Govt opposes application to declare Eleanor dead
MBABANE - Government is opposing the application to have Eleanor Mbhamali, who disappeared 24 years ago, presumed dead.
Eleanor, who was a member of the Swaziland National Council now known as Liqoqo, disappeared on September 3, 1996. According to previous media reports, she was last seen leaving a hotel situated in Mbabane after spending a night. Eleanor, who was a well known businesswoman operating a jewellery shop in Mbabane, was the wife of former Member of Parliament ( MP) and Deputy Speaker Petros Mbhamali, who is now late.
Her daughter, Lungile Mbhamali, has since moved an application at the High Court where she is seeking an order declaring her mother ( Eleanor) born on April 25, 1938, to have died.
The application is, however, being met with resistance as on Friday, lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office filed a notice of intention to oppose. The reasons for opposing the application would be outlined in papers which the lawyers from the chamber of the AG are yet to file.
The applicant ( Lungile) is also seeking an order directing the office of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to enter into the register that Eleanor was presumed to have died by virtue of her disappearance for a period in excess of 24 years. Lungile is further praying for an order directing that the estate of Eleanor be wound up under the Office of the Master of the High Court.
In her application, Lungile informed the court that she was the biological daughter of Eleanor and Petros. She submitted that it was pertinent to enlighten the court about the background of her mother’s disappearance. The applicant ( Lungile) informed the court that her parents got married on October 3, 1969, and her father passed away on April 19, 2011.
She narrated to the court that on September 3, 1996, her mother left for work in the early hours of the morning with the promise of returning home later on in the day after knocking off from work.
“On that fateful evening, she never came back. My late father went around looking for her and a search party was commissioned, but the search was in futility. My father reported to the police where upon a missing person file was opened and an investigation ensued and it has been ongoing for the past 24 years,” submitted the applicant.
Lungile went on to tell the court that, notwithstanding an all- out search party which combed the four corners of the Kingdom of Eswatini, there was no trace of her mother.
According to the applicant, posters were placed strategically in all towns and other convenient places so that members of the public could help to find her mother.
“At the time my father passed away in 2011, there was still not the slightest trace of my mother and no hint as to her whereabouts. Her disappearance even dominated the local newspapers for years, but there was still no trace of her,” said the applicant.
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Lungile highlighted that after the demise of her father and sister, she had taken further steps by advertising in the local newspapers, hoping that maybe someone would come through with information that would lead them to the whereabouts of her mother.
“While my father was still alive, we tried carrying out our own investigations, but nothing came out of it. It is 10 years since my father passed on with a heavy heart and my mother is still missing,” contended Lungile.
Appearing for Lungile is Mlungisi Khumalo of Khumalo Attorneys, Madlenya House in Mbabane.