By Bahle Gama
Officers in the Master of the High Court commonly referred to as ‘Master’ have been described as rude and hostile towards emaSwati.
This was said by Simangele Mtetwa on Monday before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry who said this was witnessed in the way the officers spoke to them and her late son when dealing with the distribution of her late ex-husband’s estate.
“The day my son returned from inventory, he pleaded for assistance, and cited that he takes medication therefore was unable to ask any questions and was forgetful, thus was not in a proper state to talk and the hostile responses he received from the officers were devastating,” she said.
They did and upon arrival, were asked which file they were in the office for. From there, a male officer took them to an office, opened the file, and mentioned the names listed. He questioned who they were and told them he did not know why they were in the office because they were not on the list.
His older sister explained why they were part of the meeting and the officers heard none of it. They told me they were tired of rival matters and would not be tending to them, and it was explained that such was not the case.
“He said if we had nothing more to say, we should leave Mzwandile behind and excuse them to talk, citing that he was 21 years old,” she said.
Mtetwa said they sat on the bench outside the office when another female officer entered and they started yelling at her son for bringing her to the office, and he was subjected to more rude questions.
Mzwandile explained his situation about taking medication from the psychiatric centre and informed them he was incapable of dealing with the estate matter by himself.
He was asked what his problem was, and he cited the missing business and vehicles that had not been listed in his father’s inventory prepared by his stepmother.
They responded that the office would only work with what was listed in the inventory, any pending issues should be resolved with the executor (stepmom).
He further questioned why no bank statements were availed to show how much his father had left, he was told to direct the question to his stepmother and not them.
“He showed them the card from Psych, but they insisted that a letter written by the director should be submitted. He could not take it and he stormed out of the office.”
They went to the psychiatric centre to request the letter. They found a foreign doctor who told them he was tired of ‘Master’ as there was another woman from Matsamo requesting the same for the office.
Mtetwa said the doctor insisted that he would not write any letter and that Mzwandile should use the card as it had all the information needed. They were turned back empty-handed.
…master contributed to son’s severe depression
Mtetwa has told the Commission of Inquiry probing the Master of the High Court that when her son died, he had severe depression which the office had a hand in.
She told the commission that her son Mzwandile Simphiwe Mmema died three months ago and had been diagnosed with severe depression by a psychologist.
She told the commission she had come to on behalf of her late son and ex-husband. Mtetwa was married to Dumsani Mmema who died on August 4, 2020.
She said when they married, they each had children from outside the marriage and Mzwandile was the only child they had.
“After giving birth to Mzwandile, Mmema insisted that I tie my tubes because he only wanted one child in the marriage,” she said.
Mtetwa said Mmema who was working at Hoageys at the time would always talk about how he wanted to create a future and legacy for all his children, including the ones born out of their marriage.
They sat down and discussed a side hustle, and he complained about Capital. As a teacher by profession, Mthethwa assured her husband that capital would not be a problem and took a loan at SNAT Co-op and encouraged him to open his own company.
Indeed, Mmema started a company that supplied and rented out air conditioners to different entities and events nationally. He called it Ecozone (PTY) Ltd. He then resigned from Hoageys and gave full attention to the company.
Mmema received his first tender from the Red Cross where he had to install new air conditioners and the first payment was E480,000.
“According to my knowledge, he was the sole director of the Company because I had a busy schedule. After 20 years in the marriage, we encountered challenges and ended up separating,” he said.
Mtetwa said before the marriage Mmema was residing at Mobeni flats and decided that they buy a home after she learned about the civil servant’s loan scheme where she sourced the funds.
The loan payment was deducted from her salary as a civil servant and when they divorced, E26,000 remained in payments. They were married in a community of property so Mmema suggested that the house be evaluated so he could buy her out and opted to remain in the house with Mzwandile because they were close.
They agreed, and he bought her out. She went to khonta and built her homestead. During their divorce, it was agreed that Mzwandile would reside with his father and would visit occasionally.
“We also agreed that the company shouldn’t be divided because he didn’t have any other source of income when I did and because we had a son. All that had to do with the company we agreed that I was leaving it with him,” she said.
After the divorce, Mmema married a year later, however, no child was born in that marriage which lasted for 10 years before his demise. After his burial, Mtetwa received a call from the Master of the High Court and was told to bring Mzwandile, so they chose an estate executor.
“That was when our stress with Master began and my son was never the same, especially after the death of his father,” she said.
Upon arrival at the offices of the Master of the High Court, they found Mmema’s wife and only sister.
Her older daughter resided in South Africa with her mother and could not attend the meeting. However, she wrote an affidavit that the discussions should proceed and would accept the outcome.
Officers at the office asked that Mtetwa and her children introduce themselves. They were carrying Mmema’s file and read out the names of the beneficiaries who were Mzwandile, the daughter in SA, and Phumla the wife.
They told Mtetwa and her older daughter to excuse them, only the people mentioned were expected to be in the office.
“What was surprising is that Mmema’s older sister was allowed to be in the office despite not being on the list of beneficiaries. We were told Mzwandile was above 21 so we couldn’t be in the meeting. He was 25 at the time,” she said.
She pleaded that they let them in the meeting, referencing her younger sister who lost her husband, and the entire family was allowed in the office in Manzini, however, in Mbabane they refused and told them to wait for Mzwandile in the car.
When he returned, he told them his stepmother had been chosen as executor and they were all fine with the decision because they thought she was the appropriate person for the position.
They called him again after Phumla (stepmother) had put together the inventory and he found that only the house was listed. There was no mention of the business.
He asked about the business and why it had not been included because it was big, having catered for big events in the country including emaganu ceremonies and graduations. Mzwandile was told that was not why he had come and was supposed to discuss such with the executor.
He asked again about his father’s cars and received the same response.
“His father’s death devastated him that he needed up taking medication from Psych,” she said.
…Company transferred after death
Upon learning that Mmema’s company had not been listed in the inventory, Mtetwa sent her older daughter to check on the company. Upon arrival, she found that the company had been transferred two weeks before to Mmema’s wife who was now the sole director. This happened after Mmema’s burial.
Papers about the company’s directorship were missing from the file as well and they concluded that it was the reason the company was not listed in the inventory.
When checking in with the registrar of companies, Mmema’s name did not appear and there was no documentation about the history of the company except for the transfer to the wife.
Mtetwa and Mzwandile questioned how such was possible when the wife had submitted that the house at Sidvwashini had been attached by the ERS because the company was owed.
Yet the same company had not been listed in the inventory. They also discovered that two of the vehicles owned by Mmema were no longer registered under his name, yet when he was alive, he owned three vehicles.
“Later I saw on Facebook, that one of the vehicles a white Isuzu had been put on sale by his wife,” Mtetwa said.
Before the attachment of the house by ERS, it had been discussed that the house be sold at E940,000 and they were all advised to get buyers. Indeed, it was advertised in the newspaper and whilst waiting to get a buyer, a phone came from the Master’s office and Mzwandile was notified about the attachment.
He requested that his mother and sister accompany him. When they arrived, the wife told him the file at Master was being closed and the house had been attached because the company owed E900,000 in taxes.
The house was to be auctioned and clear taxes of the company which became even more confusing. Why was a house being attached for taxes of a non-existent?
When he asked the officers, he was told to ask the executor. Four years later, the house was reportedly occupied by the executor (stepmother) and was never auctioned, the file was closed, and the estate was never distributed.
“In conclusion, we want justice for Mzwandile and the late Mmema because what has happened is not what he wanted. He worked hard for his children and always said he was working for them. There was no estate distributed at the end, the file was closed by the office of the Master of the High Court,” he said.
An emotional Mtetwa told the Commission that Mzwandile was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene and was never found to date, therefore wants closure on the situation.
‘There is no letter from ERS attaching house’
According to Acting Assistant Master Thobeka Dlamini, there was no ERS letter attaching the Mmema’s house in the file. This revelation left Mtetwa baffled, confused, and with a lot of questions about the proceedings at the time.
Dlamini said this when responding to some of the questions about the operations and procedures in the offices of the Master of the High Court when dealing with the distribution of estates.
She said she was aware of the matter and there was a liquidation and distribution account in the file which Mtetwa said she and Mzwandile were not aware of.
This meant the property had been distributed.
“There is an approved liquidation and distribution account in the file and all that was needed was for the executor to file a conveyance that would transfer the property to the beneficiaries,” Dlamini said.
She stated that there were affidavits from the beneficiaries including Mzwandile agreeing that the property be sold and a bank guarantee from Standard Bank.
However, the purchaser decided to cancel the transaction for personal reasons that were beyond their control, however, the house was never attached.
“There is no ERS letter in the file. You are just making allegations,” Dlamini said to Mtetwa who was visibly fuming.
The Commission ordered the office to submit responses in writing.