MAN PAYS E574K MAINTENANCE FOR NON-EXISTENT CHILD: WOMAN: I NEVER STOLE THE MONEY

MBABANE – “I never stole the money.”

This was the response of Babongile Mkhonta (35) of Makhonza, in the Shiselweni Region, who is accused of fraudulently receiving maintenance money from one Sihle Ndlovu, for a child who never was. She claimed that Ndlovu sent her money electronically and he did so voluntarily. The amount that Mkhonta, who is married to another man, reportedly received from Ndlovu, is E574 442. She is said to have received the money over a period of five years - between 2019 and April 2024. Ndlovu is alleged to have been paying not less than E5 000 per month to maintain the ‘child’, while also taking care of other auxiliary expenses.

The sum of E5 000 amounts to E300 000 in five years and the other expenses that Ndlovu was allegedly made to take care of amount to E274 442 over the same period. Mkhonta was arrested after a lengthy investigation that began in March 2024. During the investigation, the police established that there is a child that Mkhonta showed to the Ndlovu family in 2022.
She was summoned by the Manzini Magistrates Court to bring the child she had shown to Ndlovu’s family in 2022. Mkhonta is said to have failed to bring the child in question, as ordered by the court.

The accused was arrested by Manzini police on October 10, 2024, but released on her recognisance after appearing at the Manzini Magistrates Court on the following day. She was rearrested after failing to bring the child as ordered by the court.The accused was kept at Mawelawela Women’s Correctional Services facility. She was charged with theft by false pretences. According to her charge sheet, the offence was committed from 2019 to April 2024, in Manzini.

Support

She is alleged to have misrepresented to Ndlovu that he must give her money amounting to E574 442 under the pretence that he was paying for child support. She is alleged to have known very well that there is no child.  In her bail papers, Mkhonta mentioned that her arrest and incarceration followed an intense police investigation. She said in March this year, she was invited by telephone to Manzini Police Station and she complied. She told the court that upon arrival at the police station, she was questioned about the charge she is facing. She stated that she told the police what she knew about the matter and the police later released her after questioning her.

Her questioning at the police station was done on about three separate occasions, after which she would be released to go back to her marital home at Makhonza. “Then on Thursday (October 10, 2024), I was once again called by the police and instructed to report to Manzini Police Station. I travelled from Makhonza to Manzini, in compliance with the police instruction. On that day, I was arrested and formally charged with the offence I am facing. I was further detained at the police station,” she said.

According to Mkhonta, on the morning of October 11, 2024, she was taken to Manzini Magistrates Court, whereupon she was released on her own recognisance, without making a court appearance. She was, however, served with summons instructing her to return to court on October 14, 2024, with the child she had shown to the Ndlovu family in 2022. She submitted that on October 14, 2024, she presented herself at the magistrates court. However, since she had not brought the child she showed to Ndlovu’s family in 2022, she was rearrested and taken to police holding cells. She made her court appearance on the following day and was remanded in custody, pending committal to the High Court.

Defence

Mkhonta said, during her trial, she will plead not guilty, because she allegedly has a strong defence against the charge. “The summary of my defence is that I never stole any monies from the complainant. I also never made any representations to him that he must give me money for child support. “The complainant is the one who would, on different occasions, voluntarily send money to me by electronic means, as we were in a relationship at that time,” Mkhonta told the court. The accused went on to tell the court that she is married. She said her matrimonial home is at Makhonza in the Shiselweni Region. She complained that the cell she was detained in was overcrowded and poorly ventilated. She also told the court that she is sickly and undergoes treatment in Durban South Africa. Her bail application was heard by Judge Nkosinathi Maseko.

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