SIX months later, the public is still waiting for the long-anticipated final draft of the UNESWA report on the findings of the Task Team. The Task Team was put in place to investigate why the institution was facing many challenges despite receiving subvention from the government.
Just last week Friday two campuses of the university (Kwaluseni and Luyengo) were closed indefinitely.
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Minister of Education and Training, Owen Nxumalo, had promised senators during the ministry’s first quarter performance debate that he would table the report in Parliament over the coming weeks around June.
The report was compled by the Task Team and handed over to the minister around April.
It was then presented to Cabinet for approval around May and since then, the report has not been made available to the public.
Nxumalo had mentioned that the findings were not good but was conservative about pre-empting them.
On February 5, Nxumalo delivered the interim report on the affairs of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA).
This report was produced by the Task Team that was put in place to investigate why the institution was facing many challenges yet it receives subvention from Government.
It was compiled after three months of the investigation and the final draft according to the ministry was expected to be compiled in due course.
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The Task Team started work in August 2023 and was given six months to complete their investigation.
However to date, the final report has not been delivered to the public, save for the interim report.
After the interim report, the ministry mentioned that the report was still awaiting approval from Cabinet and would be then tabled in the House of Assembly and the Senate.
Members of both chambers of parliament (Senate and the House of Assembly) have been eagerly waiting for the report.
Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli confirmed that the report was long approved by Cabinet and should be issued by the ministry of education and training or UNESWA.
She said the report was approved in the first quarter of the financial year.
Nxumalo stated that the report had been presented to Cabinet and would be tabled in Parliament. He said he was not sure of the date in which the report was to be tabled in the House of Assembly as he was still waiting for a directive from the office of the speaker.
“I am still waiting for the speaker but I will table it this week,” he said.
Meanwhile, when briefing senators about the findings of the report during the ministry’s first quarter performance debate, Nxumalo stated that the University of Eswatini Task Team report disputes the notion that the inadequate government subvention was the root cause of the institution’s woes.
He said the report had unearthed that gross mismanagement of funds was the main cause of the crisis faced by the institution.
He had mentioned that the recommendations propose for a forensic audit before full implementation of the proposed solutions. He insisted that the Task Team and experts roped in pinpoint mismanagement of funds as the main cause of the challenges. Nxumalo assured that the ministry remained committed to addressing the challenges holistically.
He stated that the report revealed that over the years, funds have been grossly misused at the institution by previous administrations.
“The findings do not paint a good picture at all but it is my dream and mission to address the issues during my time in office,” Nxumalo said.
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He further reported that the other challenge was the exorbitant water bill caused by leaking pipes, costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of Emalangeni annually. Nxumalo further noted that the experts engaged to implement the recommendation by the Task Team also stated that underfunding was not the main cause of the crisis.
He was responding to senators’ concerns that based on the ministry’s previous reports that government subvention only amounted to only 40% of the institution’s annual budget meaning they were always operating at a deficit.
While presenting his preamble, the minister had also revealed that according to the Task Team report the challenges facing the institution began immediately after former vice–chancellor Professor, Lydia Makhubu, left the institution.
This was after Senator Sigombeni Dlamini, Senator Prince Kekela, Senate Deputy President Ndumiso Mdluli and the chairperson of the committee Senator Lizzie Nkosi raised concerns over the state of UNESWA.
They stated that the report was eagerly anticipated and were waiting for it to be tabled so that they could be appraised of its findings and possible solutions.
Meanwhile, Muzi Siyaya, who was Chairperson of the Task team, said the team fulfiled its mandate and submitted the report to the minister.
“We now encourage the minister and Cabinet to implement the report’s recommendations if the university is to be turned around. Meaningful progress will require strong political will and decisive action,” he said.
