Master developed unusual interest in estate - probe told
MBABANE – The master who was in office around 2002 has been accused of sending 60 armed police officers when removing cattle from a family whose members are yet to benefit from their father’s estate.
7he Master of the High &ourt, &hurchill Dlamini, who is now deceased, is alleged to have developed an interest in the estate of Mathuthuka 6hongwe and purportedly did as he pleased with the estate.
7he allegations were made by Mathuthuka’s son, Jabulani 6hongwe before the Judicial &ommission of ,nquiry, which is investigating allegations of misconduct in the Master’s Office.
Jabulani was in the company of his stepsister, 3holile Mashinini, when appearing before the commission yesterday. He said his mother could not make it because of bad weather conditions.
Assets of the estate were a farm, 0 cattle, two shops, three motor vehicles and a tractor. Jabulani said there were 60 other cattle that his father was keeping at another 6hongwe homestead and at Mangisi Dlamini’s homestead.
Married
Jabulani said they knew Mathuthuka to be married to three women in terms of (swatini /aw and &ustom. He alleged that the master did as he deemed fit with the estate without consulting members of the family. According to Jabulani, none of the beneficiaries got anything from the estate, 26 years later.
He narrated that after Mathuthuka died in , the master allegedly sold the farm and the cattle. He said nothing was done with the motor vehicles, including the tractor.
He said at a ne[t-of-kin meeting, the family did not agree with the e[ecutor who was nominated by their father in his Will. Jabulani submitted that his father’s Will was not followed and the master at the time did as he deemed fit and they did not know why.
He informed the commission that the master appointed 7hulani Masina, who is now deceased to be the e[ecutor. Jabulani stated that the estate was never wound up and the master allegedly sold the farm and cattle, yet no meeting was ever held before the property was sold.
He said among the cattle that were µtaken by the master’ were 3holile’s lobola cattle and emabheka and insulamnyembeti belonging to their mother, 5ose.
7his, according to Jabulani, happened two years after Mathuthuka’s death. 7he commission asked if the beneficiaries ever appeared before Masina. “1o, we were told that Masina was working with the Master’s Office, as they had appointed him. We were not communicating with him,” said Jabulani.
He alleged that the Master’s Office sent 60 armed police officers when some of the cattle were removed and they were traumatised. “0 cattle and the farm, as well as the 60 other cattle were taken away. We went to the master to follow up on the matter and we found that the master was doing as he pleased and not communicating with us.
“7he master was &hurchill Dlamini at that time. We were surprised that he even came to the farm and we believed that they had developed an interest upon seeing that we were powerless,” Jabulani alleged. He also submitted that he and his brother were arrested and paid bail amounting to ( 000 each after appearing at /ubulini &ircuit &ourt.
He alleged that they were accused of obstructing the master in his duties. According to Jabulani, this was done for the purpose of keeping them away while the master dealt with the estate as he deemed fit.
“7he master was trying to keep us away to prevent us from speaking up. After paying bail, our case was never pursued.”
Jabulani told the commission that the farm, according to Deeds records, was subsequently owned by 9ukani )armers.
Judge Ma[ine /angwenya asked if they ever communicated with the master.
He said at the time they held meetings, their contributions were never considered. Jabulani said they even reported Masina to the law society for allegedly selling the estate property without consulting the beneficiaries. He submitted that they were shown documents suggesting that Masina had been given the go-ahead by the Master’s Office.
“We blame the Master’s Office. We believed that first preference should have been given to the family. We wonder why the property was sold because our father did not have debts.
“We got to see the liquidation and distribution account after we put pressure on the law society and they directed Masina to account. 1one of the things mentioned in the distribution account could be found and it only e[isted on paper,” Jabulani alleged.
He informed the commission that the two shops were operational when Mathuthuka died. He said there was a dispute and the master called them and advised that a neutral person, not a relative, should be appointed as a curator to keep the shops operational.
He said they preferred ,rene Mlotsa, who had worked in the family for a long time. However, after her appointment, submitted Jabulani, she brought the keys to the shops and told the family that there was no stock in the shops as she was taking the daily takings to the master.
Relationship
“We also discovered that there was a relationship between ,rene and the master, which contributed to us not getting anything.”
Jabulani said they tried many times to get the truth and benefit from the estate without success. He said if their father had debts, the family could have met to discuss if anything was to be sold.
He submitted that they were unhappy that the cattle were sold for around (600 each and their mother was in paid over the sale of the cattle.
7he Will, according to Jabulani, was challenged by the senior wife through the late /awyer &ollin 1tiwane. 7he senior wife claimed to have been married in civil rites and Jabulani said they wondered why she made that claim because there had been other marriages before hers. 7he senior wife is said to have died without benefitting from the estate. According to Jabulani, the worst thing the master did was to sell the farm.