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PRINCE DAVID TAKES TWO UNESWA VEHICLES FOR HIMSELF

14/05/2023 16:35:00 Welcome Dlamini

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MBABANE – Prince David’s old ghosts at UNESWA are refusing to go away.

This time, the prince is accused of falsely purchasing two vehicles belonging to the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) by issuing a cheque of E100 000 as deposit and later demanding that he be refunded the money, but kept the vehicles. At the time, the prince was UNESWA Council chairperson, a position he vacated in June 2022 after his appointment was revoked by His Majesty the King. The revocation happened after it was revealed that he was being paid a monthly salary of close to E100 000 yet he was supposed to receive a maximum monthly retainer of E2 400 and a sitting allowance of E2 720 in accordance with the Public Enterprises Unit (PEU) Circular No.2 of 2017.

grievances

Besides his salary, employees of the university had picketed a number of times and they raised a lot of grievances against the prince. Under David’s chairmanship, the university encountered endless strike actions by students, resulting in the institution resuming and suspending lessons now and again. Also, the prince left at a time when the university was, and still is, facing financial challenges that are threatening the very existence of the institution. Regarding the latest issue, the vehicles, which are a Toyota Dyna truck valued at E85 000 and a John Deer tractor priced at E126 000, resulting to a combined value of E211 000, had been lined up for public auction at a reserve price of E218 000. The purpose of the auction, which was conducted by renowned businessman Walter Bennett of Buzzby Services Auctioneers, was to raise funds for the cash-strapped university.

whistleblower

A whistleblower, who has been identified as Witness X, revealed to a Parliament Select Committee, elected to enquire and report on a petition from NAWUSHI, that Prince David was still in possession of these vehicles despite not paying a cent for them. NAWUSHI is the National Workers Union of Swaziland Higher Institutions. The evidence of Witness X, who pleaded with the select committee to remain anonymous and to give his evidence in camera, has been corroborated by UNESWA Registrar Dr Salebona Simelane and Transport Manager Enock Dlamini. A report by the select committee has since been tabled in the House of Assembly for debate and adoption. As reflected in the report, Witness X accused the prince of perpetrating an anomaly through the false purchase of the two vehicles during an auction at the Luyengo campus of the university. “The university was disposing some of its fleet of motor vehicles including tractors. The chairman reserved for himself a truck and a tractor and he issued a cheque to the tune of E100 000 and these two vehicles were taken out of the bidding during the auction,” Witness X told the committee. Further reads Witness X’s evidence: “After a month of the auction, the chairman further demanded repayment of his deposit of E100 000, but the vehicles were never brought back to the university, they continued to be used privately as property of the chairman.”

auction

The committee asked Witness X where these vehicles that were reserved for the chairman during the auction were ‘as we speak’. To this, Witness X responded: “The two vehicles are still in the possession of the chairman, though they legally belong to the university and they are registered under the university.” The committee then sought to verify this information from Dr Simelane, the Registrar, when his turn to appear before them came. Simelane, as per the report, is said to have informed the committee that the auction of the vehicles was sanctioned by the university in December 2019 and among the things to be auctioned was the tractor and truck and various other motor vehicles which were being disposed to recoup some money.

“The chairman had an interest on the two items, the truck and the tractor. These items were then put aside and reserved for him. The chairman issued a cheque as a deposit with the total amount of E100 000. The reserve price of both these two items was E218 000. After the auction, the chairman was given possession of the two items in lieu of paying the outstanding balance. Subsequently after a month, the chairman requested that he be reimbursed his deposit he paid for the items, and that was eventually done, but possession of these items was never restored to the university,” the registrar reportedly told the committee. He is said to have further informed the committee that the prince continued to use the vehicles as his personal property, yet they still reflected that they were owned by the university as change of ownership was never effected.

instruction

“Till to date these items were not returned to the university, yet the Office of registrar issued an instruction that these items ought to be returned to the university or they be paid in full,” Simelane reportedly said. The committee members reported that they undertook an inspection in loco and were welcomed by UNESWA Vice Chancellor Professor Justice Thwala, who introduced them to the transport manager. “The transport manager confirmed that the vehicles which were taken by the chairman under the guise that he would pay for them after the auction were namely, a Toyota Dyna truck with registration numbers DSD 399 AM, 2.5 tonne a 1999 model. Also, a John Deere tractor, 2251, with registration numbers DSD 404 AM, 1990 model,” reported the committee. The transport manager is said to have also confirmed that the vehicles were not in the possession of the university, but were taken by the chairman and were continually used for his personal gain. He is also said to have confirmed that the vehicles were still registered under the university and change of ownership had not been done.

allegations

An invitation was reportedly then extended to Prince David to appear before the committee in order to be offered the opportunity to dispute the allegations levelled against him and to set the correct perspective according to his own version of events. “The chairman declined the invitation, instead he sent through soft copies of certain documents purporting to be proof of payment of the items, which he allegedly paid in full through cash payment and same was directed to the bursar. He further insisted that any insistence by the select committee to compel him to appear before it, he reserves the right to take it further through litigation in courts in order to vindicate his rights,” said the committee. Bennett, the private auctioneer, appeared before the committee and reportedly stated that his company received from the university a final list of the items to be auctioned and these included motor vehicles, ploughs, tractors and tanks.

auctioned

He reportedly told the committee that after getting the list, a day was arranged for viewing of the items and a comparison was made so that the items in the list tallied with the physical items to be auctioned. “The auctioneer stated that he heard that a tractor and a truck were taken out of the list and that is not a problem because it was procedural when some of the items were reserved, they are taken out of the list and do not form part of those items to be auctioned,” reads the committee’s report. Bennett reportedly said sometimes withdrawal of items would be done during the auction even by word of mouth and that was procedural as there was nothing out of the ordinary in doing so. “The auctioneer stated that his responsibility during an auction is to auction the items and give back the proceeds from the auction to client (university) and also account for each and every items which were withdrawn and reserved the auctioneer cannot account for those,” states the committee’s report. UNESWA Bursar Mfanzile Elliott Dlamini is said to have vehemently denied the allegation that Prince David paid for the two vehicles through cash payment to his office. He is said to have further insisted that the prince paid a deposit of E100 000 in the form of a cheque and subsequently, after a month, requested a refund of this deposit and never bought back the two vehicles.

refuted

“The bursar was adamant and strongly refuted any assertions that the chairman subsequently paid in cash or stop order for the items,” the committee’s report reads. The committee asked the bursar on the procedure to be followed when one demanded a refund from proceeds of an auction and what means the university adopted in order to ensure that the vehicles were brought back or paid for. He reportedly responded as follows: “The general rule is that there is no refund from proceeds of an auction, an auction by its very nature does not allow refund once a person has bid for an item. Even when that item has been reserved or withdrawn, there is no room for refund when a person has also paid a deposit or a certain amount of money indicating commitment to the sale of that item through auction. But in this instant case, the chairman was persistently demanding the refund of his deposit. Out of courtesy to his position and status at the university, he was refunded his deposit with the concomitant expectations that he would return the items.”

The bursar reportedly said the office of the registrar was handling the matter of the return of the university property, because currently they were registered under the name of the institution and were legally owned by UNESWA. In its findings, the committee concluded that the university’s internal fundraising initiatives were adversely affected by the conduct of Prince David, of taking property belonging to the institution, which was aimed at raising funds to enable it to maintain its fleet. “These items, a tractor and a truck, were never paid for and the university was deprived of the opportunity to make almost E218 000,” reads part of the committee’s findings.

guidelines

The committee also found that there were no stringent controls within the bursar’s office with regard to finances of the university, especially of making refunds without clear financial policy guidelines on when and how to make re-imbursements based on sound established financial policy directives. The committee has recommended that the Ministry of Education and Training should direct the UNESWA management to recover, whether through civil litigation or disciplinary action in terms of the PEU Act, the money of the tractor and the truck. The Public Enterprise Unit (PEU) Act is a piece of legislation that provides for the control and monitoring of public enterprises and partly-owned enterprises.