MBABANE:Lucky Sukati, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Matsapha Municipality was allegedly involved in the looting of R12million public funds, allegedly masterminded by the then Ministry of Housing Principal Secretary(PS) Clifford Mamba.
This is contained in a bundle of documentary evidence in possession of this Swaziland News investigation unit, the documents further stipulate how part of the monies for the alleged Local Government Elections were ‘laundered’ and/or fraudulently transferred from public coffers to Slomoes Corporation(PTY) LTD via the Matsapha Municipality and/or Town Board.
As result, the Auditor General has summoned the CEO for interrogation after preliminary investigations allegedly uncovered that he played a role in laundering the money from public coffers to Slomoes Corporation.
A preliminary investigation is a process that seeks to gather basic facts and/or evidence to ascertain if a crime was allegedly committed, it’s findings influence a full investigation subsequent, to evidence analyses and recommendations.
But according to the documents in our possession, on or around the 9th June 2023, Timothy Sipho Matsebula, the Auditor General(AG) wrote a letter to the Matsapha CEO, ‘summoning’ him into a meeting to be held on the 13th June 2023 at the Pension Fund Building in Mbabane.
“Following the investigation instituted in terms of Section 10 of the Audit Act, 2005, by the Office of the Auditor General into allegations of irregularities surrounding the single source procurement of and advance payment made to Slomoes Corporation(Pty)Ltd, you are hereby invited to attend an interview with the Investigators in order to provide clarity on the role played by yourself in this regard,” reads a letter signed by the Auditor General, addressed to the Matsapha CEO.
An independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News uncovered that part of the R12million was first transferred and/or laundered to Matsapha Municipality, subsequent to an instruction from the then Principal Secretary(PS) Clifford Mamba, the monies were then transferred to Slomoes Corporation as an advance payment, triggering an investigation by the office of the Auditor General(AG).
A questionnaire was sent to Matsapha CEO Lucky Sukati,however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Reached for comments, Timothy Sipho Matsebula, the Auditor General(AG) said, his office does not report matters under investigation to the media as that might jeopardize and/or compromise their investigations.
“We don’t comment about issues under investigation as this might jeopardize the investigation, we maintain confidentiality throughout the process. The media can only access the report or our findings once we are done,” said the Auditor General when speaking to this Swaziland News on Tuesday afternoon.
Documents in our possession further indicate that on or around the 9th June 2023, the Auditor General(AG) wrote to Hlobsile Dlamini, the Under Secretary(US) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development summoning her to ‘testify’ and/or assist the investigators by bringing clarity with regards to the alleged irregularities surrounding the now controversial R12million Local Government Elections tender.
“Please kindly note that the Audit Act, 2005 makes it imperative for anyone who may have played a role in any procurement or process to assist the Office of the Auditor-General in conducting its investigations and in this regard, correspondence in our possession indicates that you may have been involved in this procurement,” reads the letter in part, signed by the Auditor General(AG), addressed to the Urban Development Ministry Under Secretary(US).
According to the documents, the Under Secretary is highly expected to meet the investigators on Tuesday(13th June 2023) at 2pm, the detectives will then grill the Matsapha CEO from 4:30pm to 5:300pm, the same day.
Efforts to reach the Under Secretary(US) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
But on or around 24th March 2023, the Times of eSwatini reported that, the Auditor General(AG) wrote to the then Principal Secretary(PS) Clifford Mamba stopping the Local Government Elections tender, the AG further demanded answers why the monies were transferred to Matsapha.
This comes subsequent to a preliminary investigation suggesting that, an amount of R8million, was transferred from public coffers to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s account 242410110061.
Subsequently, the monies were allegedly transferred and/or ‘laundered’ to Matsapha Town Board by the then PS Clifford Mamba before being paid to Slomoes Corporation.
“I need an explanation for the purpose for which these public funds were kept in Head 60, and why they were transferred to Matsapha Town Board. I wrote to notify you that I disallow the expenditure for the procurement of the Technological Solution for the Local Government Elections, pending an investigation into the matter,” reads letter in part from the Auditor General(AG) addressed to the retired PS.
A questionnaire was sent to retired PS Clifford Mamba, however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
On another note, investigators from the Auditor General’s offices will be grilling Matsapha CEO and other high profile figures on Tuesday afternoon.
It is alleged that some of the high profile figures were part of retired PS Clifford Mamba’s corrupt, powerful and politically connected syndicate, and that they allegedly played a role in laundering part of the R12million public funds to Slomoes Corporation.
Reached for comments by this Swaziland News, Slomoes Corporation Director Lucky Dlamini said so far, he had not received any correspondence from investigators in the office of the Auditor General to assist with information regarding the said tender.
“So far, I have not received any correspondence from the Auditor General or any government official regarding this matter,” said the Slomoes Corporation Director.
Matsapha CEO Lucky Sukati.