Late Jomo left E200k in bucket - sister alleges
MBABANE - A sister to the late Manzini businessman, Jomo Khumalo, testified before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the operations of the Master’s Office yesterday, that her deceased brother left around E200 000 in a bucket before he died.
The sister, Khosi, told the com mission that she received infor mation from her brother about the stashed cash, which was proceeds from the sale of a mini bus.
Khosi appeared before the com mission with -omo’s wife, Phi winhlanhla 'lamini, to submit on -omo and $grippa Khumalo’s properties.
$grippa, who died in 00 , was -omo and Khosi’s father, with other children.
Shot
-omo died in 0 , after he was shot near the Golf Course traffic circle in Manzini, while travel ling with his wife and children, from his homestead at Ngculwini. Khosi went to the commission on allegations that she was excluded from the estate, despite that it was part of the family inheritance.
She said her brother had been a successful businessman after tak ing over his father’s businesses.
She told the commission that her brother owned four kombis, a Ford Ranger double cab vehicle,
trailers, a home and cross bor der permits.
$ccording to Khosi, her brother sold a mini bus and told her that the money was in his house.
However, -omo’s wife disputed knowledge of some of the items, saying -omo owned six trailers, a home, four kombis, the Ford Ranger and permits.
Phiwinhlanhla disputed knowl edge of any money which Khosi claimed she knew.
She said -omo’s other siblings facilitated most of the Master’s Office processes. Khosi explained to the commission that she knew the existence of the money that was allegedly denied by -omo’s spouse.
³He told me,´ she began, her gaze flickering towards the stern faces of the commission mem bers, ³That there was money in his house, stashed in a bucket, after he sold the kombi,´ she alleged.
$ collective gasp rippled through the room, shattering the tense silence. Khosi’s revelation had thrown a wrench into the proceedings, casting doubt over the existing narrative and raising a host of questions. The commis sioners asked about the actual amount of money, which was allegedly in the bucket, as Khosi had claimed.
Revealed
,n her response, she said she did not know the actual figure but revealed that it was allegedly around ( 00 000.
Khosi alleged that her brother did not specify all the details but said there was money in his house in a bucket, a few weeks before he died.
³, am not the only one who knows about the money. , can’t come here and talk lies. , know that there was money in the house and further, there are missing trailers,´ Khosi alleged.
$dding, she explained that her brother told her that the money would be used to pay for his chil dren’s paternal damages, refur bish his father’s flats at Ngwane Park, and repay a ( 0 000 loan to his uncle.
She pleaded with Phiwinhlanhla to be straightforward and reveal all facts. Khosi alleged that all her father’s belongings were left to her and -omo.
Founder
³$s a founder of the business, he gave everything to me and my brother. -omo continued to run the business because, to my father, he was like his manager. Now , have been excluded from assets belonging to the Khumalo family and everything was taken by other people,´ she alleged.
Khosi continued to peddle alle gations, accusing Phiwinhlanhla of selling her brother’s trailers and further excluding her from her father’s estate. She alleged that -omo’s spouse took everything that was meant for her and she was left with nothing.
Furthermore, she claimed she was forcefully removed from her father’s flats at Ngwane Park, after they were allegedly sold without her knowledge.
³, was never alerted about the property sale. My father didn’t say we should sell the flats, but he mentioned that this is where , would stay and benefit from the rent,´ she alleged.
She told the commissioners that she would never stop defending
her family’s assets.
.hosi stated that as a fam ily, they had allegedly initi ated several family meeting invites to 3hiwinhlanhla, but she did not respond to their reTuest.
Meanwhile, Man]ini As sistant Master of the +igh &ourt, Makhosa]ana Mdlu li, admitted that .humalo had flats and kombi permits. Mdluli said a meeting was held in , where -omo was elected as the executor of his father’s assets.
She disclosed that .hu malo had children and a suggestion was raised that rentals for the 1gwane 3ark flats were to be used to pay for their maintenance and school fees for some of the children, who were at school at that time.
Kombis
According to Mdluli, .hu malo had no kombis under his name but permits that he rented out.
She explained that when making the distribution, they made claims against the flats.
³When -omo died in , the .humalo family ap proached our offices. We had several meetings with the siblings, but .hosi ignored those meetings. We called her but she didn’t come. ,n cases where she came, she would leave the meeting before it ended, leaving her siblings,´ Mdluli alleged.
Mdluli stated that during the meetings, the late -omo was replaced as the executor and the siblings allegedly stated that -omo was the only one who was able to manage the flats.
According to Mdluli, the family suggested that a uni versity tuition fee should be paid for the last born child, who was the only one at school and doing his final year.
Rent
She revealed that the flats were then sold for ( , where .hosi was allegedly collecting rent for herself.
Mdluli said the money was shared eTually among the children and -omo’s wife got her husband’s share.
³She was never involved in selling the flats. After selling the flats, she got ( which was -omo’s share,´ Mdluli alleged.
She went on to state that .hosi did not respond when called to get her share. Md luli alleged that .hosi was called several times, and asked for her banking details, but she ignored their corre spondence.