Home | News | DPM GETS E1.8M NEW TOYOTA LEXUS SUV

DPM GETS E1.8M NEW TOYOTA LEXUS SUV

19/12/2021 17:14:00 WELCOME DLAMINI

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MBABANE – Deputy Prime Minister Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku has taken delivery of a brand new Toyota Lexus SUV as his official vehicle.

The sports utility vehicle is the latest, 2021 model, and the Times SUNDAY has established from well-placed sources that government spent about E1.8 million in purchasing the new wheels. This happens about six months after Cabinet ministers received their own vehicles – the Toyota Prado 2.8GD VX-L model – which cost E1 070 000 each. While the remuneration of politicians is currently guided by Finance Circular No.2 of 2013, the type of vehicles bought for them is determined in terms of the suspended circular containing the ‘terms and conditions of service of politicians of the 11th Parliament, attorney general and Emabandla’ after an addendum was sought in this respect. According to the suspended circular, the DPM’s cars should be a Mercedes CLS 2.5 and a Mercedes GLE 2.5; for the Prime Minister it has to be a Mercedes S350 and a Range Rover.

presiding

Government bought 25 such cars; 18 for Cabinet ministers, one for the attorney general, two for presiding officers (speaker and senate president) and four for regional administrators. Masuku (the DPM) and the prime minister – a position that had no substantive person at that time - became the only ones to not have new cars bought for them. Current PM Cleopas Dlamini was appointed into office on July 16, 2021 following the COVID-19-related death of Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini in December 2020. While the DPM did not have a new car procured for him at that time, his wife Dimpho had a Toyota Fortuner 2.8GD6 4X4 bought for her by government, in line with the suspended circular.

The prime minister’s wife is also expected to have her own brand new set of wheels bought for her and they have been specified as a either a Fortuner or a C-class Mercedes Benz. “Government shall also provide a pool vehicle for the spouse of the prime minister and deputy prime minister. The motor vehicle will not be of the same status as the prime minister and deputy prime minister’s official vehicles. It will also serve as a utility vehicle to support the operations and service of the appointee; which include daily errands supporting the work of the prime minister or deputy prime minister. A driver for this vehicle will be provided from the Royal Eswatini Police Service,” states the clause in the suspended remuneration framework.

Meanwhile, the DPM, who is supposed to have two official vehicles, just as the PM, has been using a Toyota Fortuner and a Mercedes Benz that was previously used by his predecessor Paul Dlamini.

disposal

Paul, the current Chairman of His Majesty the King’s advisory body Liqoqo, has two Mercedes Benz at his disposal but he has taken with the newer ML which was bought through Tender No.99 of 2018/2019 at a cost of E1 727 858.80. According to Circular No.2 of 2013, a former DPM is entitled to certain benefits, which include a monthly salary and a vehicle that is to be owned and maintained by government; upon death, the vehicle is supposed to be sold to his estate at depreciated value. However, these benefits are expected to fall away in the event the individual is in gainful employment. But despite Paul being appointed Chairman of Liqoqo, which is a position that carries a monthly salary of over E50 000, he has also been given the E1.7 million Mercedes ML to take with him.
On September 20, 2021, this publication reported that the vehicle was lying idle at the Central Transport Administration depot in Mbabane while it awaited formalities for it to be handed over to the former DPM.

utilised

In the meantime, the incumbent DPM had to use a BMW X5 that was previously utilised by former Minister of Commerce Industry and Trade Gideon Dlamini before he was unceremoniously fired in September 2016. That BMW X5 reportedly had endless mechanical problems which led to it being removed from the DPM’s use and he had a Toyota Fortuner allocated to him. Makhosini Mndawe, the Principal Secretary in the DPM’s Office, said the acquisition of the new vehicle for Masuku was ‘necessitated by the constant breakdown and mechanical faults’ experienced by the car he was using. “The vehicle was returned to the CTA as per the usual procedure,” the PS said when asked what had since happened to that vehicle.

purchased

He stated that the DPM’s new vehicle had been purchased in accordance with Finance Circular No.3 of 2013, section 4.5.4, which reads: “The prime minister and deputy prime Minister will be allocated official vehicles by the state, a driver and Royal Swazi Police escorts at the expense of government. The driver and police members are allocated to the parliamentarians for security reasons; and transport the spouse and dependants of the parliamentarian. Government shall provide pool vehicle and a driver for spouse of the prime minister and deputy prime minister. The motor vehicle will not be of the same status as the prime minister and deputy prime minister’s official vehicles.”

When the PS was asked to explain why the money for the DPM’s new car had not been used to cater for other urgent needs such as the purchase of medical supplies for the country’s public hospitals, he said the use of old vehicles which needed constant mechanical attention ended up being a drain in the long-run.

negatively

“The accumulative cost of running an out of warranty old car ends up costing more money which then again impacts negatively as more funds are channelled in keeping the vehicle on the road when it is way past its reliable usability and renting a replacement vehicle from the CTA in the event of a breakdown. The new vehicle comes with a maintenance plan,” Mndawe said. Regarding the cost of the vehicle, he said it ‘was secured at the normal market rate’. Reacting to the purchase of the new car, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), through its Secretary General Mduduzi Gina, called on the DPM to ‘do the honourable thing and politely refuse the close to E2 million car purchased for him’. Gina said any show of extravagance and opulence cannot be displayed by the very ministry responsible for the country’s poor, vulnerable, disabled and aged people who are ‘day in and day out without basic needs including the most essential one which is shelter’.

He viewed this as a trap for Masuku: “This is a set up for the DPM. He must refuse to be set up against the people. It could be unfortunate, however, if he in actual fact authorised the purchase of this car. This is a total wasteful expenditure.”

decision

The decision to purchase new cars for government, including Cabinet ministers, was announced by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg through a statement issued on May 27, 2021. The minister informed the public that government had taken a decision to systematically replace the aging and unreliable fleet of government vehicles. “A majority of the cars to be replaced have been on the roads for over 10 years and have become expensive to maintain,” Rijkenberg said.
He said the new fleet would be spread across government departments and included vehicles that were used by Cabinet ministers and presiding officers who had been utilising the old fleet from the government pool since assuming office in 2018. When the current administration came into office in 2018, it announced, through the late PM Mandvulo, austerity measures that included nit buying any new vehicles for themselves.

However, during a post-budget seminar hosted in February 2020 by the Central Bank of Eswatini, Rijkenberg hinted a shift from this position. The minister said government definitely needed to buy a fleet of vehicles for Cabinet ministers. He told the Times SUNDAY that the reason for the need to buy the new cars was because ‘the current fleet is very old’. He said the cars they were using at that time left them stranded ‘sometimes resulting in a few ministers currently using their personal vehicles on a full-time basis’.

replacement

The minister was asked if there was any money that had been budgeted for the purchase of the new vehicles and his response was that ‘there is space or policy in the CTA allocations for the replacement of vehicles’. TUCOSWA’s Gina, reacting to this development then, wondered whether there was justification for the purchase. He said ministers of the Crown were expected to be bought vehicles by government and that those vehicles should ‘befit’ their status and the responsibilities arising from their constitutional mandate.

However, he said, the buying of such cars should be in the context of the size of the economy, its capability and affordability. “It could be a political miscalculation if it could be found that the cars organised for the Cabinet cost higher than cars for ministers in the region. That could border on extravagance and pleasure in the usage of funds while the country is lagging behind on fundamental social needs such as the employment of nurses and teachers, which would benefit each one of the citizens of the country,” Gina said in 2020.

The National Treasury in neighbouring South Africa issued Instruction No.6 of 2019/2020, for the determination of price threshold for procurement of official vehicles for members of the executive. The instruction revised the threshold from E700 000 to E800 000 inclusive of VAT and security features. According to the instruction, members of the executive and/or accounting officers are prohibited from purchasing vehicles higher than the E800 000. Members of the executive are further prohibited from making additional personal financial contribution to purchase a higher priced vehicle or utilising negotiated trade-in value in order to purchase a vehicle of a higher price while technically not exceeding the set price limit.

instruction

“Therefore, the value of the vehicle being purchased should not exceed the set price limit,” reads the instruction. It further states: “Members of the Executive are advised that the determined price threshold is aimed at addressing, amongst other, the perceived opulent lifestyle members enjoy.” In Botswana in 2018, Parliament was informed that 28 ministerial vehicles had been bought for full ministers and assistant ministers. Government said 18 of the vehicles were BMW 740s for full ministers, while 10 were BMW 530s for assistant ministers. It was said that said these cars were bought to replace the 10-year-old ones whose motor plans had expired and could not be extended further. The Botswana Government noted that the vehicles had started to be costly on maintenance. The cost of the cars for full minister was P14.3 million (about E19.3 million) while the cost of cars for assistant ministers was P5.5 million (about E7.4 million).