MBABANE – The High Court has interdicted the dissipation of any immovable property of the Trust established by the late senior Lawyer Knox Mshumayeli Nxumalo.
Judge Sabelo Masuku issued this and other interim orders in the matter in which two of Knox’s children, Buyile and Simphiwe Nxumalo, took their stepmother, Matseliso Nxumalo, and her children Winile Mahlobo (born Nxumalo) and Bhekiwe Nxumalo, to court, alleging that properties of Nkunzana Trust Estate were being dissipated unlawfully.
Judge Masuku also ordered that pending finalisation of the matter, the restraining order issued excludes the advertised property situated in Malkerns. Fikile Karabo Nxumalo, according to the court, is to be joined to these proceedings, as she has not waived her rights to be a party. The applicants, Buyile and Simphiwe, according to the court, must serve Fikile with this order within seven days from Friday.
Judge Masuku further declined to grant the applicants’ application to introduce the transcribed record of previous arguments before Judge John Magagula. The judge directed that the matter should proceed with fresh arguments, ensuring a fair hearing for both parties in relation to Part A, which is the interim prayers.
The application calling upon all children of the late Knox to undergo DNA testing, Judge Masuku ordered, will be canvassed under the second part of the application, where the applicants are seeking final relief. Further, Judge Masuku directed that the misjoinder of the master of the High Court, in relation to her authority to appoint additional Trustees, be held in abeyance for the second part of the arguments (final relief). The court also directed that costs will be costs in the cause and postponed the matter to February 10, 2026.
Respondents in this matter include the Trustees for the time being for Nkunzana Trust Estate, the applicants’ stepmother, Matseliso Nxumalo and her children Winile Mahlobo (born Nxumalo) and Bhekiwe Nxumalo. Buyile and Simphiwe are represented by Mbhekwa Mthethwa of Mthethwa Attorneys. They made allegations of assets dissipation and secretive amendment of the founding Trust Deed.
They described the demand for DNA testing as offensive and disingenuous. They noted that their biological relationship was never disputed and they were raised by the deceased and Matseliso reportedly listed them as beneficiaries in the administration of their late father’s estate, leading them to believe this was a tactic to stall their substantive enquiries.
The applicants also allege that the Notarial Deed of Amendment of Trust, Protocol No. 17 of 2023, which appointed Winile and Bhekiwe as Trustees and changed the Trust’s duration, was invalid because it was done contrary to the express provisions of the original Trust Deed and without their consultation.
They stated in their filed papers that their stepmother, Winile, Bhekiwe and the Trust Estate engaged in a ‘clandestine sale and transfer’ of one of the Trust’s nine immovable properties, Lot 373 in Pigg’s Peak Township, without their notice or consultation. They are also alleged to have failed to provide a full financial account and a report detailing the disposal and disbursement of the proceeds from the sale of the property despite a formal request from them.
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