Times Of Swaziland: A HOT CHAIR IN A HOT AUCTION

A HOT CHAIR IN A HOT AUCTION
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BY KWANELE DHLADHLA on 23/03/2019 10:03:00


MBABANE – A hot seat! The swinging chair, which previously sat Eswatini
National Housing Board (ENHB) Mduduzi Dlamini at the plush Dlanubeka Building
(third floor) was a hit at the furniture auction conducted by Swazi Auctioneers
yesterday.
The full grain black leather executive chair eventually went under the hammer
for E7 200 as nine bidders, who had shown interest when the reserve price of E2
000 was read out fell off one after the other. The bids were increasing by E100
until it reached its final price.
enough
As if the tough contest was not enough, the auctioneer, Sakhile Ndzimandze, had
to restart the bidding process for the chair all over again after there had been
a minor misunderstanding as to who made the highest bid between two middle aged
gentlemen.
resumed
However, when the bidding resumed, Ndzimandze did not restart bidding from the
initial reserve price of E2 000 since it had become crystal clear that the final
price would be far more than that judging from the number of interested bidders.
It should be mentioned that by then, only three bidders were still eager to
outbid one another to own the chair which was used by one of the leading
parastatals in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
When the soft spoken gentleman in a chequered shirt was asked what had prompted
the determination to own the executive chair, he politely declined to neither be
interviewed nor be named.
cheered
It should, however, be mentioned that some of the bidders cheered him on saying
he had made a wise decision to buy the chair for E7 200 when taking into
consideration its good condition and soft leather touch.
One of the bidders who was part of the over 100 people who attended the public
auction claimed that the chair’s market value goes up to E20 000. It could,
however, not be established as to what the market value of the chair was by the
time of compiling this report.
As the auction proceeded, it seemed more people were keen to lay their hands on
the humble CEO’s furniture as his antique executive office desk was also
auctioned for E3 000 from a reserve price of E2 000.
raised
Dlamini’s wall mounted filing cabinet was auctioned for E4 200 as bids were
once again raised by E1 000 which had also been the reserve price.
The cabinet was bought by Peter Maseko, who mentioned that he was determined to
purchase cabinet because it is durable and of high quality.
“I wanted to buy something genuine that will change my office outlook,”
Maseko explained.
Other pricey items at the auction was the mahogany executive meeting table with
four black leather chairs that was sold for E11 000 and mahogany executive desk
with a classy swinging chair which amassed bids to the value of E11 400. The
good as new mahogany furniture was stationed at the office bearing a sign
‘director of institutional housing’.
A panel range four-way cluster workstation with four high back chairs also
proved to be one the crowd’s favourites as it was auctioned for E9 000 from a
reserve price of E5 000.