MBABANE – The Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF) took a gamble with public funds when it released over E40 million to finance a high-risk project.
It is now uncertain whether the fund will ever see a return on this investment. The directors of Triomf South Africa, which owned Triomf Swaziland (Pty) Ltd, abandoned the company before repaying even the loan.
PSPF’s investment manager, Inhlonhla, under the directorship of Mbuso Simelane, reportedly advised the civil servants’ pension scheme to invest in Triomf, a fertiliser manufacturing company. It remains a mystery how such a company was permitted to register without substantial capital. Although it was granted the use of factory shells built by government, it lacked the necessary funds to commence operations.
On October 28, 2020, the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA) escorted representatives from Kellog Tolaram and Triomf to view factory shells in Matsapha. While Kellog Tolaram is now operational, the same cannot be said for Triomf.
It is worth noting that EIPA facilitated Triomf’s entry into the country in the hope that the company would generate employment and boost exports from the kingdom. However, after taking possession of a newly-constructed double-storey factory shell, it was discovered that Triomf lacked the funds to purchase a fertiliser blending machine.
Despite being touted as a foreign direct investment, the company failed to bring substantial capital into the country and instead sought financial assistance from emaSwati. It was at this juncture that Inhlonhla advised the PSPF to extend a loan to Triomf for the purchase of the machinery.
The advice was that the business was viable.
The Times SUNDAY has viewed the machine acquired with the PSPF loan. It is yet to generate any meaningful income to service the loan.
Investigations have revealed that, rather than liquidating Triomf following the directors’ departure, the company was taken over by Honeycomb, a firm in which Simelane, the proprietor of Inhlonhla, serves as a director. This move appears to have been an effort to keep the loan active.
During a shareholders’ meeting on March 24, 2025, Triomf (Pty) Ltd transferred 51 per cent of its shares to HoneyComb. Simelane represented HoneyComb during this meeting. Furthermore, it was resolved that the remaining 49 per cent of shares be transferred to HoneyComb and these were ceded by Impandze Agribusiness (Pty) Ltd.
Consequently, HoneyComb now holds 100 per cent of the company’s shares.
Elkan Makhanya, Director Corporate Services at PSPF, said the institution does not own shares at Triomf. Instead, he confirmed that Triomf was granted a loan. Makhanya stated that the loan remains payable to date.
When queried further on whether due diligence was done before the loan was given to Triomf, Makhanya said they had already given their official statement and refused to comment any further.
Responding to a questionnaire from the Times SUNDAY regarding the acquisition of shares in Triomf Eswatini (Pty) Ltd, Inhlonhla, the investment manager for PSPF, largely cited legal and professional constraints in providing specific details, while defending the strategic necessity of the deal.
As earlier stated, the Managing Director of Inhlonhla, Simelane, represents HoneyComb which is now owning Triomf Eswatini (Pty) Ltd.
Simelane stated that he was not representing Inhlonhla in Triomf Eswatini (Pty) Ltd.
He represents the new company, HoneyComb.
He said he was there in his private capacity with an interest to ensure the loan was being serviced and paid back in full.
“I sit in many Boards to ensure PSPF gets back its money,” he said. Despite that he runs HoneyComb which owns Triomf Eswatini (Pty) Ltd, Inhlonhla is an official investment management company for PSPF which extended the loan to Triomf. As a result, it was Inhlonhla that was queried about the timeline, ownership structure and financial viability of the transaction following allegations that shares were acquired for a struggling company using public funds.
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