Home | News | UPROAR OVER NEW MAYOR’S PENDING E10M FUEL SCANDAL

UPROAR OVER NEW MAYOR’S PENDING E10M FUEL SCANDAL

26/08/2023 07:47:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

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MBABANE – Despite the confidence shown by his fellow councillors who elected him, there is an uproar regarding the integrity of Mbabane Mayor Vusi Tembe.

The uproar emanates from a previous case, where he was implicated in a corruption scandal related to the theft of fuel worth E10 million, at the Central Transport Administration (CTA) some 10 years ago. Tembe, who is also a businessman, was elected as mayor of the capital city on July 31, 2023 together with Ayanda Sigudla, who is his deputy. During the elections, Tembe was nominated against Thandayena Mkhonta, where he received seven votes, while the latter accumulated five votes. Following his victory, the councillors congratulated the mayor for his election, stating that they were committed to supporting him as he executed his duties.

He also gave a few remarks, where he thanked the councillors for trusting him with the mayor position and further undertook to work with all of them in making sure that they took the town forward. Despite that he has been in the hot seat for less than a month, his integrity is now being questioned.
This publication has been inundated with calls from some ratepayers of the capital city, seeking to understand why he was allowed to be a councillor and further be elected as the mayor when his case was still pending.

Integrity

One of the concerned ratepayers said by being elected into the position of mayor, it meant that Tembe was in public office and, therefore, should be a man of integrity. However, it seems like the Urban Government Act, 1969, which provides for the election of councillors and mayors of local governments vindicates Tembe. Section 10 of the Act, which focuses on the disqualification for election or appointment as a councillor, supports the vindication of Tembe.

The section stipulates that a person shall be disqualified from being elected or appointed or from continuing in office as a councillor if he or she holds any office or place of profit under or in the gift or disposal of the council, or is the spouse of a person holding any such office or place of profit or holds an office of profit under the government, unless he has the written approval of the head of the government department in which he is serving; or is the spouse of a councilor.

Disqualified

Also, it stipulates that a person shall be disqualified from being elected or appointed or from continuing in office as a councillor if he or she is an unrehabilitated insolvent or has been certified insane or otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind. The clause goes on to state that a person shall be disqualified from being elected or appointed or from continuing in office as a councillor if he or she has been convicted of an offence relating to corrupt or illegal practices at an election under the provisions of this or any other law within five years immediately preceding the date of election or appointment.

A questionnaire was sent to the mayor and he responded by saying, “The matter is under judicial consideration and, therefore, prohibited from public discussion elsewhere. To the best of my knowledge, I am innocent”. Regarding his eligibility for the mayoral role, Tembe reminded this reporter that he was elected by his fellow councillors through a democratic process. “I am confident that I am fully eligible,” he emphasised. Worth noting is that even for seats in the Parliament of Eswatini, candidates with pending court cases, including those related to corruption and attempted murder, have been allowed to stand for the elections.

One of them is former Lobamba Member of Parliament (MP) Allen Stewart, who was elected and won in 2018, despite that he had a pending case related to an attempted murder charge. Stewart continued with his role as an MP until February 2023, when he was taken to the Sidwashini Correctional Services to begin his custodial sentence of three years. This was after High Court Judge Doris Tshabalala, who convicted him on January 31, 2023, issued the sentence.

Murder

The former MP committed the offence of attempted murder on October 31, 2010 at Moyeni, Siteki, in the Lubombo Region, during the funeral of his brother, John Stewart. Allen shot Sibusiso Matsenjwa in the arm shortly after John had been buried. The attendees were having refreshments at the Stewart homestead when the shooting happened. Barely a week after Stewart was sent behind bars for attempted murder, outgoing Matsanjeni South MP Wilson Bomber Mamba was arrested for a similar offence. His arrest, however, did not affect his role as an MP as immediately after being granted bail, he returned to Parliament.

Meanwhile, it was in December 2013 that Tembe, together with three other civil servants were arrested in connection with the theft of petrol worth E10 million at the CTA. The four were arrested by police officers under the Hhohho Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit. At the time, it was reported that Tembe was employed as a storeman in one of the government ministries, while the three were women who worked as assistant accountants at CTA in Mbabane. It was alleged that the fuel theft had happened for a period of over a year and was discovered after one of the senior staff noted an inconsistency when balancing their accounting books and sorting invoices.

An order for fuel was allegedly placed twice for the same government depot. The supervisor’s suspicions led to an internal probe on why a single destination had two different orders in a single day. A few days after their arrest, the suspects were charged with fraud and the High Court admitted them to E15 000 bail each; E5 000 was to be paid in cash and E10 000 provided as surety. Noncedo Ndlangamandla from Mabila Attorneys represented the accused persons. The bail application, which was not opposed, was heard and granted by Principal Judge Justice Stanley Maphalala.
Tembe filed an application under a Certificate of Urgency before court and denied committing the crime.

He argued that he was employed by the Eswatini Government at the Ministry of Public Service and that his duties did not entail preparing orders for petrol or diesel and or invoices. While he was eventually suspended, the case is still pending and he has not been convicted of the alleged crime. When the E10 million alleged crime was uncovered, the CTA was not new to corruption scandals.

Jailed

The parastatal’s former General Transport Manager Polycarp Dlamini was jailed on corruption related charges. Also, in 2007 it was revealed that E3 million was used to fight corruption at the entity. In another incident, the late Elijah ‘Silevu’ Dlamini, was arrested for allegedly being found in possession of various new car spares belonging to the Central Transport Administration (CTA). Other incidents included an alleged disappearance of a Toyota Quantum engine from the CTA premises.

The CTA had, to for years, been responsible for a fleet of about 3 000 vehicles, ranging from motor cycles, sedans, LDVs, trucks, tractors to heavy specialised construction motorised equipment. However, in 2020, its trading account was suspended after the CTA was marred by corruption-related scandals, which included one of E10 million worth of fuel, stealing of automobile parts and failure to fix the government fleet.