Princess sues Matsapha Town Board E3.1m

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M– Princess Kholwaphi is suing the Matsapha Town Board E3.1 million for losses emanating from an alleged constructive dismissal and reputational damage.

The princess was employed by the Matsapha Municipal Council as Corporate Services Manager, before she tendered her resignation in 2019 on grounds of constructive dismissal on February 26, 2020.

Her claim emanates from a Commission of Inquiry, in which it was alleged that she had failed to produce certificates warranting her employment at council. In her particulars of claim, she alleged that she suffered loss of earning amounting to E1 632 000, as well as contumelia (humiliation and embarrassment/emotional strain) worth E700 000. She also stated that she endured pain and suffering which is E300 000 and other presumed damages are worth E500 000.

Also cited as second and third defendants in the matter is the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (an office held by Clifford Mamba), as well as the Attorney General (AG) Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo.

Princess Kholwaphi had been employed by the council since august 28, 2018 as corporate services manager. She is represented by Dynasty Inc. Attorneys.

Subjected

“On or about February 19 to February 2020, the plaintiff was subjected by the first defendant (Council) to an unbearable and/or embarrassing and/or prejudicial treatment, wherein she was subjected to a public commission of enquiry concerning her academic credentials and/or qualifications to hold the post of corporate services manager.”

The particulars of claim states that the public enquiry on Princess Kholwaphi’s academic qualifications, which was widely reported in the Times of Eswatini and Eswatini Observer, including online publications portrayed her to be a fraud who did not possess the relevant qualifications to assume the position. The lawyers also said the inquiry portrayed that Princess Kholwaphi had misled the Council when she was hired without the proper qualifications being obtained to validate her appointment.

“That the plaintiff unduly obtained the position on the premise of a relationship with the former chairman of the first defendant who was part of the recruitment panel when the plaintiff was hired.”

In the inquiry report, which is also attached as part of the supporting documents, it had been alleged that the princess was previously in a relationship with Sandlane Zwane, the former chairman of the Board.

The recruitment had been conducted by AM Recruitment, but required endorsement of the Council. The court papers also stated that the public inquiry portrayed that the whole recruitment was a fraud and that the Council had usurped the powers of the consultant that had been engaged to do the conscription. It had also been stated that the conduct of Princess Kholwaphi had to be investigated by the Royal Eswatini Police Service and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

ReaSonable

“The general view from the reasonable, ordinary reader of these publications, as well as from a professional point of view and/or from the view of the ordinary man in the society of the plaintiff is that she is a fraud and had been hired to a position to which she did not have the academic qualifications to occupy same,” the court document reads.

The princess also stated that the general view of the ordinary reader was that the hiring of the plaintiff was a result of a corrupt and fraudulent process ‘whereas favour and nepotism’ was used in the recruitment process. She said she had also been portrayed as an uneducated and unqualified person who did not deserve to be in that position.

This is despite that she had tendered a Masters’ Degree certificate.

“The conduct of the first and second defendants was reckless and mala fide in that the plaintiff possessed all the necessary qualifications for this job and was indeed qualified to hold the position as advertised by the first defendant.

“The commission of enquiry was therefore not in the public interest for the plaintiff to be subjected to such a public hearing in circumstances where the plaintiff’s academic credentials were common cause and the first defendant was at all material times aware of the plaintiff’s academic history and credentials.”

M– The Eswatini Television Authority (ETVA) has not reinstated staff that was dismissed from the institution, despite a recommendation by the parliamentary select committee.

The staff was dismissed for varying offences centred on misconduct, committed during the era of the late former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bongani S’gcokosiyancinca Dlamini also knoen as ‘S’gcoko’.

The House of Assembly select committee headed by Member of Parliament (MP) Musa Kunene, was formed in 2020, to investigate allegations of corruption, nepotism and maladministration within the State broadcasters – ETVA and the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Service (EBIS). One of its landmark recommendations was for the dismissal of the now late ETVA CEO Dlamini and the removal of former EBIS Director Martin Dlamini and his Deputy Gcinangaye Tsabedze. S’gcoko subsequently retired with perks, while Dlamini and Tsabedze were transferred to other government ministries in Housing and Urban Development and Tourism respectively. Sgcoko died from COVID-19 related complications last year, about six months after a his departure from ETVA.