EX-JUDGE ACCUSED OF DAMAGING E975M WATER PROJECT PIPES

MAFUTSENI - A former judge has been reported to the police for allegedly damaging EWSC’s water pipes for its E975 million Manzini Region Water Supply and Sanitation Project.

The incident allegedly took place on Wednesday at Mphandze, along Manzini/Mafutseni Public Road, where Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC), through its contractor, is implementing part of the E975m project. According to a source close to the matter, the water project was being implemented by one of the construction companies. He said while the construction company workers were engaged in their duties - digging a channel and installing the water pipes, the former judge, who is also a businessman, approached them and allegedly told them to take their equipment and depart from his property.

Damaged

Subsequently, the source purported that the former judge damaged the water pipes’ couplers with a bush knife. Pipe couplers slip over the outside of two pipes to connect them, usually permanently. A coupling can be a reducer, or a reducing coupling. This means they reduce flow by joining a larger pipe to a smaller size. Meanwhile, it was purported that after the incident, the construction company personnel reported the matter to the police. The source said they opened a case of malicious damage to property against the former judge.
The source, according to the personnel statement, which was recorded with the police, said on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at Mphandze around noon, the former judge damaged water pipes 9XPVC Class 16 (315mm), valued at E31 942.75. He said the personnel added that the water pipes belong to EWSC.

Confirmed

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that a case of malicious damage to property has been opened in relation to the incident. She said the matter is still under investigation and no arrest has been made yet.  The source said the water pipes were being installed within the feeder road’s reserves, not on private property. It is worth noting that a road reserve covers 19 metres from the centre of the road.  However, he said the Ministry of Public Works and Transport has the power to add a road reserve if there is something to be done, but the property owners should be compensated. “EWSC engaged government, in particular the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, about the project and they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU),” the source said.  Additionally, the source said there are arrangements in place on how properties affected by the water project will be compensated.

Furthermore, it was supposed that when the former judge was damaging the water pipes, he also ordered them to depart from his property. It was also alleged that yesterday morning, a tractor was sent to the site to transport the damaged water pipes and the former judge came and ordered the driver to leave his property along with all the equipment. As such, the source said the project is currently being disturbed as the workers cannot continue digging beyond where the conflict ensued, as they are in close proximity to the Manzini – Mbadlane Freeway (MR 3 Public Road). This publication’s reporter visited the scene yesterday morning and found the construction company’s employees working and there were senior officials from EWSC, who had come to see the former judge. A tractor, which was to transport the heavy-duty water pipes, was also at the scene, but it later drove away.

Water

It is worth noting that the EWSC’s Water Supply and Sanitation Project will provide potable water to five constituencies; Mtfongwaneni, Mafutseni, Manzini South, Nhlambeni and Manzini North. The project was launched by government, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy in 2020 and it is financed through a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the Government of Eswatini, coupled with counterpart funding from the administration of the country. The project is projected to benefit over 90 000 emaSwati from the five constituencies, which are found in peri-urban and rural areas. Once the project is complete, the national water coverage will increase by three per cent, to 84 per cent.

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