BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture are frustrated by lack of fuel, as that has a negative impact on service delivery.
The officials expressed the concerns on April 15, 2025 in the House of Assembly when the Ministry appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) Sydney Simelane said this matter needed to be solved soon because the Government machinery could soon struggle to render services.
Simelane said he wanted to use their appearance before the PAC to emphasise that the fuel was a problem in their Ministry. He was disturbed by some utterances in the House, which could have been interpreted to mean that the fuel was not a problem within Government. Simelane said that was not true because his directors in the Ministry complained now and again to him when he wanted feedback from them on their performances.
The PS said this was an opportune time for the directors to state the problems they encountered when they went about their duties. Director of Livestock and Veterinary Services Dr Xolani Dlamini echoed Simelane’s words. Dr Dlamini said it was true that fuel was just not there for them and sometimes they had to fill up fuel in places such as Nhlangano and Pigg’s Peak, when in fact, they had to work around places such as Mbabane, Lobamba, or Manzini.
Dlamini said in most cases, the fuel they had to fill up in remote areas would also be rationed for them. He said the challenges were bigger than what was presented before the PAC. Director of Agriculture Nelson Mavuso also mentioned that they encountered difficult situations because of the lack of fuel. It also transpired during the debate that the officials had to use their own money to fuel vehicles belonging to Government to ensure that they remained efficient in their work. They also had to buy certain parts of Government vehicles to do their work.
Central Transport Administration (CTA) General Transport Manager (GTM) Mduduzi Lukhele was accused of sugar-coating and avoiding to talk about the real problems that affected the Ministry of Agriculture. For example, Simelane said Lukhele said sometimes they had to go for about three months waiting for parts of vehicles. The PS said that was being too conservative, as there were bigger issues than that.
Lukhele, in response, suggested that the communication between them and the Ministries should improve. He also mentioned that the issue with fuel was that there was a shortage of suppliers. However, they were working on that problem because they had found two suppliers and they hoped that the problem would be a thing of the past.
