I AM HUNGRY, VINAH TELLS MASTER’S OFFICE PROBE

MBABANE – “I am hungry.”

Former organiser of Miss Eswatini Vinah Thembi Gray yesterday told the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that she was struggling to make ends meet. She said her husband’s daughter, Jacqueline Keel, allegedly told officers in the Office of the Master of the High Court, that they should not give her money. Vinah, whose husband, William Dunbar Gray, died on November 27, 2022, said she had gone to the Master’s Office to ask for money for food. She said she was not receiving any maintenance money from the estate. She stated that the first time she went to the Master’s Office to ask for money for food, she was given E10 000. According to Vinah, her stepdaughter, Keel, allegedly told the officers there that she should not be given any more money. She mentioned that her stepdaughter was hostile towards her. Vinah appeared before the commission together with her nephew, Khulekani Nkambule. The substance of William’s Will, according to Vinah, was that she and Keel were to share or work together in his company, Timber Craft, and his farm.  The first ever Miss Swaziland beauty pageant winner in 1975 submitted that Keel allegedly took the keys and locked her out of her business formed with her husband and she did not pay the workers.

Factory

“I was unable to enter the factory. I am unable to access anything that belonged to my husband. The Will stated that we should share the farm and the factory,” Vinah said. According to Vinah, no inventory was done at Timber Craft and she wondered how she could be locked out, yet her stepdaughter went in and out as she pleased, sometimes with her friends. As a result, she said she requested the master to do the inventory, since she was allegedly being locked out of the business premises by Keel. She said she asked the master if they had told Keel about what it meant to be an executor. “I reported to the master that the keys were taken from me. She locked me out,” said Vinah. Vinah submitted that there was an amount of money in a bank account at Nedbank Swaziland, belonging to her husband. However, she alleged that Keel told the bank not to give her the money, because it belonged to the company. She also alleged that Keel said she was wasting her time wanting the money in the bank.

She was asked what she wanted the Master’s Office to do for her, and Vinah said she wanted to see the inventory, because she was not present when it was made. The Chairperson of the commission, Judge Majahenkhaba Dlamini, asked Deputy Master Lindelwa Magagula that, since Vinah was, ‘loku batsi ugolela timphungane emlonyeni’ (you are starving), how can she be assisted. Judge Dlamini also asked if  Keel was receiving anything from the still-to-be-wound-up estate. Magagula told the commission that there was a need to follow up on the company account. “Unfortunately, we have to rely on the same hostile executor. We have to establish what is in the company. Make has to benefit from the estate. The hostile relationship she has with her stepdaughter is contributing to the challenges,” said Magagula.

Disputes

The deputy master also told the commission that the Master’s Office would intervene and look at what Vinah and Keel are not agreeing on. Magagula explained that some of the disputes that came before the Master’s Office began at the parties’ homes. “If it is intense, we can call them to forge a way forward. We sit down with them to be accessible to all of them,” said Magagula. She also stated that nothing had been transferred to Keel from the estate. However, she said they were not sure if she was receiving anything. Judge Dlamini said Keel would be called to explain what was happening in the estate. The judge stated that he hoped that the Master’s Office representatives noted that there were things being done by Keel on her own.
Nkambule, who accompanied Vinah, said before they came to the commission, they suspected that the master was in bed with the executor. He alleged that they approached the Master’s Office on a number of occasions, requesting that an inventory be made, but they had still not seen any. Vinah said they approached the master because Keel had locked her out.

Assistant Master of the High Court Lethukuthula Nhlengetfwa said the executrix, Keel, submitted an inventory and Vinah should see it. Judge Majahenkhaba said if Keel was allowed to make the inventory on her own, she was likely to hide some things. He said they appreciated the commission. Judge Lorraine Hlophe said Vinah was supposed to receive 50 per cent of the estate. Vinah wondered why Keel allegedly meddled in her marriage with her husband. She said marriage was supposed to be between two individuals. Other members of the commission are Judge President Sifiso Nsibande, Judge Mzwandile Fakudze, Judge Maxine Langwenya and Judge Hlophe. Vinah was the 10th complainant to appear before the commission, which was established by Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala on January 16, 2023. On Friday, the chief justice issued a statement to the effect that the probe would continue until it was finalised after 90 days.

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