SBIS’S NKONOTJA IN ADULTERY ROW

MBABANE – EBIS personality Donatus ‘Nkonotja’ Zwane is allegedly involved in an adulterous affair with a police officer, who is married to a businessman.

The businessman, Sipho Dlamini, has alleged that the police officer he married in terms of Eswatini Law and Custom, Hlobisile Treasure Vilakati of Mbekelweni, fraudulently obtained a court order to compel the registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths (BMDs) to expunge records of their marriage from the register. He said he was shocked by this discovery and that Vilakati wanted to marry the radio personality. According to Dlamini, he was informed by Vilakati’s relative that she was making preparations to get married to Zwane of Lobamba. Dlamini has since approached the High Court for an order rescinding the June 20, 2022 court order which he alleged to have been obtained by Vilakati through fraudulent means.  He also wants the court to order the registrar of BMDs to re-register his marriage to Vilakati.

In his founding affidavit, Dlamini informed the court that before his and Vilakati’s families deliberated on their rocky marriage, his family had already reported the alleged adulterous relationship of his wife and Zwane at Nkhanini Royal Kraal, where the latter paid allegiance. He said when Vilakati’s family arrived at his homestead to deliberate on their marital dispute, they were advised that the issue could not be dealt with prior to the deliberations on the adulterous relationship between Vilakati and Zwane at Nkhanini Royal Kraal. “I must mention that the said Donatus Zwane repeatedly defied summons by the Nkhanini Royal Kraal to attend to the matter. On more than three occasions I would go to the Nkhanini Royal Kraal with my family with the hope that the matter would be dealt with, but in vain as the said Donatus would not avail himself,” said Dlamini.

The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. Vilakati and the other respondents are yet to file their answering papers. Dlamini is represented by Bonginkhosi Xaba of Xaba Attorneys. The businessman submitted that upon being denied audience by his family, Vilakati and her family allegedly returned to Engevini Royal Kraal where they reported that his family had refused to have the matter deliberated upon, due to the fact that there was the pending adultery issue at Nkhanini Royal Kraal.

Refusal

The leader of the Vilakati family, Sipho Sihlongonyane, according to Dlamini, informed the Engevini Royal Kraal that due to the Dlamini family’s refusal to have the matter deliberated upon pending the adultery issue at Nkhanini Royal Kraal, Vilakati had taken a decision to return to her parental home as she was terminating their marriage. He said Sihlongonyane put it clear that Vilakati had come to Engevini Royal Kraal to say her goodbyes to him, the Dlamini family and the royal kraal. “As expected, the royal kraal gave my family an opportunity to respond to the statement by the first respondent’s (Vilakati) family. I personally responded and informed the gathering that I would not entertain the matter before the one pending at Nkhanini Royal Kraal had been finalised. My family concurred with me, thus our meeting concluded without the matter being deliberated upon. There was never any agreement between me and the first respondent to have our marriage dissolved,” Dlamini added.

He submitted that after the meeting at Engevini Royal Kraal, he made a request for minutes of the meeting but was instead given an unstamped letter dated June 20, 2022 summarising briefly what had been said by Vilakati’s family. The businessman also told the court that when he went to Engevini Royal Kraal to have the letter stamped, the Secretary of the inner council, Clement Ngcamphalala, allegedly changed the date of the letter to December 7, 2022 and its author to Chief Mshikashika II, as having written it on behalf of the royal kraal.
He argued that it was completely untrue that there were several meetings held at their marital homestead at Mndobandoba regarding the matter. Dlamini said the only meeting that was held at their marital homestead was about Vilakati allegedly changing ownership of certain motor vehicles to her name.

The businessman stated that he discovered on November 29, 2022 that his Eswatini Law and Custom marriage had been expunged from the BMDs register. He said he made the discovery after paying a visit to the BMDs office in the Lubombo Region. He stated that he had two dreams in which he saw Vilakati shouting at him, expressing her disapproval of him staying with another woman at the Mndobandoba homestead she had deserted. He said in the dream, Vilakati was in the company of police officers. It was after the dreams, according to Dlamini, that he decided to ascertain if their marriage was still registered in the BMDs register.

Expunge

He submitted that he was advised by the officer who was assisting him to approach the BMDs offices in Mbabane for further details on what had transpired resulting in the marriage being expunged from the register. Dlamini submitted that he went to the Ministry of Home Affairs offices in Mbabane where he was advised that the marriage had indeed been expunged from the register on the strength of a court order. He said he was furnished with the court order in question. The businessman said he approached his attorneys with this information. He disputed that he was served with Vilakati’s application to deregister the marriage and the notice of set down on April 1, 2022 and June 13, 2022 respectively. The return of service, according to Dlamini, did not make sense and contained anomalies indicating that he was served with the court process. Dlamini said he did not even know the Deputy Sheriff Bongani Magagula, who purported to have served him with the court process.

He said he was never served with the court order as proof that it was obtained clandestinely. He told the court that the order was only served to the attorney general. Dlamini said Vilakati was fully aware that there was never an agreement between the two of them or their respective families to dissolve the marriage. He said she was also aware that if he became aware of the court process, it would defeat her alleged clandestine plan of getting a declaratory order and expunging the marriage from the register. “Owing to the aforesaid, it is, therefore, my averment that the first respondent fraudulently obtained the court order as she well-knew prior to being granted such an order that the court application was deliberately not served upon me, hence she deliberately presented fraudulent documents to the court in the form of returns of service, in the process misleading the court into granting her the order herein being sought to be rescinded,” Dlamini said.

He also argued that Vilakati was aware that the issue of their marriage was never discussed by their families, ‘hence she deliberately lied to the court about this matter having been dealt with through alleged family meetings held at the marital homestead at Mndobandoba’. The matter will be heard on February 10, 2023. The Secretary of the Engevini Inner Council said there was no agreement that the marriage be dissolved. In his confirmatory affidavit, Ngcamphalala informed the court that Vilakati, who is a police officer, was aware that no agreement was reached by her family and that of Dlamini to have their marriage dissolved. In the absence of a declaratory order, according to Dlamini, his marriage with Vilakati remained unresolved and the order she obtained should be rescinded as it was allegedly mistakenly granted.

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