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By SIFISO DLAMINI | 2024-11-22
SENATORS have blown the whistle on alleged corrupt tendencies at the treasury and revenue departments by officials who demand payment for services.
The legislators alleged that treasury department officials under the ministry of finance demanded a cut from owed suppliers in order to fast-track their payments.
They also revealed that the officials at revenue offices took advantage of the long queues and demanded that in order to get assistance, members of the public should pay a fee.
The allegations made by the legislators are similar to those made about the ministry of home affairs officials, who also allegedly demand payment from members of the public in order to provide services.
The senators praised the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) for being examplary in dealing with internal corruption while urging the ministry to use the institution as a benckmark in dealing with corruption.
This was during the Senate finance portfolio committee debate second quarter performance report yesterday. The committee is chaired by Senator Tony Sibandze.
Senator Chief Ngome Ndlangamandla said the revenue department was still using outdated systems, yet the systems used by ERS were efficient and had no elements of corruption.
“The regional revenue offices are a mess and the long queues open a window for corruption. members of the public are forced to wait for hours in long queues, sometimes the whole day without being assisted,” he said.
He said there was little to no monitoring of the regional offices by the ministry as there were normally no senior officials or regional managers in office.
“The situation is the same in all the regional offices. The officials are so corrupt and barely supervised,” he claimed.
The senator enquired what the ministry was doing to address the issue in terms of updating the old manual systems in favour of new automated ones.
He said as a chief, he was privy to first-hand information from members of the public who always complained about the same thing.
He noted that in as much as the taxes that the public paid were not that much, it was still an important revenue stream for government.
Senator Ndlangamandla accused officials of being rude and prioritised customers who offered them bribes.
Senator Lindiwe Ngwenya also raised a similar concern and enquired if the ministry had a lasting solution to the delay in payment of owed suppliers.
She alleged that at the treasury department, officials demanded a 10 per cent share from suppliers’ payment in order to process their payments.
“Even when the payment is being processed, the officials continue to demand some form of payment from the suppliers. This is killing local businesses,” she claimed.
If companies and suppliers refused to pay up, the senator alleged that their payments were set aside, which led to most companies closing down.
She alleged that some companies which had been owed for a long time and did not have the funds for the bribes were forced to borrow money from loan sharks who charged them exorbitant interest.
She suggested that the ministry should reshuffle the staff in order to break the chain of corruption.
Adding, Senator Ngwenya observed that the officials were comfortable with their salaries even if they were not that much because they allegedly made extra money by extorting desperate suppliers.
Senator Linda Nxumalo said the ministry should use the ERS as a model of excellence and benchmarking institution to eradicate corruption.
She said there were no reports of corruption within the ERS and supported the proposal for job rotation.
“We need to be intentional in closing the gaps when dealing with corruption to be successful,” she said.
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg welcomed the submissions from the senators and assured that they would look into the issue of alleged corruption.
He concurred with the senators that ERS had been exemplary in managing internal corruption and they would explore the systems they had adopted to benchmark for the revenue and the treasury departments.
“In terms of managing corruption, ERS has been exemplary and we always hear about staff being fired, which is dramatised but could be the key to managing internal corruption within the institution,” he said.
Rijkenberg revealed that the ministry had set aside a budget to transition the revenue department into ERS, but was cut due to budget constraints.
He however assured that the ministry had requested for a supplementary budget to transition the department. He admitted that the long queues were a contributing factor and opened the window to corrupt practices.
Senators feel alienated by finance ministry, want induction
MEMBERS of the senate finance portfolio committee feel alienated and have requested for an induction exercise.
The senators argue that in order for them to comfortably support the ministry as legislators, it was important that they were oriented on their ministry.
This was during the debate of the ministry's second quarter performance report yesterday.
The first to raise the concerns was Senator Stukie Motsa who expressed disappointment in the lack of commitment from the ministry to orient them on their operations.
“It is important to have the orientation so that we can familiarise ourselves with all the departments and their operations in order to know how best to support you,” she said.
Senator Linda Nxumalo welcomed the initiative to organise the workshop on the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, she however, said they had limited time to fully deliberate on the Bill before it was passed.
She also expressed disappointment that unlike other ministries where they were oriented, that was not the case with the ministry of finance.
Meanwhile Senator Chief Ngome Ndlangamandla also said it was important for them to know the ministry better, which helped in knowing the roles of all the departments, so they could be able to ask the right and direct questions during debates.
Portfolio Committee Chairperson Senator Tony Sibandze said it was an embarrassment for him as the chairperson that a year into office, the ministry was yet to organise a workshop.
He also asked that the ministry should not bring any business to the committee until they have had the workshop. Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg apologised to the senators for the delay in organising the workshop.
He explained that the delay was not intentional but it was due to the fact that his ministry was very busy.
He requested the committee to propose a date for the workshop and assured that they would fit in with the proposed date.
I don’t know enough about the ICC/FISH swimming pool
MINISTER of Finance Neal Rijkenberg says he does not know much about the controversial International Convention Centre and Five Star Hotel (ICCFISH) swimming pool.
The swimming pool made headlines in the local newspapers after it was alleged that it costed over E100 million.
He requested for time to investigate the matter further before providing responses.
He was responding to a question posed by the Ministry of Finance Senate Portfolio Committee Chairperson Senator, Tony Sibandze.
Asked
Senator Sibandze had asked the minister to reveal the actual cost of the swimming pool because they have heard concerning reports in the media.
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