MBABANE – The directive ordering the closure of all estate late accounts and the transfer of deceased persons’ monies to the Guardian’s Fund has allegedly crippled the administration of estates.
This has caused months-long delays and left widows and orphans without school fees, medical care and maintenance.
A Guardian’s Fund is a government-managed fund that holds and safeguards money on behalf of people who cannot legally or practically manage it themselves.
This is according to a September 17, 2025 communication from assistant masters of the High Court to the registrar of the Supreme Court. The officials say the instruction, said to have been issued on or about August 2024, was implemented without a written directive, clear plan or consultation, and has resulted in severe disruption to service delivery.
In the country, the Guardian’s Fund is created under Section 96 of the Administration of Estates Act, 1902
They state that payments which previously took days or weeks now take up to six months, with beneficiaries ‘openly expressing distress’ at regional masters’ offices.
The assistant masters report that the delays have left bereaved families struggling to pay school fees, buy medication or meet daily maintenance needs.
They state that funds belonging to estates with known beneficiaries are now subjected to processes intended only for minors, people of unsound mind or untraceable heirs. They further note that the re-centralisation of estate files caused logistical difficulties, with some files lost in transit, worsening delays.
According to the officials, commercial banks informed them in August 2025 that they had been instructed not to release any payment above E50 000 without the master’s written approval.
They say they were never informed of this directive beforehand.
They note that shortly afterwards, banks received a further instruction to close all estate accounts and transfer all monies to the Guardian’s Fund. Since then, no payment – regardless of amount – is released without the master’s signature.
They warn that this has halted estates that had been efficiently managed through estate late accounts opened under the master’s supervision at commercial banks, particularly FNB.
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E5m estate payout halted, widow runs to court
MBABANE – A 76-year-old widow has urgently approached the High Court, claiming that the directive by the master of the High Court has halted the release of her E5 million inheritance.
The claims are contained in papers filed at the High Court, the merits of which are yet to be contested. Svetlana Cehak, the sole beneficiary in the estate of the late Zoltan Cehak, alleges that the Master issued a blanket directive requiring all estate funds to be paid into the Guardian’s Fund before distribution, a move she says has blocked the release of her inheritance, despite the estate being fully administered and approved for final distribution on September 1, 2025.
The Guardian’s Fund is a statutory fund administered by the Master of the High Court. It exists to safeguard money belonging to ‘minors, mentally incapacitated persons, unborn heirs, and missing persons’. The fund holds such money until the beneficiaries are legally able or entitled to claim it. It does ‘not’ ordinarily apply to competent adult heirs who are able to administer their own financial affairs.
Cehak’s affidavit states that she is in frail health and dependent on friends for shelter, medication and daily upkeep, and that the directive has ‘effectively crippled’ the distribution process by preventing the executor from releasing the E4 999 970.36 due to her.
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