MBABANE – As a means of curbing the exorbitant spending on rented vehicles, government departments will now have to seek permission from the Ministry of Finance.
During the sitting of the ministry’s Senate portfolio committee in Parliament recently, concerns were raised that it continued to rent vehicles, yet there has been significant procurement of new ones.
A response that has been provided by the ministry is that the ministries had requested a higher number of vehicles (over 1 000) and managed to procure 744. The ministry said ministries then meet their transport needs through renting. Also, the ministry stated that it also rents vehicles when there is a surge in transport demand during some national events.
However, it was said the Ministry of Finance has issued a memorandum calling for ministries to cease renting vehicles.
“Those that still have no other option, but to rent must get authority from the Ministry of Finance,” said Minister for Public Works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe.
Notably, in his report for the financial year ended Marh 31, 2025, the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula, reported that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport incurred exorbitant expenditure for vehicle or car rentals. In the report, Matsebula said the ministry incurred exorbitant expenditure in respect of vehicle (car) rentals amounting to E85 740 054.91 under Responsibility Centre 5004-Central Transport Administration (CTA).
Contrary to expectations, rental expenditure increased 12.2 per cent despite the ministry’s recent investment of E492 425 100.30, which translated to the acquisition of 744 motor vehicles in the financial year under review.
He said this indicated that the ministry continued to rely on rental arrangements, resulting in wasteful and uneconomic expenditure to the detriment of taxpayers’ funds.
Matsebula referred to Section 11 (2) (f) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2017, which states that principal secretaries should put in place measures to prevent wasteful expenditure or loss of public resources. “The costs of these rentals may not be sustainable and affordable in the near future due to the declining trend in the government’s revenue streams and funding may not be available to sustain the rentals,” Matsebula said in his report.
He said following the discovery, he advised the control officer that the ministry should minimise or eliminate the hiring of vehicles, as it is costly to government.
Matsebula said considering the high incidental costs of repairs and maintenance that are incurred, he further advised the ministry to consider acquiring new vehicles instead of renting.
In response, the AG said the controlling officer stated that the exorbitant expenditure on vehicles was because of an under allocation of the budget versus the demand for the service.
The increase in the money spent on rented vehicles has become a concern due to that in September 2024, government acquired a newly acquired fleet of cars, all equipped with advanced tracking systems was witnessed.
At the time, government said the vehicles were to be allocated across various ministries.
They formed part of a larger acquisition of 744 vehicles, purchased through Standard Bank Eswatini, at a total cost of E500 million.
It was mentioned that the ministries were to receive the vehicles in stages, after completing all necessary registrations.
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Senators during a portfolio committee debate.