Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament Marwick Khumalo says the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) Board was now left with only the Chief Executive Officer Futhi Tembe.
This was revealed by the MP when moving a motion of urgent public importance that the House appoints a seven-member select committee that will meet all the relevant social partners, including Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi and the ENPF, with a view to investigate the genesis of the impasse that has rendered the board of directors dysfunctional for more than half a year.
The MP moved that the committee should prepare a report with concise recommendations to be tabled in the House within 14 days.
When motivating the motion, Khumalo stated that most of the things will be discussed after the report is tabled by the committee.
He said they should appear as people who provide solutions as Parliament and not as people who create more problems.
Khumalo said they were now confused as they had assumed that the Minister of Labour and Social Security was the one to address these issues, but stated that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had since joined in on the issue.
He said this was more reason why they needed to investigate what was happening in the board.
He said they needed to know why a board of directors of a parastatal under the PEU Act was failing to operate months after its appointment.
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He said they cannot indulge on the issue for now, but asked that Parliament applies itself on the matter.
“A provident fund is the rank and file of our society. Things like this should not be looked down upon by Parliament even though some people may think that it is not urgent. Only the chief executive officer (CEO) is remaining at the board. This is an institution that was developed by the country, not just something that came from Cabinet,” he said.
Khumalo stated that the fund was developed by the country through the Order in Council Act of 1974.
He said the institution was developed for Eswatini, with the CEO folding her hands as she does not know what needs to be done now since there was no board.
He said this was because no one was giving the CEO direction on what she has to do and the direction she has to take.
He said these things now needed Parliament’s attention but said no one elected into the board should have an interest.
The seconder of the motion, Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini, stated that they do not have to take sides in the issue but appoint the committee.
He said the entity was not operating in a vacuum but had a regulator, which was the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).
He said the committee should investigate the role of FSRA on what has happened, stating that if they do not have any role, it should ask why.
He said there were laws in the country which were on the retirement funds and the FSRA Act which gives FSRA the power to work and address such matters.
“Something like this happened before to the very same fund.
“The late minister Winnie Magagula appointed a lawyer Sabelo Mngomezulu to be the chairman of the fund and there was commotion from the other stakeholders in the board. How was that resolved because it is almost the same thing? Mngomezulu served for two terms and I want to know the possibility of amending the order,” he said.
Dlamini said he wanted to know this because there were two ministers involved.
He said all along the issue was being pushed by the Minister of Labour and Social Security but was now being pushed by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
He said they needed to know who was responsible for the appointments.
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He added that the phrasing of these sections of the laws has to be amended.
He said the role of the board was to administer the fund.
He asked what was happening in the fund during the time of the vacuum and how the fund was being administered.
“Is the CEO working alone and doing what? What if there is mismanagement of money there? The committee should find out what has been happening during the time of the vacuum. We also want people who will run away from envelopes on the issue,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker Madala Mhlanga asked that they elect the members of the committee and not debate the issue further as they might be tempted to debate hearsay.
He adjourned the debate and asked that only members who were not part of other select committees be elected into the committee.
