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QUARRY SAGA: MPS WANT TRUTH FROM MINISTER

17/03/2021 14:08:00 Sibongile Sukati

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LOBAMBA – The Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Peter Bhembe, needs to speak the Biblical truth and not the political truth regarding the quarry mine or farm project in Sicunusa where the army has been deployed.

This was raised by members of the ministry’s portfolio committee who said Bhembe should clear the air about the now controversial farm owned by Mandla Mkhaliphi, where the army has now been deployed to guard the farm. The portfolio committee threatened to freeze the ministry’s budget allocation if the minister did not give a truthful statement on the matter.
Matsanjeni North MP Phila Buthelezi said he had read the press statement issued by the minister on the issue, which sounded a bit emotional. MP Buthelezi asked if it was the first time that the army had been deployed to such sites.

“I am asking this because this is a mine or site which has been operating until recently and there was sale or mining of the quarry,” said Buthelezi. He wondered if the ministry’s action to ask the army to be deployed had been caused by the fact that one of the shareholders of the company had since withdrawn from the contract. MP Buthelezi submitted that for a while, he knew that the Maloma Colliery Mine did not have a mining licence and owed government then about E13 million in dividends, but it was allowed to continue operating. “I do not remember the army being deployed there, so why this one?” asked MP Buthelezi.

He said the ministry’s budget should also be frozen if minister Bhembe did not give a proper response to what the portfolio committee was asking. MP Buthelezi said judging from the minister’s press statement, it was clear that the ministry had taken sides on the matter. “This is not a good thing at all,” said MP Buthelezi. He further submitted that the minister had stated that the businessman had broken the law and faced a fine of E100 000 or 10 years imprisonment. “Have you charged this individual or have you taken him to court before publishing such statements?” wondered MP Buthelezi.

He said the minister should not get personal in such matters. “If one would visit Lufafa Mine for example, would we find the army deployed?” asked the MP. MP Buthelezi said he was not happy that Bhembe had found himself in this mess. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo said it was a pity that politics taught a person lies. He said before Bhembe was a politician, he was a lamb of God (umuntfu wa Nkulunkulu). He said he could not believe that the minister willingly wrote a letter to the army asking them to send personnel to Sicunusa. He asked if he knew if there was any gold for example in Lufafa Mine. Motshane MP Robert Magongo said the minister should stop abusing powers which he did not have.