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NINE GOVT CARS FOR DPM’S TOUR

29/11/2021 08:17:00 BY STANLEY KHUMALO

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MANZINI – A tour by the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku, had an entourage travelling in nine government cars despite the fuel shortage in the country and government’s failure to pay essential service providers.

The DPM on November 11, 2021 visited some places where homesteads had been destroyed by a hailstorm on November 5, 2021. The field trip was coordinated by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), which is an entity established by government, with the responsibility for the coordination and implementation of National Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM), including disaster prevention, mitigation, adaptation, preparedness, response and rehabilitation. It was formed in 2015.

On the day of the tour, it was reported that the storm had wreaked havoc in over 2 500 homesteads. The tour was attended by Masuku, his spouse Dimpho, Principal Secretary (ps), in the DPM’s Office Makhosini Mndawe, Portfolio Committee Chairperson in the DPM’s Office MP Derrick Masuku, Regional Secretary in the Manzini Region Arnold Dlamini and other senior officials from NDMA and the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS).

Damage

The tour was aimed at assessing the damage in the Manzini Region and started off at Madonsa Township, where it was said over 30 homesteads had their roofing destroyed by the storm. Given the high number of officials, there were nine vehicles in total used to transport all of them. The vehicles consisted of an official vehicle that was travelling the DPM, a Totoya Fortuner, his escort vehicle an Isuzu LDV bakkie, an Isuzu double cab used by the PS, a similar vehicle used by the Manzini Regional Secretary, police officers from the Manzini Regional Headquarters, four vehicles from NDMA and a Toyota LDV from Mliba Police Station. The distance between Manzini and Mliba is 57 kilometres (km) on the MR 3 while the distance between Mbabane and Mliba is 92.1km on the same route.

This means a return trip by the three vehicles that travelled from Manzini was 114kms while that by the six which were from Mbabane was 184.2kms. In total, all vehicles travelled 298.2kms. This is despite that ministries and government departments are allocated kombis for trips that require a high number of personnel to minimise on the cost of fuel and depreciation of vehicles.

Delivery

Also, the administration has reported a shortage of vehicles for various ministries and departments to ensure a quick turnaround in service delivery. Some of these departments are the REPS, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, among many.
Worth noting is that the retail price of fuel is currently E16.25 per litre and government has in recent months reported a fuel shortage such that some services were grounded due to this.

According to fuel guide, a 2.4 engine vehicle consumes 20 litres of fuel per 100 kms. This means approximately E8 775 was spent on fuel on the day. On this particular trip, the DPM and his entourage handed over to two homesteads 14 corrugated iron sheets, roofing nails, a 10 kilogramme (kg) of Buhlalu Rice to each family, 5kg of beans and a two-litre cooking oil was also donated. Also donated were two blankets and two mattresses. The value of the donated items excluding discount afforded for bulk buying was E9 869.62. On average iron sheets at six metres cost E289.99 per sheet multiplied by 28 tallies to E8 119.72, Buhlalu Rice costs E119.95 per 10 kilogrammes, which is E239.90 for the pair while each two-litre of cooking oil costs E70, which means for both E140 was spent.

Also beans retail at E145 per 5kg, which means about E290 was spent on the items while the mattresses retail at about E270 apiece; so for the four, they cost approximately E1 080. On the other hand, according to a specialist who works for an insurance company, components of a vehicle depreciate due to the nature of the road, terrain in which the vehicle travels among other things.

Expenditure

*Musa said the daily usage of a vehicle was not limited to the fuel consumption but included other components such as oil, the wear and tear of the wheels, suspension and the mileage. Worth noting is that recently, the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) had been protesting due to the shortage of medication and food in hospitals. They lamented the failure by government to prioritise its expenditure as they raised that this made them appear as being incompetent in executing their duties.

On the other hand, the Communications Officer in the Ministry of Finance, Setsabile Dlamini, said it was imperative that government was encouraged to exercise prudential fiscal management and operations taking into account the declining revenue, the growing public debt and servicing on one hand and growth and development on the other. “Finally, the increased direct fiscal transfers to parastatals and the bloated expenditure on capital projects (particularly on the non-tradable sectors), as well as public service sector wage bill, need to be addressed speedily so as to lessen excessive demands on the budget,” she said.