MBABANE – The long wait for Miss Eswatini 2024 winner, Temvelo Nicole Mtsetfwa, is set to end after the managing director of the companies responsible for her prize car committed to a fixed delivery date in court.
This commitment was secured after Mtsetfwa filed an urgent application seeking to have the director imprisoned for ignoring an earlier High Court order.
The core of the legal dispute centres on the failure by Kwando Lifestyle Brands and Oukitel Eswatini to hand over the Jaecoo J7 motor vehicle that Mtsetfwa won as part of her pageant prize package in 2024.
In her affidavit filed in court, Mtsetfwa submitted that she entered into a written agreement with the respondents (Kwando Lifestyle Brands and Oukitel Eswatini), represented by their Managing Director, Mduduzi Shongwe, in or about November 2024. The agreement, according to Mtsetfwa stipulated that the car should have been delivered by December 19, 2024, a deadline which the companies failed to meet.
Following the initial breach, Mtsetfwa pursued legal action, which culminated in a default Judgment granted by Judge Nkosinathi Maseko on August 15, 2025 (Case No: 1361/2025).
A default judgment in law is a binding ruling made by a court in favour of a plaintiff (the party initiating the lawsuit) when the defendant (the party being sued) fails to take a required procedural step within the time limits set by law or court rules.
The court order, which resulted in the issuance of the default judgment, directed the companies (respondents) jointly and severally, to deliver the Jaecoo J7 motor vehicle within seven days of the order being issued.
However, despite evidence showing the court order was duly served on the respondents, the deputy sheriff served the process on director Shongwe on August 25, 2025 yet the prize car remained undelivered. By the time Mtsetfwa filed her new application on October 10, 2025, she noted that more than 50 days had elapsed since the seven-day deadline expired.
Through her attorney Sihlesenkhosi Jele of H.N. Mdladla Attorneys, Mtsetfwa sought several orders from the High Court. She implored the court to issue an order calling upon Shongwe, to show cause why he should not be found to be in court for contempt of the court order granted on August 15, 2025 and directing that he be committed to prison for a period to be determined by the court, or until such time the contempt is purged by the respondents’ compliance with the court order by delivering to her the Jaecoo J7 motor vehicle in terms of the agreement.
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It’s taking its toll on me – Miss Eswatini
MBABANE – Miss Eswatini Temvelo Nicole Mtsetfwa details the continuous emotional and monetary toll caused by the prolonged failure of the sponsoring entities to deliver the promised Jaecoo J7 motor vehicle.
In summons issued by her lawyers from H.N. Mdladla Attorneys, she submitted that the companies’ (Kwando Lifestyle Brands and Oukitel Eswatini) deliberate disregard for the law is causing her ‘ongoing prejudice, inconvenience and financial loss, including but not limited to the value of the vehicle and related costs.’
In her affidavit, she argues that the financial loss goes far beyond the simple lack of a car. She submitted that, the companies’ alleged deliberate disregard for the law has caused her “ongoing prejudice, inconvenience and financial loss, including but not limited to the value of the vehicle and related costs.”
These are allegations contained in the particulars of claim.
Mtsetfwa attested in her affidavit that the financial loss extended far beyond the value of the car, forcing her to accumulate unexpected, costly expenses for nearly a year. She stated that the failure to deliver the vehicle by the original December 19, 2024, deadline meant she was forced to cover her own travel expenses for over 10 months to fulfil her official duties, an expense the prize car was explicitly meant to cover.
*Full article available in our publication
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