ICT Ministry wants 2-3 months to fix ESTVA, RSTP crisis

LOBAMBA – The Acting Minister of Information Communication and Technology (ICT), Moses Vilakati, has pleaded with Parliament to give the ministry two to three months to fix the management crisis at Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA) and RSTP CEO’s issue.

RSTP is the Royal Science and Technology Park. The minister was speaking during the debate of the annual performance report for the Ministry of ICT and its parastatals. Present during the debate were members of the ICT Portfolio Committee and the parastatals’ senior management.

The Members of Parliament (MPs) decried the recent exodus of senior management in the government-owned television station. They noted that the exodus occurred while the parastatal was in a chief executive officer (CEO) dilemma.

The MPs went on to state that the issue of Eswatini TV CEO had been dragging for too long and it was showing on the content and the general conduct of employees at the station. They also complained about the constant explanations that were given by the TV station of limited resources.

The MPs voiced out the concerns after the acting minister, in his report, stated that the Eswatini TV had improved broadcasting of shows that were produced locally. He added that the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS) was also on a similar wave. The minister also pleaded for the approval of the 2023/2024 budget request of E270 629 247 for recurrent expenditure and E191 265 000 for capital expenditure.

Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo wondered why they should pass the budget for the national TV station in the face of the crisis it was under.

He asked if ESTVA had management and its departments were functioning as they should.

“Kukhona yini lokusateka tona kaSwazi TV?” he asked.

Khumalo said as he was speaking yesterday, the TV station did not have a CEO, chief financial officer (CFO), human resources (HR) officer and corporate service manager. He stated that from what he heard, all these officers resigned from the station.

He stated that the station was headed by a legal department manager. He noted that the person who was leading the station was not even a broadcasting or television specialist. Khumalo said the last time they engaged on the Eswatini TV matter was around the introduction of a new Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of ICT, Phesheya Dube, in whom they had so much faith. The MP said, however, with the confusion that was happening at Eswatini TV, he was tempted to take back his words.

Disgrace

Khumalo described the station as a disgrace. He said with the way it was in a management crisis, there was a high possibility of cleaners heading crucial management positions because seemingly no one had a clue of what was happening.

“Honestly, minister what are you saying to us, you want us to approve the station’s budget to be controlled by people who do not have a mandate of what they are doing,” he said.

Khumalo said ESTVA, as well as the mother ministry, needed to shape up or ship out. The MP also questioned what Eswatini TV and EBIS were doing to catch up with the latest technology trends. He asked when was the last time EBIS conducted a listenership survey, because it would give a clear picture of how many people consumed the content they were broadcasting. Gilgal Inkhundla MP Kenneth Fakudze asked the acting minister when the station would start paying the terminal benefits of the officers whose employment was terminated at the station and those who had resigned. Fakudze also questioned the exodus of the senior managers at the station. He said he was hopeful that the officers who were resigning or resigned at the station were not implicated in any of the challenges that engulfed the station. He said if they were implicated in the unpaid terminal benefits of employees, it was highly possible that the officers were running away with people’s money and those former employees would not ever get their money.

Kukhanyeni Constituency MP Malavi Sihlongonyane also decried the shallow report that was presented by the ministry. He said their report looked like a report among themselves not something to be presented in Parliament.

The MPs also wondered why they should pass the budget for RSTP as well. Khumalo also stated that RSTP CEO was in office without a contract.

“Why should we take money to an institution that does not have a leader,” he said.

Meanwhile, the acting minister said the ministry was working around fixing the managerial crisis at Eswatini TV. The minister stated that they had appointed a consultancy to conduct the recruitment of a CEO at Eswatini TV. He pleaded for the House to give them two to three month to sort out the CEO crisis at the TV station.

Secondly, Vilakati said the reason they opted for a consultancy was for the recruitment to be transparent and not have political interference. He further, mentioned that the explanation he got from the resigned officers had everything to do with their personal and professional journey not that they were running away from something.

He added that there were working around the clock to sort out the CEO crisis at RSTP. The acting minister said quite a number of strides had been taken and soon an announcement would be made. “The ministry has made submissions and waiting for Cabinet to meet them halfway,” he said.