MBABANE:Owen Nxumalo,the Minister of Education and Training came hard on Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini and went as far as telling him that “he does not have powers” but a mere Chairman of Cabinet.
The verbal showdown between the PM and the Education Minister erupted on Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting, Nxumalo stands accused of allegedly accepting a bribe from Bahai administrators to turn the school into a private school.
But during the Cabinet, Nxumalo denied and was furious when confronted about this issue and other issues within the Ministry of Education and Training and as a result, other Cabinet Ministers tried to calm him down before he could physically assaults the Prime Minister.
“You don’t have powers here but just a Cabinet Chairman, it’s the King who holds powers”, said the Education Minister.
Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli declined to comment about the tension that erupted in Cabinet.
On another note, other Cabinet Ministers tried to intervene as the Education Minister was shouting on top of his voice, blasting the Prime Minister.
“He subsequently apologized to the PM after being advised by the Deputy Prime Minister Thuli Dladla and other Ministers including BatfwabeNkhosi,” said a Cabinet source.
But this is not the first time a Cabinet Minister and a Prime Minister ‘lock horns’, Sibusiso Shongwe, the then Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister once clashed with the late Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini.
King Mswati subsequently resolved the Cabinet tension by removing Sibusiso Shongwe who is now a member of the Teaching Service Commission(TSC) after spending almost ten(10) years in the political wilderness.
Education Minister Owen Nxumalo.