By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: Sincedile Dlamini, the suspended Chief Procurement Officer in the Ministry of Health allegedly colluded with the newly appointed Prime Minister(PM) Russell Mmiso Dlamini, the then National Disaster Management Agency(NDMA) Chief Executive Officer(CEO) to defraud government over five hundred thousand Rands(R500,000.00) being monies donated by international organizations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Documentary evidence in possession of this Swaziland News suggests that,the monies that were deposited in Dlamini’s bank account and included in her payslip were fraudulently allocated as a “COVID-19 allowance”.

The Chief Procurement Officer received Eleven Thousand, seven hundred and fifty-nine, forty cents(R11,759.40) and the alleged fraud is ongoing as Dlamini received the allowance even on the 23rd October 2023 despite the fact that, COVID-19 is no longer an emergency or a pandemic.

An independent investigation conducted by this publication, uncovered that, the Chief Procurement Officer “is allegedly defrauding” part of the over R500million COVID-19 monies donated by international organizations and private companies,part of the money was deposited by the then National Disaster CEO Russell Dlamini to the Government Bank account held by the Central Bank of Eswatini(CBE).

But it appeared that,the alleged fraud was well organized at the highest level as the Chief Procurement Officer has so far, received close to R500,000.00 from 2020 to date.

A questionnaire was sent to the Chief Procurement Officer, however, she had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

But when responding to this publication earlier, Sincedile Dlamini confirmed that she knew Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini not at personal but at professional level. 

“The Prime Minister was working for the National Disaster Management Agency(NDMA) and if you were working on COVID-19 issues, there’s no way you can claim not to know him”, said the Chief Procurement Officer.

A questionnaire was sent to Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini, however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

But the report of the Auditor General(AG) Timothy Matsebula suggests that, Russell Mmiso Dlamini, the then NDMA CEO failed to account for about R180million public funds, Dlamini subsequently failed to justify or account for the monies when questioned by the Public Accounts Commitee(PAC).

Reached for comments, Mayibongwe Masangwane, the Secretary General(SG) of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union(SWADNU) said, as an  organization representing health workers, they were shocked to learn that there’s a Government official in the Ministry of Health “who is still receiving” a COVID-19 allowance.

“We are shocked to learn that there’s an employee who is receiving a COVID-19 allowance, health workers who were frontline workers during the pandemic didn’t receive even a cent as an allowance. This tells us that the corruption was planned at the highest level and there are people who are benefiting within the Ministry of Health”, said the Secretary General of the Nurses Union.

Efforts to reach Khanya Mabuza, the Principal Secretary(PS) in the Ministry of Health proved unsuccessful as his phone rang answered.

On another note, the payslip belonging to Sincendile Dlamini and sourced from the Eswatini Government Computer Systems suggests that, on the 23rd October 2023, the Chief Procurement Officer received a basic salary of forty-one thousand, nine hundred and ninety Rands(R41,990.00), Housing Allowance amounting to six hundred and fifty(R650.00) including the 30% COVID-19 allowance of eleven thousand, seven hundred and  fifty-nine, forty cents(R11,759.40.).

The gross-pay as reflected in the payslip suggests that, Dlamini received fifty-four thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine, forty cents(R54,399.40) before deductions that include a SwaziMed medical aid, Impumelelo savings, Old Mutual and a Government Pension. Other deductions include an income tax and a Graded Tax.

The suspended Chief Procurement Officer is a subject of a high level investigation into looting of public funds within the Ministry of Health, resulting to the ongoing health crisis and/or shortage of drugs in public hospitals. She is alleged to have colluded with suppliers that include, among others, businesswoman Zinhle Matsebula, the Director of LifeSpan Diagnostics and Cerium Scientific to loot millions of public funds.