MBABANE - The company faction of Mbabane Swallows has furnished the court with evidence that they were once registered in the local and continental football structures.
They have done so through a supplementary affidavit filed two days ago at the High Court. This filing was in response to documents relating to the registration of Swallows and affidavits by Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Chairman, Polycarp Dlamini, Executive Committee (ExCo) member Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane and Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu. Zwane wrote a supplementary affidavit prior to the PLE and EFA did so for any missing documentation that was required by the court. He said he had been with the club since 1987.
Judge Zonkhe Magagula had earlier ordered the EFA and PLE to furnish the court with the ownership documents from 2016 to 2023, so that the court could make a determination on who, between the (Pty) Ltd and Swallows Football Club (FC), must control the club.
The first applicant, Mbabane Swallows FC (Pty) Ltd’s attorney, Mduduzi Hlophe said the team ceased to be run as an association immediately after its registration as a company in December 2016.
Hlophe argues and refutes documents by EFA, PLE and ‘Beyond 2000’ which he says are in support of the assertion that from 2016 to 2023, the club was registered as an association.
Hlophe says it was only before 2016 that the team was registered as an association, but thereafter, it started operating as a company under the management and control of the (Pty) Ltd.
Following its registration as a company in December 2016, Hlophe stated that the late Director Victor Gamedze, in fulfilment of a resolution of supporters and elders, opened a new bank account for the club, namely Current Account, 770220661217 with EswatiniBank.
“Since 2017, the first applicant has used this account as the main, official account of the club,” he states.
He says this put an end to a bank account opened by the association on August 20, 2007 by Gamedze and ‘Beyond 2000’, who was the general manager (GM) at the time.
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Mbabane Swallows FC faction quickly browsing through the supplementary affidavit, which includes annexed bank statements from the (Pty) Ltd. (Pic: Nimrod Hlophe)