Times Of Swaziland: ROBERT ZWANE DIED A MILLIONAIRE

ROBERT ZWANE DIED A MILLIONAIRE
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BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 25/09/2020 22:21:00


MANZINI - The late former Senator and businessman, Robert Zwane started business
as a vendor, but he died a millionaire.
This is according to information that is contained in his obituary and further
confirmed by former Deputy Senate President Ngomuyayona Gamedze, who was
speaking on behalf of Zwane’s friends. This was during his memorial service,
which was held at Metropolitan Evangelical Church in Manzini yesterday.
Khabonina, who is one of the late former Senator’s daughters, read her
father’s obituary and she revealed that he used to work as a chef at Swazi
National High School and he started a fruits and vegetable selling business at
the main gate of the school. On the other hand, the former deputy Senate
president said Zwane died a millionaire. According to his obituary, Robert Lobi
Zwane was born in 1950 and he was the second born of the late Samuel Kufa Zwane
and the late Hendrianah Salwane Mabuza. He was born in Mankayane under the
Manzini Region and went to Musi Primary School in 1959 before continuing with
his education at Cana Mission School.
Zwane worked as a chef at Swazi National High School, which was Matsapha High
School then.
Passion
He began a fruit and vegetable selling business at the main gate of the school,
where his wife Sibongile Dlamini worked. His strong passion for business made
him start another one; buying and selling cattle. In the early 1970s, he started
a butchery business in Malkerns. Later on, this business gave birth to another
butchery at Sicelweni (kaKhoza) and this marked the beginning of his success in
business. He developed himself until he had yet another butchery in Manzini,
which was passionately known as Ekhaya Town Butchery. The business moved to
Manzini Bus Rank where he expanded and spread his wings to bottle stores and
other businesses.
The obituary also revealed that Zwane had a strong passion for livestock, cattle
in particular. He invested so much into cattle farming. After the devastating
drought which hit the country in 1992, he made a huge loss. That sad experience
inspired him to venture into the property business. As a result, he owned
properties both in Eswatini and South Africa.
He was also the core founder of Eswatini Community Police, an organisation which
fights crime in communities. He served in Parliament as a Senator from 2008 to
2013. He died in a hospital in South Africa after a short illness.
Brave
He is survived by his four wives and many children. He also had a few
grandchildren, his elder brother and two sisters. He will be remembered as
someone who was brave, a dreamer, a fighter and outspoken. “Rest in eternal
peace Mangweni. Your legacy shall live on,” Khabonina said.
She then quoted a verse from the Bible, Revelation 14:13 which reads; ‘Blessed
are those who die in the Lord, for they will rest from their labour and their
deeds shall follow them’. Meanwhile, the former Deputy Senate President,
Ngomuyayona Gamedze said he was proud that his former colleague (Zwane) died a
millionaire because he was a hard worker. “Yes, he died a millionaire as he
owned farms and businesses in both Eswatini and South Africa,” he emphasised.
He said it was a pleasure that he was associated with the late Zwane. He said in
Parliament, he was Zwane’s boss as he occupied the seat of being Deputy Senate
President. He added that as they worked with the deceased Zwane for five years
(2008-2013), almost every day there would be a motion that community police
should be paid. On another note, he said he failed Zwane together with his
former colleagues of the 2008-2013 term as he asked them to take him to the King
so that he could be a lecturer at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA). He said
at the institution, Zwane said he wanted to teach the students business. He said
this was because Zwane was worried that after graduation, the graduates could
not even start a business because they did not have knowledge about it.
On another note, Ndzingeni Member of Parliament (MP) Lutfo Dlamini, who was
representing Parliament, said Zwane did not go to the House of Assembly for
money, but to serve the country. He said this was because there was a time when
Senators complained about their salaries and at that time, Zwane was not even
aware how much they were paid. He said that was proof that he was there to serve
the nation.