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GOVT GIVES CJ FOUR LUXURIOUS CARS

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MBABANE – By law, Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala is supposed to have two official vehicles, but mystery surrounds why the State has given him more.
The two cars are not inclusive of escort vehicles.


Investigations by the Times SUNDAY have revealed that the head of the Judiciary currently has four luxurious official vehicles in which he is chauffeured.
These vehicles are a Toyota Land Cruiser VXR V8 Sports Utility Vehicle, a Mercedes Benz S-Class 400d model, a Mercedes Benz ML model and a BMW 750i.


While he inherited the latter two vehicles from his predecessor, the late, Michael Ramodibedi, the other two were bought specifically for him since he assumed office in November 2015.
The number of vehicles for the CJ now dwarf what Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini is allocated.


chauffeured


The PM has two official vehicles in which he is chauffeured and also has two escort vehicles wherever he travels in the country.
At least three impeccable sources who work closely with the CJ, confirmed that he had four vehicles at his disposal.
What is peculiar is that two Cabinet ministers and two senior government officials, who should know about the reasons for giving four vehicles to the CJ, either claim to know nothing about the cars or simply do not want to talk about them.


Legal Notice No. 87 of 2016 (prescription of salaries and allowances for judicial officers) states that the minister responsible for transport, in this case the minister of Public Works and Transport, shall, on the approval of the minister of Finance, classify vehicles to be used by a judicial officer.
The CJ, as per the Notice, is entitled to ‘two government cars’.
Other judges receive a commuted car allowance that is equivalent to that of the secretary to Cabinet. 


not aware


Neal Rijkenberg, the Minister of Finance, said “I am not aware of these vehicles.”
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Pholile Shakantu said she was not aware that the CJ had so many (four) vehicles for his official use.
“I am not aware that the CJ is using four cars. The GTM CTA has been asked to give you more detailed information on how many cars were procured and when,” the minister said.


This was after the minister had been approached with enquiries regarding the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Her initial response was that the vehicle was bought in the 2017/2018 financial year and delivered early 2018.
He refuted allegations that the vehicle was bought recently.
The minister’s response means that in 2018, government bought two vehicles for the Chief Justice because it was in the same year that the Mercedes Benz S-Class 400d model was purchased.


The Times SUNDAY reported on August 19 of that year, that government spent a cool E2.1 million purchasing this vehicle.
The vehicle was bought from Garden City Motors in Mbombela, South Africa, and the Central Transport Administration (CTA) applied the much-opposed single source procurement method; hence the tender was given to Garden City Motors.


Single source purchasing refers to purchases from one selected supplier, even though there are other suppliers that provide similar products.


procuring


Washington Khumalo, the CTA General Transport Manager, led a group of other officials to Mbombela on a Friday to finalise the process of procuring this vehicle for the CJ.
The CTA, which falls under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has the core function to purchase, maintain and dispose of government vehicles and other related equipment, as well as to provide fuel for the government vehicles.


Makhosini Mndawe, the then Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, confirmed the purchase.
The source who used to work closely with the CJ disputed minister Shakantu’s statement that the Land Cruiser was delivered in 2018. He insisted that this was a recent purchase.


But the minister said there was no new car that had been bought for the CJ by the current administration.
“In terms of the Legal Notice of 2016, which deals with the Terms and Conditions of Judges, the Honourable Chief Justice is entitled to two vehicles. The previous government bought one car, which was delivered in the 2017/2018 financial year. The second vehicle has not been bought. The ministry is not aware of vehicles that have been bought for him,” Shakantu said.


If the minister’s statement is anything to go by, considering that the vehicle that the previous government confirmed to have purchased in 2018 is the Mercedes Benz S-Class 400d model, then it contradicts her assertion that the Land Cruiser was also delivered in 2018.
Further, if she says the CJ’s second vehicle has not been bought, how does she explain the presence of the Land Cruiser?
Washington Khumalo, the General Transport Manager (GTM) at CTA whom the minister said had been mandated to provide all the relevant information regarding the cars, refused to give out the details for fear of reprisals.


controlling


He said Supreme Court Registrar Lungile Msimango should be the one to respond pertaining the CJ’s vehicles because she is the Judiciary’s controlling officer.
“She is the one who should confirm these vehicles because she is the one responsible for their refuelling and budgeting and will be the one who will have to give answers about them to the PAC (Public Accounts Committee). From her you will be getting the correct information,” Khumalo said.


Asked if, as boss of the CTA, he didn’t know the number of cars that were presently with Chief Justice Maphalala, he insisted that it should be Msimango who gives out such information.


“If she refutes, then I will give you my side, otherwise talk to her first,” he said but was told that Msimango did not respond to questions from the Times SUNDAY and did not even answer her phone each time she was called.


Khumalo then offered to try and get hold of Msimango but he also failed in this task as he said he had called her several times but there was no response. He said he had even gotten hold of her assistant, Banele Ngcamphalala, who reportedly also said it was Msimango who had the mandate to give a response.
Khumalo requested that he be called again later as he would continue trying to get hold of Msimango.


However, when later contacted, he did not answer his phone.
Meanwhile, Khangeziwe Mabuza, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said she was also not aware that four cars had been given to the CJ.
“I honestly don’t know, ask PS Justice or the minister who knows the contract of employment,” she said.
When it was brought to her attention that Legal Notice No. 87 of 2016 stipulated two vehicles for the CJ, she responded: “Where did he get the others? I really don’t know.”


reiterated


When asked which ones she knew, she said there were none and reiterated this response.
The PS was also asked specifically about the purchase of the Land Cruiser.


“Nothing has gone through my desk regarding such purchase. I can neither deny nor confirm the presence of such a vehicle but as of now I haven’t seen, neither do I know, anything,” she said.
She said she had not heard about the purchase of a new car for the CJ other than that Cabinet, for instance, and any other entitled to benefit from the Circular should be bought a vehicle but the process was halted because of financial challenges.


The PS said she, however, could not be sure if the process of buying the CJ a new car was also halted because members of the Judiciary had their own terms and conditions of service that were different from those of politicians.


“But nothing has gone through my desk concerning the purchasing of cars, including that of the CJ. I am, however, not sure if the purchase of the CJ’s car should also go through me because I am still new in this ministry and because the Judiciary has its own terms. I am yet to learn how the process works,” Mabuza said.


Out of curiosity, she then enquired if the Toyota Land Cruiser did not have private registration plates and when told that it was registered under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, she sounded surprised.
On the other hand, Rijkenberg, the Finance Minister, also said he was not aware of any purchase of a new car by the CJ.


“He doesn’t have to ask for permission from us because he is a separate arm of government; he’s got his own budget and his budget is controlled in a sense by themselves as long as they stay within the budget which I am sure he has done when buying the vehicle. It means that it was preapproved in the budget, in which case he can obviously buy a car,” the minister said.
signed off purchases
Rijkenberg said even though he signed off purchases, he did not directly sign off on the CJ’s direct purchases.
Besides the four vehicles, there are also allegations that the CJ’s security detail had since been increased from what is provided by the Legal Notice.       
Deputy Police Information and Com- munications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni said she could not disclose the number of vehicles and police officers assigned to the CJ because of security reasons.
“Unfortunately, we do not discuss security issues because it’s against our policy. As to how we deploy our officers and the number of cars involved, this cannot be shared with the public because it would expose our security,” she said.
According to the Legal Notice, the CJ is entitled to 24 hour personal and spouse security by the police service and 24-hour home security by a private security firm or two security guards.
It is worth noting that the CJ has more than one homestead and it is not clear whether all these homes have their own security. One of these homes is in Manzini and there is a tent at the entrance that is meant to accommodate security personnel.
There is also a mansion reserved for him within the E55 million worth Judges’ Complex situated at Dalriach in Mbabane but, as recently reported by this publication, he doesn’t live in this luxurious residence even though it is reportedly fully furnished.
vicinity
A security guard recently told this publication that officials from the judiciary usually come to load electricity units at the mansion.
He also has another home within the Mbabane vicinity, while another of his homesteads is in the Shiselweni Region. Efforts to get comment from the CJ and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which he chairs, were not successful as he did not answer his phone and also did not respond to questions that were sent to him through a text message.
The Times SUNDAY then visited the offices of Supreme Court Registrar Msimango, who also happens to be the JSC Secretary, after she did not respond to calls from this publication and also did not respond to text messages.
The visit to her office was on January 17, 2020 and she requested that a questionnaire be emailed to her, which she promised to then take to the CJ for the appropriate responses.
However, almost three weeks later, there has been no response to the questionnaire even though Msimango confirmed telephonically to having received the email.

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