BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – A retired civil servant has appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and lamented before the committee that his money was being unfairly deducted.
Walter Sukati, who was working as an engineer at the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, was found to have received two salaries from the Ministry and from Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE), which was known as Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE) at the time. He retired as a civil servant in 2022.
The findings were made by Auditor General (AG) Timothy Matsebula and these findings are contained in the Public Accounts Committee’s Recommendations on The Auditor General’s Financial Audit Reports on Government Accounts for the Financial Years Ended on March 31, 2022 And 2023.
The Auditor General found that a Public Health Engineer, employment number 3226973, who was employed on permanent and pensionable basis at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy on a gross annual salary of E246 228.96 was found to be receiving another salary amounting to E360 000 annually from SWADE, which is 100% owned by Government.
It transpired during the PAC session that the person the AG was talking about was Sukati himself. This means that Sukati was earning E50 519.08 per month from both the DWA and EWADE. As a result, Sukati is said to have been received payments, which accumulated up to E822 747.33. This is an amount which he was ordered to pay back, because it was claimed that he had received as payment, without reporting for duty. In short, he was accused of having absconded. However, he is said to have already paid back some of the money, whose amount was not clear, but was said to be quite substantial.
Making his submissions before the PAC, Sukati said it all started during the ninth Parliament (2008 to 2013) when Minister of Natural Resources and Energy was Princess Tsandzile. He said he was informed by Obed Ngwenya, who was his supervisor back then that he was supposed to go and work at EWADE because the parastatal was looking for someone who had his expertise in water engineering. He told the PAC that Ngwenya promised him that he would continue to earn his salary as a civil servant.
What appeared strange in Sukati’s case was that his transfer from DWA to EWADE was verbal and nothing was written down. When he arrived at EWADE, he said he reported to Moses Vilakati, the former Cabinet minister, who is now the African Union (AU) Commissioner. Sukati said he worked on various projects under EWADE, while he was also overseeing other projects in the DWA.
He said he oversaw some project around the Madlangemphisi Inkhundla and in most cases, his projects were successful. He claimed that he was given an amount of E5 000 at EWADE at first, and that was his travelling allowance. He told the committee that he was further re-engaged by EWADE and that was when he started earning the monthly salary of E30 000 from EWADE, while he was also earning E20 519.08 per month from DWA.
Sukati said what was surprising to him was that he had absconded. He claimed that was not true because he had been seconded by his superior to go and work with EWADE. He stated that he agreed without demanding a written secondment because he was following instructions from his superiors. He pleaded to the PAC that they should find that the way he had been treated in this matter was unfair and he should stop paying back the money, as that would mean he would be left with nothing, as he has already retired.
The Members of Parliament (MPs) who are members of the PAC sounded shocked at this turn of events. They wanted to find out from the officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy if that was true. The Ministry was led by PS Lindiwe Mbingo, who is the Controlling Officer of the Ministry. However, the MPs had a difficult time in finding any written agreement or instruction supporting Sukati’s saga. They urged the Ministry to find any documents showing that indeed, Sukati had applied to work for EWADE or he had been seconded.