RSTP BOARD MEMBER REMOVED WITHOUT FORMAL COMMUNICATION

MBABANE – A member of the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) Board, Phiwa Nkambule, learnt on the institution’s official website that he was no longer part of it.

On the one hand, the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) claims that his term of office had elapsed, however, Nkambule insists that his appointment was valid until May 2022. Nkambule, a liSwati based in South Africa, took to social media, in particular Twitter, to reveal that he had on Tuesday learnt that his royal job was now officially gone without any formal communication from either the ICT Ministry, the institution or the Board which is chaired by S’thofeni Ginindza. Nkambule said such a move had been expected anyway. This could have been due to his critical political views he expressed on social media. Interviewed on Tuesday, Nkambule said he was appointed into the Board by the Minister of ICT Princess Sikhanyiso in May 2019, for a period of three years which, according to him, would end next year.

Announced

He said again, when the then Acting Minister of ICT Manqoba Khumalo last year announced new members of the Board, he was still part of the list. This was confirmed by Minister Khumalo on Tuesday, that when he left his acting position in January this year, Nkambule was still part of the Board. Nkambule said when he checked the RSTP website, something he frequently did, he was surprised to learn that his name had been removed. Instead, in his position, the institution had written that there were two vacancies and the names of those Board members were still to be announced. The other members of the Board include; businessman Walter Bennett, Prince Hlangusempi, Dr Gugu Sibandze, Simile Muwape and the Chief Executive Officer Vumile Dlamini.      

Nkambule further stated that he suspected that the reason why he may have been removed was because since the political unrest that engulfed the country, he had been vocal on his social media pages and sided with the people calling for political reforms, especially after the alleged killings of emaSwati by so-called mercenaries. Contacted for comment about Nkambule’s position on the Board, the Acting Principal Secretary in the ICT Ministry, Macanjana Motsa, said Nkambule’s term in office had elapsed.
Motsa responded to this after the PS, Maxwell Masuku had said he was indisposed and Motsa was in charge. Motsa, when informed that Nkambule was maintaining that his tenure would only expire next year, said for now that was the ministry’s position.  A WhatsApp message sent to Ginindza had not been responded to by yesterday, although there were blue ticks. It had been sent on Tuesday.  He had been asked whether it was true that Nkambule’s tenure had been terminated without him being formally informed. Meanwhile, on September 11, 2020, it had been revealed that Nkambule wrote a letter to the then acting Ict Minister, Khumalo, where he had offered to vacate his RSTP Board seat.

Controversy

This was at the height of the controversy surrounding some of the members of the Board as reported by our sister publication, the Times SUNDAY, that some of them were not based in Eswatini including the former Chairperson Dr Phindile Masangane and United States of America Professor Theodore David, who was a lecture at UNESWA. In that letter, Nkambule said he had noted the growing concern around the presence of certain members on the RSTP Board, including himself. He said the concern “had been followed by an investigation/vetting process into my visits to the kingdom by the Executive at the RSTP initiated on 10-09-2020.” My appointment by HRH Princess Sikhanyiso, the Minister of ICT in May 2019, was a strategic one and was goal/target-based at the centre of it all being His Majesty the King’s vision,” he wrote.

He further stated that his appointment had also been based on what Princess Sikhanyiso believed he could contribute to the Board, the RSTP and the national science and technology ecosystem because of his involvement in technology. “If this is not the case anymore, then I would like to request you to reconsider my presence in the Board,” Nkambule had further written.  He had further stated that the current atmosphere was not healthy in the pursuit of the ministry’s goals of accelerated digital transformation in the Kingdom of Eswatini. “I am willing to step aside to open up space for a better locally-based candidate as that will help relieve the ministry and the park of the public pressure and will help the RSTP achieve its objectives and improve performance,” he had stated.  

He further stated that if his offer was accepted, they could invoke Section 5(a) of the Royal Science and Technology Act, 2012 (Act No. 5 of 2012). In response to Nkambule’s letter, Khumalo stated that it was with grave concern that his offer to vacate the office that he had just recently been appointed to by the Government of the Crown. “Crowning my failure to understand the rational informing the decision and offer is that the reason herein forwarded were considered in nominating and ultimately arriving at the decision for your candidature and ultimately your appointment,” wrote Khumalo in a letter that was also copied to the Minister of Economic Planning and Development. The former acting minister further stated that he, therefore, found a challenge to accept Nkambule’s offer to reason in light of the explained process that was undertaken to arrive at the decision to appoint him. Minister Khumalo then kindly asked Nkambule of Ndzingeni to reconsider his offer. Meanwhile, Nkambule said although he was based in South Africa, he was still using his Eswatini international passport, and his work permit and residence permit were attached to it.

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