swaziland times

LOBAMBA – Some people who were registered as dead in the government’s population register were found alive on death certificates registered by their relatives.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Interior were shocked when they provided evidence to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) related to more than EGP 720,000 being given to 321 people in the 2021 COVID-19 food relief operation. The shocking news was announced by NDMA chief executive Victor Mahlalela yesterday. NDMA responded to the PAC regarding the audit queries raised by Auditor General Timothy Matsebula in a follow-up audit report dated July 31, 2024, in response to the PAC’s recommendations for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. The Auditor General noted in a follow-up audit that he had informed the controller that during the audit of the NDMA’s financial years ending March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023, a total of €724,500 in COVID-19 food aid grants had been paid to deceased persons through MTN Mobile Money (MoMo).

Paid

These funds were released to beneficiaries who were deceased at the time the payments were processed and have not been withdrawn by those beneficiaries. The total number of deceased beneficiaries is 321. The NDMA CEO told PAC that following a follow-up audit by the Attorney General, the entity conducted a verification exercise to ascertain whether these beneficiaries had indeed died and when they had died. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of the Interior confirmed the conclusion of 321 deaths through the government population register. Some of the people on the death list said they died in 2018, two years before the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Malala told PAC that they visited the families of 171 deceased beneficiaries and found that some of them were indeed dead. The CEO said that to their surprise, they also found out that nine people listed as dead were still alive.

assist

“The families admitted that they continued to receive food assistance after the death of their key members. “We also found nine of them alive, but they appeared to be dead according to the civil registration,” he said. PAC chairperson Madala Mhlanga questioned the Home Affairs Department officials who were invited to the meeting to provide insights on the matter and explain how they came to the conclusion that the beneficiary had died. Phathizwe Hlatshwayo, civil registration officer at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said they obtained the names and identity card numbers of the beneficiaries and with the help of the Royal Swaziland Technology Park (RSTP), they searched the system and found that some of the identity card number holders had died. “The Attorney General approached us to verify over 2,000 personal identification numbers (PINs) and contacted RSTP for help. We sent them the spreadsheet and they pointed out several discrepancies, including those of deceased officers,” he said.

Unlucky

Hlatshwayo added that the NDMA also provided a list of 331 deceased persons which they checked in the system. “Unfortunately, after finding out that nine of the 331 were still alive, they did not come to the Ministry of Interior to report the incident so we could double check,” he said.The official explained that they concluded that the people were dead because their relatives registered death certificates for them. “As long as there is a death certificate registered in your name, the system will register you as dead,” he said. Mhlanga pointed out that judging from the list of those allegedly deceased, some of them died before the COVID-19 pandemic, and he questioned the CEO how a person who died three years before the project appeared on the list of beneficiaries.He said: “Sir, unfortunately, the beneficiaries you mentioned are among the survivors we found.”The PAC chairman immediately urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to verify whether there is a death certificate registered in the name of the beneficiary.