Mbabane businessman Walter Bennett has questioned the authenticity of the Municipal Council of Mbabane’s financials for the financial year 2024/2025.
The businessman raised an issue on alleged lack of transparency, citing that some operational costs such as allowances, including travel, entertainment and communication were not detailed in the financials yet ratepayers funds were utilised.
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He also requested for a separate meeting with the mayor and finance committee to properly scrutinise the financials to promote transparency.
This transpired during the Municipal Council of Mbabane (MCM) Annual General Meeting held at the Mountain View Hotel yesterday.
MCM Chief Executive Officer Gciniwe Fakudze presented the report on the performance of the municipality in the 2024/2025 financial year.
The municipality reported that for the financial year under review, total expenditure was over E164 million, of which E56.7 million was spent on staff costs, while E91.3 million was spent on operating costs, which accumulated to about 54% of the total expenditure.
During the question and answer session, Bennett noted that in the past, councillors had no say in the operations of the municipality as they were alleged puppets of the former CEO, without mentioning names. He said he hoped to see transparency moving forward, which he claimed was not the case in the past.
“The councillors of the past bekubomdoli ba former CEO and management and there was no element of transparency. It was sad to learn that the former CEO’s rates were subsidised, which was evidence that management did as they pleased without being held accountable,” he said.
He urged the current council and management to consult ratepayers so that they could be able to avoid such queries in future.
Talking about the financials, Bennett decried that they were not given enough time as they only received the report on arrival at the AGM.
The businessman also questioned why they were not given the full financials of the city instead of the brief that was presented.
He questioned why the municipality failed to report about other expenses such as allowances for trips, communication and other costs which were not detailed in the report.
“For instance, how much was spent on entertainment allowances this financial year,” enquired Bennett.
He cautioned the municipality against adopting secretive reporting tactics and questioned how many times ratepayers had to put up with the mistakes by council at their cost while also questioning the logic behind presenting what he said was a fancy report. He wanted to know how much it cost the ratepayer.
The businessman also cited a previous case involving the previous management who allegedly purchased properties at subsidised prices and did not pay any rates as these were catered for by government.
“I the past, there were senior officials who reportedly purchased properties valued at around E300 000 at a mere E27 500. To make matters worse, they did not even pay rates, which were paid for by government,” he claimed. The businessman also urged the municipality to invest the ratepayers funds wisely through accredited financial institutions such as banks not ponzi schemes that have robbed Emaswati their hard earned monies over the past few years.
He commended the efforts made by the municipality in rehabilitating the city’s roads. Bennett urged the municipality to provide services such as safe walkways for cyclists as well as pedestrians.
…questions use of gambling proceeds to feed children
MBABANE businessman Walter Bennett has questioned the use of what he called gambling proceeds to feed vulnerable children by the municipality.
He was reacting to a presentation made by Chief Executive Officer Gciniwe Fakudze who said under their social responsibility, development partners assisted them with about E2.2 million, which was used to feed over 1 000 vulnerable children around the city.
Then CEO did not mention the name of the partner during her presentation.
While making his submissions, Bennett questioned why the partner was not named alleing that the donation was made by one of the companies operating online gambling platforms in the country.
He also added that according to him, it was not good for children to be fed using proceeds from gambling.
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