CABINET TO TAKE DECISION

MBABANE – Sibusiso Shongwe, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, is off the hook for now.
A Special Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, partly to determine his fate, failed to come out with a resolution.

The meeting ended without a resolution after cabinet ministers failed to conclusively decide what should happen to Shongwe.
The special meeting had been arranged following an order issued by His Majesty the King on Tuesday, when he met the Cabinet team which had paid a courtesy visit on him.

The special meeting was confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Paul Dlamini (DPM). Dlamini is the acting Prime Minister because Sibusiso Dlamini is out of the country.
The DPM said he had chaired the meeting but asked not to give out information of what transpired during it. “The meeting was held following an order from His Majesty the King. I cannot give details or the outcome of the meeting,” he said briefly.

However, a source close to the issue said the meeting ended without a resolution on the fate of Shongwe. “We could not finish the agenda and the meeting was postponed to another day,” said the source.

According to the source, Cabinet could meet again today, tomorrow or Tuesday to finalise the issue.
Cabinet would convene on any of these days so that on Tuesday evening, when it meets the king, it should have a final resolution on Shongwe.
Several ministers called on this issue asked not to officially comment, citing protocol, which bars them from publicly commenting on cabinet discussions.

However, when pressed this issue, they anonymously told this newspaper that the meeting failed to come up with a conclusive decision on the fate of the minister because of the minister’s defence of his decisions.
They said in the end, the meeting adjourned without a resolution on whether the minister should be relieved of his duties or not.
Minister Shongwe is at odds with his immediate supervisor, Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini, over the former’s controversial estates policy he announced recently.

The now-controversial Property Rights of Spouses policy sought to give direction to the office of the Master of the High Court on issues of distribution of deceased persons’ estates.
After a lengthy wrangle that involved courts and parliament, the PM withdrew the policy and gave Shongwe a 30-day ultimatum to sort out the mess.

Dlamini further explained to the minister that if his withdrawn policy were to work, it would affect justice in the country.
The 30 days ended on Friday September 19, 2014, the minister was yet to respond to the PM’s call.
The minister’s policy was first thrown out by parliament, which voted against its continuance, on the grounds that it had been announced without the input of the legislature.

Parliament ordered Shongwe not only to withdraw the policy but also submit a legislative Bill on the matter within 21 days.
Thereafter, the PM withdrew the policy amid reports that Shongwe had allegedly refused to do it himself, despite being instructed to.
When withdrawing the policy, the PM read a 155-worded statement on the withdrawal of the minister’s policy and in it he referred to sections 34(1) and 34(2) of the constitution which he said the minister did not take into consideration before coming up with the policy.
Called on Friday night for comment on the special meeting, Minister Shongwe said he had not been part of it.  “I am not aware of it and I would not like to comment on any issue involving the policy or anything related to it,” he said.
However, sources suggested that he had been in attendance. The minister also asked not to comment when asked whether he had complied with the PM’s order on the policy, which is to come up with a Bill and present it to Cabinet.
Government spokesman Percy Simelane declined to comment on the issue. He said minutes of Cabinet meetings were confidential, until Cabinet decides on an issue that it is fit for public consumption.
Mbuso Dlamini, Secretary to Cabinet, also asked not to comment. “Who told you about the special meeting? Give me the name of that person, then I can give you my comment,” he said before he terminated the conversation.

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