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MBABANE – The wife of a deceased co-director of Swazi Lifts (Pty) Ltd has been ordered to return a motor vehicle which she claimed belonged to her husband.

One of the directors of Swa]i /ifts, Mabandla 1xumalo, told the court that the motor vehicle, a -eep registered (S' $M, belonged to him. He said he and Sihle 3rescious Mhlanga¶s husband, the late Mdudu]i Shabangu, were employees of (swatini &ollege of Technology (&OT , as well as co-directors of Swa]i /ifts.

1xumalo, who instituted the proceedings indvuna against Mhlanga, submitted that in , he purchased the car from one &onstance 1ombulelo /omaho]a. He said the purchase price was (

, which he duly paid and took possession of the vehicle.

Reasons

1xumalo informed the court that the car was parked at his workplace. He said due to security reasons, he reTuested Shabangu to keep the vehicle at his residence at Sidwashini.

He submitted that in , Shabangu died and his estate was reported to the Office of the Master of the High &ourt. He told the court that he was not aware as to who was appointed as the executor of the estate.

1xumalo told the court that the car was still kept at Shabangu¶s place of residence in the custody of Mhlanga.

He said during funeral arrangements of Shabangu¶s mother, who died last month, he noticed that Mhlanga was using the car.

“I have also seen the first respondent Mhlanga in subseTuent occasions utilising the motor vehicle for her own personal use. I informed her that she was not supposed to use the vehicle and she informed me in no uncertain terms that she would not return the vehicle to me and that it belonged to her husband,” 1xumalo alleged.

He said he was the owner of the vehicle, having purchased it from /omaho]a.

He said the purported assumption that the vehicle belonged to the late Shabangu was untrue. He alleged that the evidence of the fact that the car did not belong to Shabangu was that it was not listed among the items in the inventory under the estate.

Impression

“$t all material times after the death of the deceased, I was under the impression that the motor vehicle was listed in the inventory of the deceased Mdudu]i Shabangu, hence I did not move any application to vindicate my rights.

“It is only after I asked my attorneys

to inspect the file when it was revealed that in fact it had not been listed,” he added.

1xumalo said he was seeking an order for the return of the motor vehicle and that it be granted ex parte without Mhlanga¶s knowledge .

He said he had reasonable apprehension that if the application was moved the normal way, Mhlanga might conceal or dispose of the car. He submitted that at the moment he was not aware where the vehicle was kept.

$ccording to 1xumalo, the car was depreciating since Mhlanga was using it on a daily basis.

He said it was likely that it was kept in the open and exposed to bad weather conditions.