Principal magistrate irked by police

PIGG’S PEAK – Principal Magistrate Phathaphatha Mdluli is livid that police officers are failing to serve a court order to their colleague.

Mdluli issued an order in which the applicant, Sihle Shongwe, wanted police officer Bongani Hlophe to return a refrigerator purchased from Best Electric.

The matter was initially heard as a peace-binding between the two and it was later agreed that Hlophe, who was based in Pigg’s Peak and had been transferred to Nhlangano, would return the refrigerator.

In the court order issued on May 11, 2021, the principal magistrate ordered that Hlophe should return the refrigerator. He further ordered the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) to serve the court order.

Furious

However, yesterday, the magistrate was furious that the police had been failing to act on the court order. He wondered why since the issuance of the court order, the police officer had not been served. It has been four months since the court order was issued but that it had not been served to the police officer.

Mdluli noted that there seemed to be no attempt by the police to serve the court order to their colleague.

It was also documented in the court papers that the magistrate contacted one of the REPS legal officers in the Human Resource Department.

The principal magistrate complained that since he issued the order in May 2021, ordering the police to deliver it to Hlophe, they had not done so. In the order, the magistrate ordered that Hlophe should deliver the refrigerator to Best Electric. However, as at yesterday, the court order had not been delivered to Hlophe by the police, leaving the principal magistrate wondering why this was the case.

The matter is pending in court.