By Bahle Gama
INDUSTRIAL Court Judge Thulani Abande Dlamini and his brother disagree over their late father’s estate distribution.
Appearing before the Commission of Inquiry probing the Master of the High Court, Judge Abande’s brother Melusi stated that when their father Professor Musa Dlamini died in 2021, he left behind two homesteads, one at Trelawney Park and another at Fairview in Manzini, a farm at Sidvokodvo, flats at Ngwane Park, two vehicles, and cash at the bank.
When he passed on, they (Melusi and Abande) and three others were appointed executors of the estate.
However, Melusi was removed by his brothers led by the Judge on grounds that he was delaying the winding-up process.
He told the Commission that he was served court papers in this regard on the day in question at 2 pm when he was expected to have responded by 5 p.m.
He further stated that he believed his father had more property beyond what his brothers had listed in the inventory and decided to conduct his investigation.
“My father had told me that he was worth E30 million, and I had to ensure that all his property was accounted for during the liquidation process,” Melusi stated.
Melusi told the Commission that his removal as an executor was uncalled for and alleged that his siblings tried to make him sign for distributions he disapproved of.
These included the decision to give homes to his father’s wives instead of selling them and distributing everything in cash.
He further stated that he believed his father left behind a will, but ‘surprisingly’ when he died there was none.
He also told the Commission that he was owed executor fees because his brothers received them throughout the distributions, and he did not.
Responding to his brother’s claims, Judge Abande clarified that his brother was removed as an executor because he missed meetings where they would discuss how to go about distributing the estate.
When he was called out on his failure to attend, he would make excuses about being busy or far away, which irked the co-executors and they decided to remove him through an application at the High Court.
He stated that Melusi was untruthful about the duration he was served, as he was given time to reply to the application and opted not to and the court issued an order to have him removed.
Even when the beneficiaries decided that their father’s wives inherit the homesteads instead of selling them, Melusi disagreed and was against the decision by his siblings.
“We consulted with Master who advised that since the majority was in agreement, we should proceed with the distribution,” Judge Abande said.
He clarified that the homes were given to the wives because that is where they resided even before their father met his demise, and it would not make sense to sell their homes when they are elderly and have spent their entire lives in those homes.
When Melusi was allegedly questioned about where he expected his father’s wives to go in the event the homes were sold, he never gave a response.
Furthermore, their father who was a professor at the University of Eswatini was pensionable by the entity which distributed his pension to his wives and children evenly, in that the wives received 25 per cent each and the 10 children received 5 per cent each.
“Everything did not sit well with Melusi because he always believed that our father had a will and once said everything had been left to him.
We gave him a chance to look for it and there was nothing. We then proceeded to wind up the distribution,” said the judge.
He further clarified that their father’s estate was not worth E30 million as alluded to by their brother, and the distribution proved that.
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Furthermore, according to the judge, when their father died, he and Melusi were not on good terms, and payment for his tuition fees was stopped.
“It is surprising that they supposedly had such conversations about his estate and a will in the state their relationship was,” he said.
Regarding the executor fees, Judge Abande clarified that Melusi was not eligible for further payment because he had been removed as an executor.
However, it was disclosed that there was still property at Siteki that needed to be sold, to which the brothers could consider paying him the fees he felt entitled to and put the matter to rest.
