Wife left dad, returned to evict usd- children
MBABANE – A woman who left her husband and married another man allegedly returned and kicked out her former husband’s children from their homestead after their father’s death.
The children’s father was Roy Masi na of Ezulwini. Roy is said to have been a shareholder at Mabuza Masina Consultancy. One of his five daughters, Fundiswa, told the Judicial Commission of Inquiry yesterday, that she and her siblings were born of different women.
She said her father was married to one LaShongwe and they had a daughter, Nolethu, who was later appointed as the executrix of Roy’s estate. Fundiswa was the initial executrix of the estate but was removed.
Neutral
Due to the fact that Roy’s children fought among themselves, the master said she would appoint a neutral person to be the executor, and appointed Nolethu. Roy and LaShongwe are said to have separat ed in 2011 and she married a Ginindza man. Fundiswa said LaShogwe came to their father’s homestead and allegedly did as she pleased. Sibonginkhosi Masina, who appeared before the commission to gether with Fundiswa and Elliot Masina, stated that LaShongwe allegedly evicted the children and told them that the home stead belonged to her. Fundiswa said her father had built rental flats at Buka, which generated E23 000 per month.
Nolethu, according to Fundiswa, after being given letters of administration by the master, allegedly abused them and frustrated her sisters. She allegedly used the letters of administration to disconnect the water supply by Eswatini :ater Services Corporation (E:SC), where Fundiswa and others were residing. She is alleged to have attempted to do the same with the electricity but the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) refused to disconnect it. Sibonginkhosi told the commission that they reported the matter at the royal kraal, because LaShongwe allegedly converted the houses at Roy’s homestead for rental purposes after he had died.
The Governor of Ezulwini, Sifiso Khumalo, according to Sibonginkhosi, said it was wrong for LaShongwe to demolish the structures at the homestead for purposes of building rental flats. He said Khumalo instructed them to find out how LaShongwe would be compensated the money she had spent on the buildings.
The governor, according to Sibong inkhosi, pointed out that the homestead belonged to all of Roy’s children and that it was wrong for LaShongwe to kick them out. She was said to have also tried to kick out Fundiswa at Ebuka.
“She is trying hard for her daughter, Nolethu, to be the executrix, so that she can hold on to Roy’s property,” said Sibonginkhosi. Fundiswa submitted that Nolethu always carried the letters of administration and abused them. She said they did not see eye to eye on how the rentals were to be utilised.
According to the deputy master, Roy had some money in the bank, in the Ma buza Masina Consultancy, the homestead on Eswatini Nation Land in Ezulwini and rental flats at Ebuka. Fundiswa said after the death of their father, they worked well with the master until in 26 August 2021, when Nolethu was appointed executrix, allegedly without the involvement of the family.
Executrix
She said Nolethu was appointed after she (Fundiswa) had been removed as the executrix. Nolethu, according to Fundis wa, was given letters of administration on the same day of her appointment. She ar gued that while she was the executrix, she went for five months without the letters of administration being issued. The veracity of these allegations is yet to be tested by the commission, which is expected to call some of the parties mentioned during the proceedings by the complainants.
Deputy Master Lindelwa Magagula said Fundiswa failed to account for over E200 000 and admitted to have taken the money. Magagula said that was not the only amount she failed to account for and did not account for the January rentals as well. The other beneficiaries, according to Magagula, brought it to the attention of the master that Fundiswa did as she pleased. She Roy’s children fought among themselves and the younger chil dren suffered in the process. This estate, according to Magagula, is complex.
The deputy master also told the com mission that it took long for Fundiswa to be given the letters of administration because she failed to provide the master with the necessary bond of security.
She said the letters of administration could not be issued if the master had not been provided with a sufficient security bond. She said this was explained during the appointment of an executor.
Judge Maxine Langwenya asked why the assistant master appointed Nolethu yet she and Fundiswa, and the others, were always fighting, yet a neutral person had to be appointed. “:e tried to sit down with them to see where they disagreed. Maybe it was a mistake on our part to appoint Nolethu. They come to meetings already fighting over the E200 000 for rentals and she (Fundiswa) admitted to using the money for her benefit and said she would pay it back,” Magagula said. Elliot on the other hand told the com mission that Fundiswa did not steal the money but had spent it on their father’s tombstone, building a wall around the homestead, razor wire and other things. He blamed LaShongwe for influencing her daughters, because when the family held meetings and decisions were taken, LaShongwe’s children changed tune after going to their mother. Elliot pointed out that the children might kill each other, as some of them called thugs from Mbhu leni on the others at some point.
He said it was painful to see LaShong we leaving her marital home and coming to Roy’s homestead and evict his (Roy) children. “She left us officially. A lawyer should not be appointed as a neutral person because he would have to be paid. I have been to the umphakatsi and the King’s Office and got threats,” said Elliot. He also enquired if all of Roy’s children could be appointed as executors. He blamed LaShongwe for allegedly causing the problems, because she wants her daughter, Nolethu to be the executrix.
“The master should not have appointed Nolethu because they fight.”
The deputy master said the letters of administration did not give Nolethu authority to cut the water supply for anyone, and if that was true, she was abusing the letters.