Mzuthini stops talking about Parliament tender

MBABANE – His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) Commissioner Isaiah Mzuthini Ntshangase does not want to speak about the E350 per plate tender mess anymore.

In an interview yesterday on whether civil servants were permitted to deal with government or not, Ntshangase said he had had enough of the matter.
Yet it is a known fact that civil servants should not deal with their employer with regard to matters of tendering processes.
“I have spoken about the issue over and over again; I can’t be repeating myself,” he said.

Thereafter, the Correctional Services commissioner referred all questions to the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB).
PSB headed by the then Senate President Gelane Zwane awarded the tender to the Correctional Services to provide food during the opening of Parliament.

The Correctional Services Staff Canteen Club, chaired by the commissioner won the tender and supplied catering services to 900 people during the 2013 State Opening of Parliament.
The club was awarded the tender worth E429 580 by the then Senate President in her capacity as the PSB chairperson.

The Ministry of Finance has refused to pay the amount owed to the Correctional Services pending clarification of some irregularities in the tender.
Yesterday, our sister publication, the Times SUNDAY, ran a story about the department’s commissioner who said they were demanding their money which has not been paid yet.

Ntshangase said the food they provided was not for charity; hence they wanted their money.
The commissioner was quoted as saying: “We served a full course of chicken and beef with either rice or porridge and very nice salads. The food was downed with a variety of cold beverages.”

In the meantime, the then PSB Chairperson Zwane was quoted as saying there was nothing sinister about the tender.
Zwane had maintained that all procurement procedures were followed during the awarding of the tender.
She said she was not the one who awarded the tender, adding that the tender was not controversial since it was awarded by the Board.

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