PS says decision made due to elapse of former CEO contract
Mbabane – Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of ICT Phesheya Dube says the non-renewal of RSTP former CEO Vumile Dlamini’s contract has nothing to do with allegations of looting and mismanagement of funds which marred his tenure in office.
According to the PS, a conscience decision not to offer the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) a new contract was taken after the elapse of his contract and was not in any way influenced by any circumstances involving operations of the government parastatal.
“Non-renewal of the former CEO’s contract has nothing to do with allegations of looting and mismanagement. His contract elapsed and that is the reason,” said Dube.
This publication exclusively reported in February 2022 that incredible allegations of widespread looting and mismanagement by senior officers including the former CEO had emerged at the RSTP.
The allegations emerged following a decision by the CEO to institute charges of breaching the disciplinary policy, bringing the organisation into disrepute and scandalizing the Chief Executive Officer, Human Resources Manager and the Finance Manager by being in possession of a defamatory document labelled “Widespread Looting at Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP).”
The charges were preferred against the Chief Operations Officer at the RSTP state entity, Mfanzile Shongwe.
A second charge brought against Shongwe is that on an official trip to India while in conversation with the then Principal Secretary, in the Ministry of ICT Maxwell Masuku, he made false allegations against the former CEO, Vumile Dlamini, alleging that he had been siphoning money out of the organisation and protecting the Human Resources Assistant who did not qualify for the for the position and that the CEO was using the organizations funds wrongly.
The CEO further stated that Shongwe failed to protect the reputation of his employer by omitting to disclose to the employer that he was in possession of written materials under the heading “inyandzaleyo” which according to the erstwhile CEO are highly defamatory of the employer and its management, whereas Shongwe as a senior manager was under the duty to the employer to disclose and to handover such material. The CEO concluded by informing Shongwe to show cause, in writing, why a disciplinary action should not be commenced, for the gross misconduct of having actively been involved, participating and orchestrating the said offense.
The decision to charge Shongwe follows his suspension from work on an allegation that he was allegedly responsible for the “Leaking of Information pertaining to the Internal Operations of RSTP with Intent to put the Organization’s Name into Disrepute”. The suspension was handed to Shongwe on September 09, 2019.
Handing down the suspension communication, in a one- page letter, was the Human Resources Manager, Khetsimphilo Dlamini in the company of the Legal Advisor (Company Secretary) Nompumelelo Ndlela–Mntjali.
The main content of the suspension is found in paragraph one of the letter which reads, “following a series of reports about the organisation which have been peddled by some members of staff with the settled intention of bringing the organisation to disrepute, preliminary hearings have determined that you are implicated in the dissemination of these negative and false reports.”
Absalom Makhanya was then appointed by the RSTP to investigate the matter leading to the suspension. However, it would appear that Shongwe has not taken these charges preferred against him lying down. On 15th June 2020, Shongwe responded and informed the CEO that he did neither of the offenses. On 4th February 2021, the Human Resources Manager, Khetsimphilo Dlamini informed Shongwe that RSTP had resolved, without prejudice, to explore the possibility of reaching a mutually acceptable term which is to cut-off the employer-to-employee relationship by among other things payment of an agreed exit package.
The notion of an exit package did not sit well with Shongwe who’s retort was that the idea of a negotiated voluntary exit package was offside as it had nothing to do with the matter whose consequence was the suspension which occurred on 9th September 2019.
Shongwe also advised Khetsimphilo Dlamini that it was inappropriate that a matter which was in the capacity of the CEO could suddenly be handled by the Human Resources Manager. Shongwe asked for consistence when addressing the matter. On 3rd December 2021, after much deliberation by both parties, the former CEO Vumile Dlamini then wrote a letter calling upon Shongwe to appear at a disciplinary hearing on a date to be appointed in January 2022 to answer to the two charges which had been crafted by RSTP.
In preparation for the hearing, Shongwe furnished his employer with a litany of demands, some of which are expressed as follows:
• There had to be an agreement on the definition of the word “EMPLOYER”! In generally, companies or entities governed by Directors, the word “EMPLOYER” refers to a Juristic person (not a physical human being and nor an employee) and this person mainly represents the Directors or Shareholders of the company or entity.
• The EMPLOYER was to make available the terms of reference of the Investigation conducted by Absalom Makhanya.
• The EMPLOYER was to give assurance that the two charges directly culminated from
the investigation report by Absalom Makhanya.
• The EMPLOYER was to give a document that states the reasons why the matter was being administrated by the complainants Vumile Dlamini, Human Resources Manager,
Khetsimphilo Dlamini and Finance Manager, Ntsetselelo Msibi) on behalf of RSTP; when the EMPLOYER could appoint impartial officers to handle the matter.
• The EMPLOYER was to share the following documents: (a) The original document with the defamatory allegations (b) Disciplinary Policy of RSTP (c) Report on the investigation carried out by Absalom Makhanya
• The EMPLOYER had to explain why the charge is crafted as an “allegation” when it
was over two years that the EMPLOYER had been working on the same matter (instead of it being a direct and specific Charge). In the event there was no precise response, the EMPLOY-
ER had to own up that the only reason for crafting the charge as an “allegation” is because there was nothing tangible that substantiated the charge.
• The EMPLOYER had to explain how the defamatory document stated in the Charge reached the EMPLOYER; and state the actions taken upon receipt of the defamatory document.
• The EMPLOYER had to state in precision the date, time and place which relate exactly to the actions of Shongwe that directly linked him to the existence and distribution of the defamatory document.
• If there was no precise response on the specificity on the charge, the EMPLOYER had to own up to the fact that the hearing sitting was merely a continuation of the investigation process; taking it from where Absalom Makhanya left; and not a disciplinary hearing per se.
• The EMPLOYER had to state with reasonable proof that the Charge did not come from a ‘knee-jerk reaction’; which might have been carefully calculated and executed in the heat-of-the-moment; because such action was illegal and tantamount to a planned constructive dismissal.
Meanwhile, Dr Andile Simphiwe Metfula was recently appointed the new CEO of the RSTP on an acting basis.
Dr Metfula was presented to the staff of RSTP by senior personnel from the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).
The incumbent is not new to the entity as he has, since October 2023, been the Head of the National Data Centre, where his duties included managing it, providing and supporting all government ICT infrastructure and also developing and maintaining government systems and applications.
In his nine months with RSTP, the 40-year-old acting CEO was also advising government on ICT matters, building a customer base in the private sector for the National Data Centre and building partnerships, within and without our borders, that would help the National Data Centre to monetise its services and resources and to become self-sufficient. Dr Metfula holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, which he completed in 2013, a Master of Sciences in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, USA and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Eswatini.
His goals are turning RSTP into a profit-making entity by making their young innovators the key drivers of the great vision and by building strategic partnerships in government, in the private sector and with international partners.
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