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of living of emaSwati.

The chief said it was important for government to scrutinise every form of funding, more especially these days, where thing were not what they seemed.

Senator Celumusa Dlamini also questioned the use of donor funding. She highlighted that in the annual performance report, the ministry asked the funds to be transferred to another reporting quarter. The senator said she was confused as to whether the donor funds indeed reached the ministry or were hanging somewhere.

“Where is the donor funding kept,” she said. The senators also asked about the construction of new tinkhundla centres. Most of their questions were centered on their standards.

Similar

Senator Princess Gcebile asked if the new tinkhundla centres would be of a similar standard with the formerly constructed ones. She also asked if the construction of the tinkhundla centres also included staff houses.

The senator said it was important for the staff to have houses located within the premises, not far from the centres.

“It is very crucial for tinkhundla to have staff houses because you cannot say you want to offer services, yet the staff would be compelled to close offices early because they lived very far from their places of work. For the centres to provide proper services, they should have employees who stay locally,” she said.

In response, the minister assured the senators that the donors where the funds to rebuild and rehabilitate the centres were sourced from, were known and they did not have ulterior motives.

“These are known donors who are the country’s development partners, that have been engaged from time to time,” he said.

In terms of the structures, he explained that they might be exactly the same but they would ensure that they were located next to an inkhundla centre that has all services offered. The minister is expected to table more responses tomorrow, in writing.