Mechanic challenges Small
MBABANE – A mechanic is challenging a decision of the Commissioner of Manzini Small Claims Court, after he issued an order against him in the absence of other court officials during the political unrest.
The Commissioner, Sifiso Ngozo, heard the matter between Kwanele Dlamini of KaPhunga, who runs a motor vehicle repair business, and Nicholas Nxumalo, in the absence of an interpreter.
When the matter was heard last year, transport was not available as a result of the political unrest and some employees were unable to go to work, including court officials.
The interpreter was also not present. However, the commissioner continued to hear the matter nonetheless. Nxumalo alleged that Dlamini did not object to the hearing of the matter under those circumstances.
Demanded
Ngozo ordered Dlamini to pay Nxumalo a sum of E4 915. Nxumalo had taken his BMW sedan to Dlamini after it developed a cylinder head-related problem. Nxumalo demanded a refund at a later stage because he had allegedly paid for a service that was not rendered.
Dlamini is now challenging the decision of the commissioner. He has applied to the High Court to review, correct and set aside the decision of the commissioner on the basis that the matter was heard in the absence of an interpreter and that the former allegedly captured wrong information into the court record.
In his founding affidavit, Dlamini told the court that on December 13, 2022, he and Nxumalo appeared before the Manzini Small Claims Court where evidence was led in the absence of an interpreter.
He submitted that the bulk of the evidence that he adduced was either omitted or wrongly captured into the court record.
According to Dlamini, it was common cause that Nxumalo’s motor vehicle was brought to the garage by one Mcoleleni Tfwala.
However, he said the court record reflected that the car was towed to the garage as it could not start. He alleged that the record also showed that the car was brought to the garage by Nxumalo, who had new parts with him and requested that the mechanic installed them.
The record, said Dlamini, further reflected that he took the engine to one Mduduzi, who charged him E400 for grinding the valves and E150 for clearing hydraulic lifters (tappers).
“It is my submission that my evidence was wrongly captured as I only took the cylinder head to engineering and not the engine as the court record reflects. Again, it is clear that the second respondent (Ngozo) also captured that the motor vehicle was brought by the first respondent (Nxumalo), which is not true,” Dlamini alleged.
He said he believed that if there was an interpreter, Ngozo would have correctly captured his evidence and the court record would not have included things that he did not say.
Cylinder head
Dlamini informed the court that when the car was brought to him, he was told to fix the cylinder head. He submitted that the court record showed that the cylinder head was attended to and Nxumalo could not be awarded E550 for engineering. However, the commissioner, according to the mechanic, also stated in the record that the court believed that the car was not attended to.
“I am advised and verily believe that