Owed businessman occupies debtor’s house
MAYIWANE – Is she on the run?
This question emanates from the mysterious disappearance of the daughter of a late businessman whose whereabouts remain unknown.
The woman reportedly sold her bottle store for E180 000 to a certain entrepreneur who later discovered that the sold business was in rental arrears.
Due to the arrears, he could not run the business. The property owner locked him out.
Seeing that the woman was nowhere to be seen, the man went to her deserted home and occupied it.
The name of the woman is withheld as she could not respond to our calls. Attempts to get hold of her began on Tuesday.
Her family members advised this publication to look for her and get all facts about this issue from the horse’s mouth. They also do not know her whereabouts.
Investigations by the Eswatini News revealed that the businessman even reported the woman in question to the Buhleni Police Post. There is a theory that she could be in South Africa (SA).
Information gathered is that the entrepreneur wanted his money back. Basically, sources said he was running his own bottle store at Timphisini and wanted to expand his liquor business to Buhleni.
“It was unfortunate that the bottle store at Buhleni had accumulated rental arrears,” one of his close relatives said in an interview.
The relative said he was not allowed to run the business at Buhleni until the rental arrears were settled. It could not be ascertained how much the business owed in rentals.
It has been established that her sudden disappearance also left her family in a state of confusion. They were, however, consoled by reports that she was still alive.
Investigations unearthed that she was keeping in touch with other family members.
“What is puzzling to us is that she deserted a beautiful house she had built through her hard-work,” the relative also said.
The woman’s profile has shown that she was a well-known businessperson in this peri-urban area. “After she had disappeared for some weeks, we got worried,” the source added. The relative said the confusion started clearing up when the already mentioned businessman from Timphisini inquired about her whereabouts and demanded his money back.
“That is when we knew there was trouble, but unfortunately, this is a matter that can only be sorted out by her because we do not know their agreement with him,” the relative said.
When this publication paid a visit to the bottle store in question earlier this week, it was indeed found closed and not operational for over a year now. Some of those operating other businesses adjacent to it confirmed that the business structure has been closed for a while now.
Popular
“It was one of the most popular stores around this area before it was closed down. We were led to believe that Mr…who operates other bottle stores, would be the new tenant, but this has not happened to date. There are lots of stories of what led to the closure of the bottle store,” the lady, who asked to remain unknown, said.
One of the ‘missing’ businesswoman’s relatives asserted that as a family, they were not sure of her whereabouts.
“The information we are getting is that she is sometimes seen at Nyakatfo with another lady but she spends most of her time in South Africa where she has another residence.
“The trouble is that the people who have issues with her are busy asking us about her location. Even the police inquired about this issue because he (businessman) reported it to them,” the relative, who also preferred anonymity, said. One of the businesswoman’s daughters, politely asked not to comment on the issue. She, however, did not deny being summoned by the police on the whereabouts of her mother.
“I would suggest that you contact her directly because she is the only person with the right answers to what you are asking me about. I am living my life peacefully and do not want to be involved in her issues,” she said.
Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni could only confirm that the matter in question was informally reported to them by one of the aggrieved parties.
“Unfortunately, the complaint was not formally lodged at the police station but it is true that the matter you are asking me about was verbally reported to the Buhleni Police Post,” Mnguni briefly stated. Efforts were made to get the businesswoman’s comment but both her local and South African numbers were not reachable.