A circular threat

WAFTER THOUGHTS GUESTWRITER

HILE the country is engrossed in its troubled political affairs, there seems to be a looming threat behind the scenes, where taxpayers’ money is reportedly being looted unabatedly following the implementation of a government hiring freeze circular.

The picture painted by the Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula and the Finance Ministry Principal Secretary (PS) Sizakele Dlamini at the Public Accounts Committee meeting this week, suggests that by the time we get some form of political direction, the cash crisis would become a new source of serious conflict.

“Rats are eating and feasting on funds and government is losing money due to the shortage of staff at the AG’s Office,” complained Matsebula.

The PS, on the other hand, said; “There is a need for us as central agencies to go back to the drawing board to answer the question of whether we confidently say that this hiring freeze is achieving its intended purpose.”

When the two most important officials in safeguarding taxpayers’ money disclose how some of the security doors leading to the money vault have now been left open, literally, we have got to stop what we are doing, listen and act.

There seems to be more problems than the intentions that are supposed to come out of the hiring freeze. If there is any place we need a full complement of staff, it has to be at all levels of

ODisclose

AFTER THOUGHTS GUINESTTHWERRITOEORM

NE thing about good things, they come to an end. The elephant in the room has been a space and platform for questioning and thinking out loud so to say. I have had my fair share of elephants and maybe topics which have sparked up conversations here and there.

I will not deny the fact that exploring politics, current affairs and general knowledge applicable to a global audience has been one of the most interesting of things I have had to do. We, as a people, need to continue initiating dialogue on taboo conversations, as well as speak out about issues that have the potential to alter life as we know it. public finance scrutiny.

We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of the past by shrugging our shoulders and looking the other way like we did when former Finance Minister and now Central Bank of Eswatini Governor, Majozi Sithole said E40 million of taxpayers’ money was being lost through corruption every month. Since then, anti-corruption measures have weakened.

Transparency International (TI) recently ranked the country number 32 out of 52 in the list of African countries with the worst corruption. On a broader scale, we are ranked number 122 out of 180 most corrupt countries and territories in the world.

Diversion

Arriving at this ranking, TI looked into issues of bribery, diversion of public funds and officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences. In its April 2022 report, TI found government with no ability to contain corruption in the public sector and that there was excessive red tape in the public sector which increased opportunities for corruption.

It goes without saying that we need to enhance measures to curb corruption within the public service. If we have to cut excess staff, due diligence needs to be applied in the process. Several ministries have been crying foul; now it’s the AG and Finance PS.

One is aware of an ongoing audit of the civil service, which aims to put names to the seats in those offices and ascertain just how busy those hands are from 8am – 5pm day to day. It is anticipated that ghost employees would be sniffed out this time around, because the ghosts seem to disappear each time such an exercise is carried out.

This process must extend to the parastatals, especially at Board levels, where we are learning with disgust how people sitting once or twice a month are earning hefty monthly salaries instead of retainer fees. Worse still, such salaries have

Let us not limit our conversations to local content only, as we are part of a much broader spectrum. I want women to speak up more, have more to say without fear or favour. We need to not hold back on issues which affect our sole existence.

This world is full of subjects of interest which need to be explored and tapped into. We cannot look at life from a narrow point of view, but we need to see each happening as a reason to speak up.

There is so much left to explore, as each day we are faced with elephants which make our daily functioning awkward if left unsaid. From religion, to patriarchy, to international politics, to mental health, to the youth, to sexuality, to our government, to socioeconomic issues, to daily interactions, all of these are topics which make the world what it is. Ours is to voice out our opinions on this and raise awareness and also educate and be educated.

Wish

The elephant in the room has been the perfect platform for me to put my thoughts to paper and my wish is for other young people to also find it in themselves to speak out about issues which not only affect them but their lives as well.

There is no end to what can be said about the world around us, as commonly stated by many, not been catered for in their budgets.

Then we have sectors such as nurses and teachers who complain of being short-staffed. The public has often complained of poor services in government offices and lack of service delivery in general. If we recall, we are currently in political turmoil partly because of this.

So how does government factor all these circumstances to arrive at the right decision? The hiring freeze circular was implemented by the current Cabinet as a means to put the brakes on the bulging wage bill given the perilous state of government finances.

Two years ago, Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg revealed how salaries had risen by 125 per cent in the past 10 years. Efforts of previous Cabinet teams to implement staff cuts only went as far as the development of an enhanced voluntary exit and retirement scheme called EVERS.

About 48 per cent of government expenditure goes towards paying salaries and the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, has said Cabinet wants to cut this down to 25 per cent by the next financial year. E700 million has been budgeted for this exercise, with about E500 million to be spent this year and the balance next year. If this plan is implemented fully, about 7 000 civil servants could be trimmed from the wage bill. Certainly not an ideal solution in a country with high unemployment.

Impact

Before we get there, much attention has to be given to the finer details and impact of the implementation strategy, particularly the possible manipulation by opportunists who would orchestrate a weakening of the financial controls, so as to benefit from it. Our Cabinet must take full liability for the highlighted deteriorating safety of taxpayers’ money for the simple reason that it is responsible for granting a waiver before hiring could proceed once a vacancy has been declared.

From the submissions of the AG and the Finance PS on the emerging loopholes, it is not far-fetched for government to become so financially strapped that it is unable to pay the very salaries that it is trying to control. No guessing what chaos that would cause for the country.

‘the possibilities are endless’. The real elephant in the room is the unspoken rule of remaining silent in the face of all that is happening around us. We are subtly told to remain censored in not so many words and are continuously told what we can speak on and what we cannot. But do not despair, do not allow people to dictate to you what you can and cannot speak about, if an issue is life altering to you, speak on it as loudly as you can.

Farewell

As I bid farewell to my lovely column, I thank everyone who has given me the opportunity to say my piece and share my thoughts. This is something that ought to be afforded to all emaSwati and these are platforms we all need. This may be the end of this column but hopefully the rise of a louder and more confident youth. Ours is not to bury our heads in the sand, but to stand proudly and speak our truth. We cannot let our reality be told by those who cannot relate, but we need to reach out to such platforms and give ourselves opportunities to challenge the status quo.

To my faithful readers, this has been a ride, we may have disagreed on some topics but we always shared the same love for the topics explored. I hope more than anything, you were able to learn something new. Sayonara!