Parliament

LOBAMBA – Allegations that an RSTP security guard earns E30 000 and a cleaner E15 000 monthly surfaced before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday.

The claims were raised during the appearance of the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

PAC Deputy Chairperson and Nhlambeni Member of Parliament Manzi Zwane told the committee that the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) had become a subject of significant public interest due to a number of concerns that had been reported.

Among the allegations, Zwane said, were claims that a cleaner at the institution earns about E15 000 per month, while some security guards were reportedly earning salaries of up to E30 000. He emphasised that the allegations still required verification.

Responding to the concerns, Principal Secretary Andreas Dlamini said he could neither confirm nor deny the claims, adding that answers would emerge from the forensic investigation that had already been commissioned.

The ministry also came under scrutiny over findings contained in the auditor general’s (AG’s) report, which revealed that an abolished department, the former Government Computer Services Department, had been allocated E2.3 million in the financial year ending March 31, 2025.

The allocation comprised E157 567 for Central Transport Administration (CTA) vehicle charges and E2.14 million for personnel costs.

According to the auditor general, Financial and Accounting Instruction 0101 requires expenditure estimates to be accurate, realistic and reflective of all foreseeable expenditure.

The report warned that allocating funds to abolished budget votes could result in unlawful and wasteful expenditure while depriving operational budget lines of necessary resources.

Under Secretary Macanjana Motsa said the matter had been raised before and that the ministry had already been penalised.

She explained that the ministry had written to the Ministry of Finance indicating that employees from the former Government Computer Services Department had been absorbed into the RSTP.

Motsa said correspondence from the Ministry of Finance later confirmed that no budget would be allocated to the abolished centre during the current financial year and that the centre had officially been closed.

However, Zwane questioned how personnel costs could continue to be budgeted for a department that no longer existed, noting that public service budgeting was generally based on approved staff establishments.

Officials from the Budgeting Department attributed the anomaly to timing, explaining that departments were sometimes abolished after the budgeting process had already been completed and their posts included in the estimates.

They said ministries were expected to notify relevant authorities in advance when such structural changes were anticipated.

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Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology officers appeared before the Public Accounts Committee yesterday. (Pic: Ntombi Mhlongo)