JUSTICE OR MONEY?
Ten-year court battle headed for abrupt end
A10-year court battle between an aunt and her nephews for millions-worth inheritance might come to an end this week if the aggrieved agree to a proposed outof-court settlement. The court came to a total standstill last week when it was expected that the trial would continue in a matter where aggrieved Dawn Masenya has dragged her aunt Shereen Pandor and cousins (Pandor’s children) to court over the estate of the deceased wealthy couple Abdul and Doreen Joseph. Doreen died in 2008 and Abdul in 2012. Together they had two daughters Yolinda Masenya and Pandor. The former died in 2002 leaving behind three children -Dawn, Renee, and Theo Masenya.
When the Will of Abdul was read after he died, there was no mention of Yolinda and her children. Only Pandor and her children were cited as heirs of Abdul’s entire estate. Unhappy and suspicious that there was possible fraud and theft committed, Dawn went to court contesting the Will which was signed by Abdul in 2010. Dawn suspected that the Will was forged or that at the time it was made, her grandfather was sick and not in a healthy mental state to understand what he was doing. She told the court of the possibility of the existence of another Will as it was once mentioned in one of the family meetings before the old man died.
From 2013 until now, it has been a tug of war between Masenya and Pandor families.
Well, at least until recently when Specially-Elected Member of Parliament (SEMP) Unity Dow brought forward a joint Will of Abdul and Doreen signed in 2003. Dow took the stand last week and shared how the Will ‘mysteriously’ appeared on her table. She does not know how or who brought it to her office.
It was after Dow told the court how she found the 2003 Will that this publication learned that the respondents asked that the matter be settled out of court. Ofentse Khumomotse representing the respondents (Pandor and her children) was heard before the arrival of Judge Ranier Busang in court saying to Rita Keevil, the lawyer for the plaintiff: “So you want us to come here, observe you making submissions and say to the Judge, she is right and that will be an indication to you that we do not want to be here for the next two years?”
Keevil responded, “I am not sure I am with you there.” But last week Thursday when the trial session was expected to continue with more witnesses called to the stand, it was a different story and atmosphere.
The session scheduled for 0830hrs never happened. The families through their lawyers came together and a proposal was tabled. They then told Judge Busang that they would present a draft consent settlement order to him after an agreement is reached. “We should be done with this matter next week, totally done. It has been a long journey from 2013,” Khumomotse said in court when asked that they secure trial dates. It appeared that the lawyer was confident that the offer they made to the applicants was for the best. Reached for comment, Dawn who has all along vowed to expose the possible rot and fraud committed confirmed that a proposal has been made to them and they are still discussing it.
Should Dawn take the bait, the case will end this week. If she doesn’t, the trial will continue and even drag to the year 2023. Moreover, should the case end with an out-of-court settlement, it will be interesting to see if Dawn will go all the way for justice that she has vowed to do especially by holding accountable the current Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Anna Mokgethi whom she says is responsible for every pain she endured in the past 10 years in court.
At the start of the case in 2013, Dawn cited Mokgethi as the first defendant in the matter in her capacity as Abdul’s executrix and lawyer.
Dawn wanted to understand why Mokgethi made his grandfather sign a Will while she knew that there was a joint Will prepared in 2003 by the couple.
However, Mokgethi’s defence in the matter was struck out in 2019 after Judge Busang said Mokgethi had persistently defaulted and failed for years to do anything that will help advance the progress of the case. At the time the Judge feared that the longer the case was delayed, the more the real parties (beneficiaries) would continue to suffer while Mokgethi remained a peripheral defendant in the matter.