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CTA BOSS TEMPORARILY DETAINED AFTER PAC ORDER

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LOBAMBA – “Go lock him up!”

Embattled General Transport Manager (GTM) of the Central Transport Administration (CTA) Washington Khumalo was temporarily locked up in Parliament yesterday. 

Khumalo was escorted by Clerk to Parliament Ndvuna Dlamini to the Lobamba Police Station after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that he was displaying insolence by refusing to respond to questions posed and, instead firing back a question to the PAC.

Of late, the GTM is currently a subject of scrutiny by his superiors following that he has been slapped with a charge of insubordination in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. 

CTA employees are also embroiled in a court dispute with government over the closure of a trading account for the government garage.

Even though the workers won the case in court, government is appealing the matter.

Showdown

In yesterday’s showdown, Khumalo infuriated the PAC by failing to answer a question asked by the committee Chairperson, Phila Buthelezi, on his perception of the state of affairs at the CTA.

“According to the way you see things at the CTA, is everything well there or what?” the PAC Chairperson asked.

The background of the question was an observation by the chairperson that the country was grounded, without ambulances to rush patients to hospital, no police cars to attend to emergencies and acute shortage of fuel was crippling government’s normal operations.

Khumalo’s initial reaction was to shrug off all blame for the current national state of affairs in as far as shortage of transportation and fuel was concerned.

“I want this to get on the hansard that the fact that the country is grounded has absolutely nothing to do with me. I did not contribute to such state of affairs,” he said.

Khumalo could not finish his statements, when the chairperson quickly put him back on the pedestal. “All I am asking you to respond to is a question on your perception of the state of affairs at the CTA,” Buthelezi said.

 To this, the GTM elected to ask back: “May I ask this committee a question, is it the first time that such a thing happened in office since I assumed the reigns there (sic)?”

The GTM’s question was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the Chairperson immediately ordered that he be incarcerated for not respecting the PAC.

“Mvaleleni sekake ayophompa,” said the PAC Chairperson loosely translated to mean, “Go lock him up so he can go and cool off.”

Continued the chairperson: “We have asked you a question and you ask us back, something that I have never seen in the history of this Parliament. You are disrespecting us, yet we represent the nation. Savimbi Mkhonta (sergeant at arms) must open up the cells of Parliament and lead you into it until you fully appreciate what is happening here.”

Apologise

Members of Parliament Busisiwe Mavimbela and Gege MP Musa Kunene suggested that the GTM be made to apologise before going to the Parliament holding cell. “He must humble himself because he also has children. This is a country and he must show respect,” said MP Kunene.

MP Jomo Dlamini said Khumalo should have simply answered the question with a yes or no response, instead of complicating the situation.

Quickly thereafter, at about 12:15pm, the sergeant at arms Savimbi Mkhonta walked into the House and ushered Khumalo out. He led him to a police duty room where he was also met by Clerk to Parliament Ndvuna Dlamini. Soon thereafter, he was made to drive his car to the Lobamba Police Station, while the police followed from behind. 

Meanwhile, Parliament continued with normal duties, dealing with audit queries of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport until about 1:50 pm, when MP Buthelezi ordered the sergeant at arms to fetch Khumalo so that he could continue with business.

After his release from the temporary detention, Khumalo was asked by the PAC to continue responding to more queries about the CTA. Nothing was said about his short stint at the police station.

It was gathered that the Clerk said Parliament was missing the keys to its holding cells, which was why it had been preferred that Khumalo be held at the police station.

Eswatini News gathered that Khumalo had already called his lawyer Noncedo Ndlangamandla to the police station. 

Her mission was to establish if there were any charges levelled against him and what they entailed.

“She found that there were no charges and she left,” Khumalo explained in an interview, and further mentioned that when he got to the police station, officers asked the Clerk to Parliament if he was laying charges, but there was no clear answer.

He insisted that he had done nothing wrong because his question was meant to trigger a robust discussion on why there were problems at the CTA.

  

  

 

 

 

 



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