PAC KICKS PS OUT OF SITTING

BY SIBONGILE SUKATI

LOBAMBA - Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs irked the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday to the extent that he was kicked out of the sitting.
The PS, Anthony Masilela, had come unprepared to answer several queries that had been made by the Auditor General in his Report for the Financial Year ended March 31, 2017.

However, what angered the members of the PAC the most was that the PS said E1.5 million which was paid out to officers in the ministry as unsupported overtime claims was nothing or very little.

He said in actual fact, the ministry still owed some officers overtime claims dating back to 2010 after they had worked during national events.
Masilela said some of the national events also did not go smoothly because some of the officers were bitter about the non-payment of the overtime claims.
The controlling officer said most of the claims were paid out without the approval of Cabinet, which was not timeous in issuing the authority.

In 2010, government issued a circular stating that all overtime claims would be approved by Cabinet and also that General Orders A250 (2), A251 and Establishment Circular No.8 of 2010, which regulate payments of overtime and specific duties which requires special consideration, were not adhered to by the ministry.

“If anything, if we would get the money to pay the officers you would find that the E1.5 million is very little compared to what we owe them,” said Masilela.
He said the only reason the officers continued to work was that emaSwati were calm and had humanity in them.

Chairperson of the PAC, who is also Matsanjeni North MP, Phila Buthelezi, asked Masilela if in essence he was saying the high overtime  claims were justified.
“Are you saying that in two months one officer, who is an accountant can be paid over E57 000, who was considering the rate?” wondered Buthelezi.
Justify

Masilela tried to justify that the overtime claims were paid according to the grades of the officers and the higher the grade, the higher the money would be.
MP Buthelezi further wondered which were these national events which took place from January to December.

Lobamba MP Allen Stewart said it was disappointing that the PS was saying the overtime claims were justified yet there were no supporting documents which even stated what hours or national events the officers had worked.

“What does overtime mean, is it the hours paid after work or do they also claim for the time when they were supposed to be in office?” asked MP Stewart.
Mangcongco MP One Boy Zikalala said it was clear that Masilela had not bothered to read the report hence he was giving baseless answers.

MP Zikalala wondered how a light duty driver would be paid about E19 000 in overtime claims.
Dvokodvweni MP Mduduzi Magagula said now he understood why the country was in a financial crisis because officers were claiming unjustified overtime claims.

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