S’GCOKO’S WIDOWS IN CAR SALE COURT BATTLE

MBABANE – The court had to intervene when one of former ESTVA CEO Bongani ‘S’gcoko’ Dlamini’s widows sold his Mercedes Benz without remitting the proceeds to his estate.

Nozimbali Dlamini (born Sukati) ran to court to set aside the sale of the motor vehicle. The car was sold to an evaluator, Mariamo Benedito Mussa by the other wife’s daughter, Dvumeleni Simple Dlamini. Sibongile Juana Dlamini (nee Vilakati) conceded that she instructed her daughter, Dvumeleni, to sell the car. Judge John Magagula set aside the sale of the motor vehicle.

The court also ordered the master of the High Court to register the car in the deceased’s estate. Judge Magagula further ordered Sibongile and Dvumeleni to reimburse Mussa the amount of E86 000 that the latter paid for the car. Bongani, who was a well-known journalist, radio personality and television station administrator, died on August 20, 2021. He is survived by, inter alia, his two wives, who were appointed co-executors in his estate.

During his lifetime, he acquired and registered in his name a Mercedes Benz registered OSD 163 BM, among other assets.  The first liquidation and distribution account was drawn and it was approved by the master of the High Court on October 17, 2022. The following liquidation and distribution account would include the Mercedes Benz as the master of the High Court instructed Sibongile to secure its evaluation. The aim was that it would also be sold and the proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries.  However, this could not happen as the motor vehicle was sent to Mussa’s company for valuation.

“... and after such evaluation, the second respondent (Mussa) bought it from the third respondent (Dvumeleni), who is a daughter of the first respondent (Sibongile),” reads the judgment.
The sale was not denied and that it took place with the approval and under the supervision of Sibongile. The court was told that she conceded that she instructed her daughter to secure a buyer for the car.

Admitted

Sibongile also admitted that she never accounted for the proceeds of the sale of the car, but that she used the money for her own household’s needs. She claimed that Nozimbali and her two children benefitted from the sale.  Nozimbali went to court arguing that it was unlawful to sell the car without her approval as co-executrix, and of the master of the High Court. She also argued that it was unlawful for Sibongile to appropriate to herself and her children the proceeds and exclude the other beneficiaries. According to Nozimbali, Sibongile was supposed to secure an evaluation of the vehicle and report to the Master’s Office.

In response, Sibongile said the application should be dismissed, because Nozimbali was approaching the court with unclean hands. She submitted that sometime in December 2022, Nozimbali received an amount of E262 200.05 from the deceased’s former employer, Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA), and appropriated the money to herself, and did not account for it. She said Nozimbali was, therefore, guilty of material non-disclosure. However, Nozimbali did not deny receiving this money. She filed proof of payment from Nedbank Eswatini, indicating that she was paid the said amount on December 21, 2021.  She said this money was paid by ESTVA in respect of a motor vehicle allocated to ‘S’gcoko’ but which he had to pay for.

At the time of his demise, he had paid the sum of E300 000 and since he had not finished paying for the car, the employer agreed with the family that the vehicle would be retained by the employer and the amount of E300 000 be refunded to his estate.  Nozimbali denied that she appropriated the money to herself and that she approached the court with unclean hands. She maintained that she used the money to pay helicopter charges as their husband was airlifted to the Republic of South Africa when he was ill. She told the court that an amount of E71 500 was paid to Kenneth Maziya and a similar amount was paid to Mncedisi Mayisela.

This totalled E143 000. She told the court that she also paid E59 549 to Sibongile and appropriated a similar amount to herself. This made a final total of E262 098. She submitted that the monies paid to Maziya and Mayisela were refunds to them as they had paid the helicopter charges on the understanding that they would be refunded.

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