POCA LEAVES 3 CHILDREN WITHOUT HOME

MLINDAZWE – The application of POCA has rendered three children without a home at Mlindazwe, after the land that was allocated to them and a house built by their mother, were sold through public auction.

The children are two boys and one girl, who have attained majority. Mlindazwe is an area situated between Ezulwini and Elangeni under Lobamba Constituency. It is under Ezabeni Royal Kraal. POCA is an acronym for Prevention of Organised Crime Act, which is the law that came into operation on June 6, 2018. The law has been applied through the sale of a house built on Eswatini Nation Land. The house, which consists of a lounge, kitchen, dining room, double garage, three bathrooms, four bedrooms and a pantry, was sold in accordance with Section 47 of the POCA of 2018, after the court was convinced that same was constructed through ill-gotten gains. It had a reserve price of E450 000, but was sold for E552 000. It belonged to Simangele Shongwe, a former accountant at SibaneSami Hotel, who stands accused of defrauding her employer a sum of E2.8 million.

The section of the law stipulates that, where the property against which a preservation or forfeiture application is made is on Eswatini Nation Land (ENL), the High Court may, on the application by the director of public prosecutions (DPP), subject to consultation with the Assets Recovery Committee, make an order, as may be appropriate to benefit the community, where that property is situated or for the destruction or sale of that property. Subject to consultation with the recovery committee, the house can be sold to recover the money that had been stolen. The money generated from the sale of the house will be deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account, established under Section 65 of POCA, held at the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE).

The sale of the house, which is the first of its kind since POCA came into effect, raised many questions among some residents of the area. The residents wanted to know if the sale of the house meant ENL was now for sale. The residents also wanted to know what happened when it came to the demarcation lines if the house was built with other houses in the same family yard. The residents wanted to know if chiefs had any powers to protect their subjects whose property, especially houses built on ENL, were sold under POCA.

Kukhonta

Upon a visit to the area, it was established that the now sold house had been built on a new site, covering more than a hectare. It was the only house on the site. It was also gathered that the house was currently supervised by the area’s royal kraal, pending finalisation of the matter, as the buyer is yet to undergo the cultural kukhonta process. In an interview with Mlindazwe Indvuna Mthunzi Mhlanga, he said they had nothing much to say regarding the matter since they were awaiting feedback from the lawyer in charge. Mhlanga said they were yet to engage and get clarity from the lawyer concerning any developments. “Our position is that there is no sale of Eswatini Nation Land in Eswatini. However, we cannot delve much into the matter since the lawyer is yet to address us on the developments. There has been no communication regarding the sale of the property, hence the need for the feedback,” Mhlanga said.

He said any questions regarding the sale of the property would be answered once the lawyer had given them feedback. Asked about the background of the piece of land on which the house was built, Mhlanga stated that Simangele’s aunt (make lomkhulu) had a wish that her grandchildren born by Simangele had a place to call home. As a result, he stated that Simangele’s mother approached the area’s authorities seeking a piece of land on behalf of Simangele’s children. “Without delving much into the family issues, the land on which the house was built was allocated to Simangele’s children after a request by their grandmother,” Mhlanga said. A relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity in fear of any possible attacks, shared that the land on which the house was built was allocated to Simangele’s three children.  This, the relative said, was after Simangele had moved on with her life, leaving the children with their grandmother, who then sought the piece of land on their behalf.

Father

“It is not in dispute that Simangele built the house from her pocket. She cleared the land and further built the house after the kukhonta process had been finalised. The land was registered under one of her sons and his grandmother. We were hoping that the children would have a place to call home since their father died while preparing to marry their mother. However, they will have to go all over the country seeking a new piece of land after the sale of their mother’s property on their piece of land,” said the relative. The relative stated that what came as a shock to the family was that they were never informed of any intention to sell the house. The relative stated that they only learnt about Simangele’s arrest when they had to contribute money for her bail. He added that the family was never summoned or informed of any proceedings that led to the sale of the property.

“We were told that the house was in the hands of the law after Simangele was accused of defrauding her employer a sum of E2.8 million. We were never informed of any developments that led to the sale of the house. We learnt about the sale in the newspapers,” said the relative. The relative added that Simangele’s children were traumatised by the sale of the house, especially because they only learnt about it from the media. However, she said they have left everything in God’s hands.

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