HOW SOLDIER GOT LOANS FROM FIRST FINANCE, SELECT SAME DAY

MBABANE – First Finance has rushed to court to freeze a MoMo business account of a soldier who got a loan from it and on the same day purportedly proceeded to get another from Select Management Services.

First Finance and Select Management Services (SMS) are financial service providers, whose principal business is to provide short, medium and long-term loans to individuals.  
The order to freeze the Mobile Money (MoMo) business account of Jubilee Mangaliso Kunene was issued by Judge Mumcy Dlamini after First Finance Company (PTY) Limited moved an urgent ex parte application.

Supersede

It is alleged that on the same  day Kunene approached First Finance for a loan of E185 591.94, he also went to SMS for a loan of E150 000 and executed a stop order deduction, which was then going to supersede the applicant’s (First Finance) stop order. It was argued that the soldier was not entitled to have two stop orders running on his salary contemporaneously.
The court issued an interim order interdicting and restraining MTN Fintech Services (PTY) Limited from dissipating funds in the sum of E150 000 that had been deposited into Kunene’s MoMo business account from his Nedbank account. Respondents in the matter are Kunene and MTN Fintech Services (PTY) Limited. The court was informed that the sum of E150 000 was paid into Kunene’s MoMo account from his Nedbank account.

In its application, the applicant (First Finance Company (PTY) Limited) argued that, the respondent (Kunene) had breached the terms of his loan agreement with it by precluding the applicant from effecting stop order deductions on his salary. According to the applicant, it became aware of these events on September 5, 2023.
The applicant submitted that it was at that stage that it commenced the investigations culminating in the enquiries made on September 7, 2023, to the effect that there were certain monies that were paid to Kunene’s MoMo account. First Finance Branch Manager, Bhekumusa Nxumalo narrated to the court that on August 25, 2023, the first respondent (Kunene) applied for a loan of E332 591.04, which was characterised as a consolidation loan. Nxumalo brought it to the attention of the court that Kunene at that time was indebted to Letshego Financial Services in the sum of E183 048.92 and needed to settle same, as well as to get additional funding from the applicant.  

Execute

He submitted that the loan was approved by the applicant subject to the following; that the respondent should execute a stop order authorising his employer, being the Eswatini Government, to deduct a sum of E4 619.32 from his monthly salary and remit same to the applicant on a monthly basis and that the stop order deduction would remain in place until the outstanding sum of E332 591.04 was settled. The court was informed that in order to give effect to the stop order deduction, the applicant was obliged to pay a sum of E183 048.92 to Letshego, so that the latter could uplift its monthly stop order, which was in place on Kunene’s salary. Nxumalo said subsequently and in fulfillment of the terms of the agreement, the applicant duly paid the sum of E183 048.92 to Letshego. He highlighted that upon Letshego having confirmed receipt of payment, the applicant was then entitled to effect the stop order for the repayment of the loan.

“When the applicant approached the Eswatini Government in order to effect the stop order deduction, it was established that the first respondent had now taken another loan with Select Management Services. It transpired that on the same day the first respondent approached the applicant for a loan, he also approached SMS for a loan in the sum of E150 000 and excluded a stop order deduction, which was then going to overtake that of the applicant. “It dawned on the applicant that Kunene has been disingenuous when he applied for the contemporaneously for loans in two different institutions. The result is that the applicant has now paid the sum of E183 048.921 to Letshego and yet it is unable to effect the stop order deduction for the repayment of the money,” submitted Nxumalo.

He alleged that the first respondent had received a double benefit. “When the applicant approached Kunene in respect of the monies he received from SMS so that those monies could be used to settle indebtedness, it transpired that the first respondent caused those amounts to be transferred from his Nedbank account to his Mobile Money business account,” further reads the papers. The applicant was represented by lawyers from Robinson Bertram and the matter is still pending in court.

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