By Kwanele Dhladhla
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Committee Chairman, Manzi Zwane, has strongly suggested the imposition of a E20 000 fine to officers who ought to have done due diligence but did not in procurement of a fire emergency truck,
which has still not been delivered two years after payment of E15 million was made in advance to Marce Fight Fighting Technology.
Zwane said this move would show that indeed the PAC was true to its word that public officers would now be held individually accountable for misused funds.
Previously, when government ministries or departments were found to have misused funds, the controlling officers (principal secretaries and chief executive officers) were the ones who faced the PAC and were even fined on behalf of the responsible officer.
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“This case will probably be the first where we enforce the PFM Act by imposing a E20 000 fine to the officers who were responsible for the transaction because clearly a lot was done wrongly in the procurement,” said Zwane when the audit query was interrogated in Parliament on Thursday.
PAC learnt with shock that two years after E15 million was paid in advance for purchasing an emergency fire vehicle, there could be another 12 months’ wait before it eventually gets delivered.
Members of the PAC expressed fury that they had been all along fed lies that the emergency truck, which was intended for use by the Fire Department would be delivered in March 2025 by South African Company- Marce Fire Fighting Technology.
During appearance of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development before PAC on Thursday, it was revealed that the vehicle, whose funds were donated by the Republic of China (Taiwan), had not yet been delivered because the contracted company faces serious financial challenges which could render it insolvent anytime.
Therefore, they were unable to secure all the parts that should be fixed onto the vehicle, in particular the chassis and crane.
Marce’s Jan Steyn, who previously served as Director, informed PAC that the promise which had been made in 2024 that the vehicle would be delivered in March 2025 would have been impossible.
He said this was primarily because some of the parts which ought to be fitted onto the vehicle were not fully paid due to dire financial constraints faced by the company.
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Steyn mentioned that there was only the body at their workshop which he could only be able to assemble and deliver in the next 12 months.
When pressed to return the funds, he said the company would not be able to either issue a guarantee or return the money due to poor financial performance mainly caused by collapse of a multibillion deal in India where they had made significant investments with the hope for significant profits in return.
Steyn said they were seeking financial rescue from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and ABSA with the intent to resuscitate the company.
“I hereby make a personal commitment to Eswatini for the vehicle to be delivered. We are starting from almost zero, there is no chassis and crane because it cannot be fully paid due to financial challenges faced by the company.
I am committing to personally deliver the vehicle in 12 months. This is a personal commitment, you can also talk to my financiers as well, but I am ready to sign the commitment today (Thursday),” Steyn added.
