I don’t have money to compensate them – Polycarp

MONENI – Moneni overseer Prince Polycarp says he does not have the money to compensate the over 200 new homesteads that were settled within a farm at Moneni.

The prince, who is widely referred to as Chief Mshoshi II, said he is also aware that the cost of compensating the residents at the disputed Remainder Farm No. 9, Moneni, in the Manzini Region would be millions of Emalangeni.

Fearing that each homestead was constructed with a rough estimate of E1 million, Chief Mshoshi said this would imply he has to compensate the people with over E200 million, which he does not have.

The prince is a pensioner, who used to work for the Central Transport Administration CTA as a general manager before he was found guilty of tender fraud in 2013.

He was sought to ascertain what he would do in the event Tisuka TakaNgwane succeeds in evicting the residents within the farm.

He said his hope is that the High Court would dismiss an application made by Tisuka TakaNgwane and Chief Nkamane Mkhatshwa of Lwandle to have him taken to jail for his role in settling people on the farm.

The prince explained that he does not take decision unilaterally but works with a libandla of Moneni. Prince Polycarp said he is challenging the matter, despite that he was made to foot his own legal costs.

He lamented that traditional structures are not recognising that he did not impose himself in the area but took over from his father who took over from his grandfather, Chief Mshoshi.

 He said those who dispute the chieftaincy should have removed his grandfather and stripped him of the chieftaincy. Instead, he said he was officially blessed by some senior princes as a chief.

Meanwhile, on March 13 this year, Tisuka TakaNgwane filed a court application seeking an order to demolish what it describes as illegal structures erected on the remaining extent of a farm known as The Pebbles, Block North No. 9, situated in the Manzini Region.

Tisuka TakaNgwane is seeking an order directing Morka Hussein, cited as the first respondent, and anyone acting on his behalf, to demolish the structures he allegedly built on the property within two months of the court granting the order.

The application further seeks an order evicting him and all persons holding titles from the property within the same two-month period.

Should the respondents fail to comply, Tisuka is asking the court to authorise the deputy sheriff to demolish the structures and evict the occupants after a further three months.

The national commissioner of police, cited as the second respondent, is also being asked to direct members of the Eswatini Royal Police Service stationed in the Manzini Region to assist the deputy sheriff in executing the court order and maintaining peace during the operation.

In addition, the applicant is seeking an order that the first respondent pay the costs of the application on the ordinary scale, together with any further or alternative relief the court considers appropriate.

The notice of motion was filed by the applicant’s legal representatives, Robinson Bertram Attorneys, of Ingcoywane Building, Gwamile Street, Mbabane. The High Court will determine whether the applicant has established sufficient grounds for the eviction and demolition orders sought. Court documents seen by the Times show that the dispute dates back to at least 2014, when the High Court issued an interim order restraining occupants from allocating land and holding themselves out as the lawful authority over Farm No.9, known as The Pebbles Block (North).

The matter pits Chief Nkamane and Tisuka TakaNgwane, as applicants, against Prince Polycarp, Pitoli Shabangu and the national commissioner of police.

The documents reveal that Prince Polycarp and Shabangu were found to have been in contempt of a High Court order issued on January 31, 2014. In a subsequent judgment, the court ordered the first and second respondents to remove all people and homesteads they had allegedly settled unlawfully on the remaining portion of Farm No. 9.

The court further ordered that, should they fail to comply within the stipulated period, they would each serve five years imprisonment until the occupants had been removed and compensated.

According to the founding affidavit, the application was an order barring Prince Polycarp, Shabangu and any other persons acting under their authority from allocating land at The Pebbles Block (North). They were to be also barred from holding meetings on the farm without the authority of the lawful owner and from representing themselves as bandlancane or lawful authorities over the property.

The order sought was also to interdict other respondents from continuing with the construction of illegal homesteads and required the demolition of structures erected in defiance of the court order.

The affidavits state that Prince Polycarp Dlamini was holding himself out as chief of Moneni, while Shabangu was described as Indvuna of Moneni Umphakatsi.

The applicants argued that people had been allocated land on the privately-owned farm without the consent of the registered owner, resulting in the establishment of numerous homesteads.

The dispute remained unresolved for years despite the court orders.