FEMALE SOLDIER ZAMBANE GUILTY OF JEWELERY THEFT AT PALACE

MBABANE - Nokulunga Zambane Simelane, a female soldier, has been found guilty of stealing jewellery worth E1.3 million at Nkoyoyo Royal Palace.
Some of the items were recovered in the Republic of South Africa where they had been sold to a jewellery shop and individuals. Simelane was convicted for theft and money laundering by Judge Nkosinathi Maseko. Simelane, who was recently praised by popular South African singer Kelly Khumalo on her instagram account for styling her (Kelly) daughter, had her bail cancelled pending her sentencing. After her sentencing she was immediately booked in a holding cell at Mbabane Police Station pending her transfer to a Correctional facility.
In his judgment, Judge Maseko highlighted that in her confession, Simelane made an unequivocal admission of guilt of the theft of the jewellery from the royal palace and also provided a detailed account of how the crime was committed.

Confession

In the confession, which was accepted by the court, Simelane stated that one of the witnesses told her that she was not using the opportunity of staying with royalty because there is expensive jewellery and thus she could make a lot of money. In a statement made under oath, one of the witnesses who was paraded by the Crown, Mncedisi Tsabedze, spilled the beans. 
Tsabedze was reportedly present when the jewellery was sold in the Republic of South Africa. He disclosed how he got involved in the deal, how much each item was sold for in South Africa and to whom, including the amount each of them received. He submitted that in December 2019, while at the New Mall in Mbabane, he met Simelane who is his childhood friend.

According to the witness, Simelane informed him that she needed assistance in selling expensive original jewellery which was given to her by her mother at Nkoyoyo Royal Palace.
Tsabedze submitted that Simelane  told him that she was approaching him because she knew that he frequented the Republic of South Africa as he buys and sells cars. He disclosed that he told Simelane that he would contact Lihle Dlamini, who had contacts concerning the black market of jewellery in Johannesburg. The witness recounted that in February 2020 he received a phone call from Simelane informing him that she was ready to go and sell the jewellery which her mother had given her as she was broke. The witness said indeed in mid-February, in the company of Simelane, Mayenziwe, who is Simelane’s boyfriend, and Zikalala, who had been hired to drive, they proceeded to Johannesburg only to find that the jewellery shops did not open on Saturdays.

Tsabedze told the court that he had seen the ring that was to be sold from pictures which Simelane had shown him. He averred that it was a white gold ring coated with diamonds and had a purple centre piece. “Having found that the jewellery shop did not operate on Saturday, Zambane then removed the gold ring from her finger and sold it to a certain Kyle, a South African, for E5 000 and thereafter we returned to the Kingdom of Eswatini. He gave me and Lihle Dlamini E200 to share,” submitted\the witness. He narrated that on Sunday of the same weekend he received a phone call from Simelane, who told him that she had arranged that they return to Johannesburg to sell the jewellery. “Upon arrival I saw the gold ring to be sold and a bracelet that was in a white box.  Lihle called his contact, Pupu, who went inside the shop with Zambane and when they returned the former informed us that though the value of the jewellery was E250 000, E70 00 was to be paid in cash and the rest was to be deposited into her account,” read part  of  Tsabedze’s statement.

Witness

Simelane is reported to have given the witness and Lihle E1 000 each and after two weeks she gave them E5 000 each. The witness went on to disclose that in March 2020, he received a call from the second accused (Zandile) who requested him to visit her at Fonteyn. He submitted that upon arrival at Fonteyn, Nokulunga informed him that she had seen a deposit notification message of E110 000 on Simelane’s cellphone and that she heard that they had been to Johannesburg to sell jewellery. Nokulunga is said to have disclosed to this witness that she stole some jewellery from Simelane’s bag and she also wanted to sell same in Johannesburg. The jewellery included bracelets, necklaces, earrings and chains. The witness stated that he took the jewellery and contacted Lihle. 

He informed the court that towards the end of March 2020, they proceeded to Johannesburg where they met Pupu to facilitate the sale. According to the witnesses, together with Pupu, they sold the jewellery which was a set of white earrings with a diamond centre piece and they were paid E55 000.  “After the sale, Pupu was given E10 000, I took E20 000, Lihle got E10 000 and Nokulunga was given E10 0000. The jewellery that was deemed valueless was returned to Zandile,” he stated.  The Crown in this matter was represented by Principal Crown Counsel Ncamsile Masuku.

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