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Hunter suicidal after his property attached

15/08/2013 05:16:00 BY SAMKELO NGWENYA

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MBABANE – Private Investigator (PI) Hunter Shongwe contemplates committing suicide after his property was attached over the weekend.

A tearful Shongwe told how his life was now grounded following a writ of attachment that was implemented against him last Saturday.
“I have acquired the property all my life but now I have lost my valuables in a single moment.

“The deputy sheriff literally cleaned my house. It’s empty since all my property was attached,” he said.
Shongwe said: “I don’t see the reason for living anymore because all the things I have worked for have been taken from me. I can’t live without those things.”

He said the deputy sheriff attached his beds, kitchen appliances, electronics like computers, television sets, video cameras and other gadgets he used when conducting his work.
Shongwe’s property was attached after he lost a case against the Ezulwini Royal Kraal which was dismissed with costs.
He made two appearances before the High Court and the Supreme Court respectively, thus resulting in the court demanding E17 140.04 in the first appearance and E8 884.03 in the second appearance, which totals to E26 024.07.

The PI ran to the High Court seeking an order interdicting the royal kraal from allegedly harassing him for occupying a rented flat.
“The High Court said it had no jurisdiction over the matter and referred it to traditional structures,” he said.
Shongwe said the Registrar of the High Court should have advised him or stopped the case from entering into the court’s roll if the High Court had no jurisdiction over his matter.

He said it pained him that it now seemed like he stirred a hornets’ nest by going to seek a court order stopping the royal kraal from harassing him.
“I was seeking protection only to get misery,” he said in a melancholic voice.
He accused the Ezulwini Royal Kraal of having caused his woes.
“I represented two clients from the area who were being unfairly evicted. The royal kraal colluded with my landlord to have me expelled from my rented flat,” he said.

He said it should be clear that when he occupied the house, it was in a bad state.
“We made agreements with my landlord to have it renovated. I roped in a contractor who renovated the house. Thereafter, I submitted all the costs to her but she told me to occupy the house until she repays me my E100 000,” he claimed.
Shongwe said he was shocked to see her landlord resurfacing with the royal kraal to have him evicted but said he told them that he would not leave unless she paid him the money.

… wants an audience with King

MBABANE – Hun-ter Shongwe will not take his plight lying down.

He said he wants to seek an audience with His Majesty King Mswati III, the Chief Justice (CJ) and the Law Society of Swaziland.
Shongwe said he was very unhappy with the manner in which the writ of attachment was carried out.

“First I want to meet the CJ to find out why the deputy sheriff refused the arrangement to pay the High Court costs in instalments,” he said.
The PI said the economy of the country was not good to enable ordinary citizens to pay hefty fines at once.

“I went to report the matter to the Ludzidzini Council, which in turn consulted with the Attorney General. Unfortunately, they said there was no way in which they could help me,” Shongwe said.

He said: “If the CJ does not help me, I will approach the Law Society and finally His Majesty King Mswati III.”
Shongwe said in as far as he knew, the court was established to protect all citizens.

In an interview with the deputy sheriff who attached Shongwe’s property, Mxolisi Mdluli, he confirmed that he was sent by Magagula and Hlophe Attorneys who represented the PI’s landlord Priscilla Dlamini and the royal kraal in the urgent application.

Asked why he declined the arrangement to allow the PI to pay the money in instalments, he said: “As deputy sheriffs, we don’t make arrangements, they are made by lawyers. We simply carry out the writ of attachment.”
On the other hand, the PI said he was hopeful that he would exhaust all the available structures to seek redress over his attached property.

Hunter sleeps, cooks on the floor

MBABANE – Following the attachment of his property, PI Hunter Shongwe now cooks and sleeps on the floor.

In an interview on Tuesday, Shongwe said he was living a miserable life because his bed and cooking utensils were attached.
“I wonder why my life is made miserable because even murder convicts are not illtreated like me.
“I have not committed any monumental sin to be punished like this,” he said.

Shongwe said he viewed the act as a vendetta by some people who were abusing power to frustrate him.
“The property they attached is worth over E40 000.
“They took everything in my sitting room, bathroom, kitchen and bedroom,” he said.

Deputy Sheriff Mxolisi Mdluli said he would not dispute the value of the attached goods as disclosed by Shongwe because property owners were the ones who knew the actual value of their belongings.
According to the writ of attachment in our possession, the PI’s property would go under the hammer.