‘NDMA never received E54M’

DEPUTY Prime Minister (DPM) Thulisile Dladla has disclosed that the E54 million announced by Prime Minister Russell Dlamini to support disaster relief efforts following January’s torrential rains, was never received.

The funds, which were publicly declared as part of government’s emergency response, were meant to be coordinated through the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) under the DPM’s office.

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Dladla made the statement in Parliament yesterday while responding to a motion moved by Zombodze Emuva MP Ntando Mkhonta, seconded by Ndzingeni MP Gcina Magagula.

The motion called for the DPM to present a comprehensive assessment and progress report detailing the extent of damage caused by the excessive rainfall that battered the country from January 5 to 8.

The requested report was also expected to account for the E54 million budget announced on January 13, and explain how it was utilised to mitigate the disaster’s impact.

The prime minister had tasked the NDMA with leading the coordination of relief and rehabilitation efforts, including restoring damaged road infrastructure, government buildings such as schools and clinics, and affected households.

“The report should reflect all government interventions executed through NDMA’s coordination, and outline future strategies to ensure climate-resilient infrastructure is developed to prevent similar devastation,” MP Mkhonta said.

The DPM was asked to furnish the House with the amount of funds required to undertake and complete all on-going remedial works and ensure that communities and learners were able to access services and schools, and learners attended and sat for examinations without disruptions.

This is to enable an allocation of requisite funding to be made in the supplementary budget of the financial year 2025/2026. The DPM was asked to table a report within 14 days after adoption of the motion.

During the debate, MPs said roads across the country were in a bad state. They said what was more disturbing was that their constituents learnt about the allocated through the media and were told by MPs that government allocated funds for the damages caused by rains. They noted that the year would be ending soon and another rainy season was about to begin, but the roads and bridges had not been attended to.

The MPs said they were even scared to meet the people who were affected because they tend to look like liars. Other MPs, such as Nkomiyahlaba MP Mduduzi Dlamini, claimed that some of this assistance went to constituencies where the MPs were Cabinet ministers.

“My constituency is surrounded by constituencies where the MPs are ministers, they always get assistance and I look like a failure to the electorate,” he said, adding that he felt it was a sabotage for him to fail in the 2028 elections.

Other MPs who echoed similar concerns and supported the motion included Mangcongco MP Lomalanga Dlamini, Sithobela MP Mancoba Sihlongonyane, Nhlambeni MP Manzi Zwane, and Shiselweni II MP Bhekithemba Bhembe.

Ntfonjeni MP Ray Dlamini questioned whether the E54 million budget was sufficient to address the crisis. Mafutseni MP Sabelo Mtetwa shared that in his constituency there were families who were affected by the hailstorm that hit the country in December, 2023 but they have not been assisted to date. He said wherever he goes, people ask for roofing.

In response, Dladla said: “The NDMA never received the E54 million. The finance committee should know that.

“The money available was used to respond to the damages caused by the torrential rains, which was supposed to fund other response programmes. The torrential rains had a devastating impact, as we saw huge rivers and bridges, especially at Mkhondvo, being washed away. We had to use a helicopter to reach people that needed assistance, using the little funds we had.”

Dladla reminded the MPs that in the 2024/2025 financial year budget, E120 million was placed under Head 60, which she said they had started to use as the rains continued to cause havoc.

She explained that even the E120 million was not readily available, as funds were disbursed in tranches. By the time government had to respond to the January disaster, only E60 million remained.

She noted that the NDMA has consistently operated without an adequate budget, despite its broad responsibilities. Some of the funds used to build houses for vulnerable citizens, she added, were from development partners and not the national budget.

The DPM reminded MPs that the nature of a supplementary budget offered little assurance that the portfolio would receive sufficient funding.

From the limited resources available, they procured food, including split beans and cooking oil for communities left empty-handed after the previous harvest. Although the money was not received, the agency still drew from its constrained budget to rebuild roads and bridges damaged by the rains, further allocating E25 million to the ministry of public works and Microprojects for that purpose.

“The reason we did not reach all places does not mean we were going against Parliament. We did not have financial resources,” she said.

The DPM said from their assessment, they needed E21 million more. She noted other submissions that were made by Mtetwa about the December 2023 hailstorm victims.

The DPM said: “When I see the honourable MP from Mafutseni, I know there will be a request for a roofing sheet.” She added that she was always pestering the NDMA about the same issues.

She said some families had not reroofed their houses after the 2023 damage, showing how vulnerable some people were.

Dladla said she was tempted to draw funds from the decent housing programme to assist storm victims, especially at Mafutseni, because some families had been without roofing for two years. “This is an indication that they were vulnerable.”

She said it was hard for her because the plan was that before the rainy season, those living in dilapidated houses should be in good houses built by her office.

Coming to the bad state of roads, the DPM said the very same MPs complaining should be compelling the minister of finance to seek a E1 billion loan for roads. She said if every time the rainy season starts the NDMA is expected to allocate funds to fix the roads, why not build strong ones?

“Give us money so that we can go to work and deliver as you expect us,” she said.

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