 22, 2018.

They show the same details as those vehicles that have been transferred to the ex-ministers and the registration numbers are similar.
The police vehicle is a 2014 Toyota sedan and the last update was on December 14, 2017.

mechanic claims ignorance
Shongwe said he had no idea how the cars ended up being registered under his name, but he confirmed that was responsible for cars that were being transferred to other owners, including those which were sold by public auction.

The documents show that three of the cars belonging to the ex-ministers were registered under Shongwe’s name. The cars are yet to be transferred to the ex-ministers’ names.

Some of the BMW X5s are registered under the ex-ministers’ names, while others are still registered under the CTA.
The cars are to be transferred to Jabulile Mashwama, who is the ex-minister of Natural Resources and Energy, and Princess Tsandzile, who is the former Minister of Home Affairs.

The last car was used by former Minister of Public Service Magobetana Mamba. Some of the documents show that the car was taken back to the government pool. The car is currently using a government registration number.

When asked to clarify how the cars were registered under his name, Shongwe said he had no idea.
Shongwe said all he did was fill the relevant documentation, and take the files to the revenue offices for processing. “I do not capture any data, as the government has some controls,” he said.

He said he was really astonished by how the cars ended up under his name, with his personal box office number. He showed the Times SUNDAY some files of the cars which were in the process of being transferred to the ex-ministers.

Shongwe said in the CTA system, the cars still showed that they belonged to the government, as they were yet to be transferred to their new owners. “These cars should be registered as belonging to government, not me,” he said.

He said in the documents he filled for the transfer of the cars, he used his ID number, as it was required.
He said he also used the CTA’s box office number, and therefore he was not sure how the vehicles ended up being registered under his name.

“The problem is not with me, but with the people who capture the data into the registry system,” he said.
He said he had no access to the motor registry system, only the CTA system.

No comment from govt
Meanwhile, the CTA General Transport Manager (GTM) Washington Khumalo referred all questions to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Makhosini Mndawe.
Efforts to get comment from Mndawe proved futile as he said he could only respond to questions on Monday because he had to make an informed statement.
He said he was out of the office on Friday, but would try all he could to respond before Monday. When his phone was called yesterday, it was not available on the MTN network.
Princess Tsandzile said she was not aware that the car had been registered under Shongwe’s name.
She said she knew that it was still registered under CTA.
The former minister said she had no idea what it meant that her car had been registered under another person’s name. She said she was planning to do the transfer process next week.
“I will have to go to the CTA next week to investigate what happened,” she said.

ex-ministers get free cars
On another note, this publication has since learnt that the ex-ministers got the cars for only E0.00.
Previously, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Bheki Bhembe, said the cars would be sold to the ex-ministers at scrap price.
Scrap price for the vehicles was estimated to be at E80 000.
However, documents that the Times SUNDAY has seen show that a minute from the Ministry of finance requested the CTA to facilitate the transfer of ownership of the vehicles to the relative book value, which was E0.00.
These excluded vehicles that were used by Owen Nxumalo, Edgar Hillary and Christopher Gamedze, as their vehicles were said to have a book value of E720 000.
Besides the ex-ministers, other people who are eligible to get the cars for free are the former parliament presiding officers, Gelane Zwane, who was the Senate President, and Themba Msibi, who was the Speaker in the House of Assembly.
Chief Officer in the King’s office, Dr Vincent Mhlanga, is also eligible, according to the documents.
Worth noting is that the car that was used by ex-Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development Mduduzi ‘Small-Joe’ Dlamini is to be transferred to one Nonhlanhla Fortunate Dlamini.
The relationship of the two has not been ascertained as the former minister’s number was not available on the MTN network.
The documents also show that cars which were used by former Minister of Trade and industry Gideon Dlamini and former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Sibusiso Shongwe were transferred to the government pool.
Former Minister of Education and Training Phineas Magagula confirmed that he had been given the car for free. He said he did not remember the exact date the car was transferred to him, but he now even had a blue book.
“I did not pay anything for the car, ngiyantjuza nje manje,” he said, meaning that he was cruising in the car.