reports and financial compliance reports and the report on acquisition and distribution of medical drugs, then the financial audit reports for 2022 and 2023. We have five reports. We are yet to bring the Compliance Report for the 2022/2023 financial year,” he said.

Mhlanga said he failed to understand where the Ministry of Health got the nerve to come to Parliament with the missing reports. He mentioned that there was a process that included endless communication which occurred between the ministry and the AG when preparing the reports that would be of discussion before the PAC.

He added that before the PAC commenced their sitting, government ministries were notified by the office of the Clerk to Parliament, as well as the issuing of the schedule. “I am lost because even the letter the PS claims to have written, I am not sure to whom he addressed it to, because the PAC is chaired by myself. That letter has so much to do with the PAC chairman than the Clerk to Parliament. The PAC has a chairperson and a vice-chairperson,” he said.

Lenient

The chairperson said he could be lenient with them on the acquisition of medicine to public health facilities, but they were expecting the other four reports and there was no excuse whatsoever.

Mhlanga further highlighted that even the responses to the Financial Audit Report on Consolidated Government Accounts of the kingdom for the year ended March 31, 2023, were submitted yesterday morning. He wondered how they were expected to have gone through it as the PAC and noted where to ask questions.

The PAC Vice-Chairperson, who is also Nhlambeni MP Manzi Zwane, said he was startled by the submission of the controlling officer when he said there was no record keeping in the Ministry of Health. “Are you saying all the officials who are here are new? It’s a pity because I can recognise familiar faces that I got to know of during my term in the 11th Parliament. He might be new, but the Ministry of Health is not new. Some officials have been working there. I am failing to accept that the controlling officer does not have responses,” he said.

He noted that the responses dated back to 2021, and wondered that if officials of the ministry left office, they also took the government documents with them.

Zwane said the public was greatly affected by what has transpired in the health sector. He said accepting that the PS did not have reports for previous years, was the reason the sector was deteriorating and it would be an insult to the entire nation.

Ngwepisi MP Bhekibandla Vilakati, who is also a member of the PAC, said he was concerned that the PS said he was knocking from door-to-door unsuccessfully until he subjected himself to embarrassment before the entire nation. Vilakati said he was worried about how he would carry out his duties and how Parliament worked with the ministry.

According to Vilakati, the reports were crucial in giving responses and clarity to the dying of members of the public due to the collapsed health system of the country. “I am pleading that the Ministry of Health takes this work seriously and respond to all the reports for us to be able to work. We have wasted so much time here today. I do not believe that even after the huge turnover of senior officials they could not find even a single paper in the office with meeting minutes. This is unbelievable,” he said.

Dvokodvweni MP Sifiso Shabalala noted that almost all the officials were on acting basis, which made him wonder if they would come to Parliament empty-handed. “No one can lie and say they are unaware that the Ministry of Health is in the intensive care unit (ICU), hence it is even first on the schedule, but if the PS says we should forget about previous reports and focus on the ones with glaring mistakes that are in front of us, we would have failed emaSwati,” he said.

Hidden

The MP said the conduct of the ministry meant that something was being hidden. He said emaSwati were closely monitoring what the ministry would say. He added that: “There is a lot of laxity here, despite the several communications that took place before the sitting.”

Somntongo MP Sandile Nxumalo said no official was supposed to leave with the government documents. Every officer who assumes the office should find all relevant documents in place, he said.

Phondo MP Bonginkosi Dube said he felt that the ministry was not taking the PAC seriously because any challenges could have been communicated earlier. He said he was unsure that the ministry would have the reports on the later date they promised to have prepared the missing reports. “What are they presenting as leverage that they will bring the reports within the allocated time they have asked for, be it three or seven days,” he said.

Dube said they could not gamble with their reputation before the nation and authorities of the country.