Stories by Bahle Gama
The ongoing inquiry probing the office of the Master of the High Court continues to unravel the ‘rot’ that has existed in the office for decades.
In a 62-year-old matter, it has been discovered that the Master at the time identified as Steward facilitated and consented to the sale of two farms that were sold at E150,000 respectively at the time.
The money received was not disbursed to the rightful beneficiaries and there remains no trace or receipt of where the money went.
Jethro Sikhosana, grandson to Simon Gama who died in 1962 told the Commission of Inquiry that his grandfather’s estate was not properly distributed in that it confused his mother’s estate in which he is an executor.
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‘He stated that his late mother Lydia was supposed to have inherited a farm from Gama’s estate but never received it hence the ‘bone to chew’ with Master.
Acting Assistant Master Xulu from Siteki told the Commission that in Gama’s inventory, there were two farms.
In the next of kin meeting, Oliver Gama was chosen as an executor on October 21, 1983, at the district commissioner’s office in Manzini.
In the file, there was a will left by Gama which was signed at Siteki in 1962 where he stated that his estate would be distributed to his five children, including Jethro’s mother.
From the information in the file, Oliver rented out the farms to a Stefanno for five years from 1984 to 1999 which was renewed to expire in 1995.
However, the farms were then sold in February 6, 1992 to Stefano even before the lease had expired.
There is no consent for the sale from beneficiaries and no reason for selling the farm except that they had been long leased to Stefanno.
“The file shows that Master Stewart consented to the sale of the farm, and no one received the money. No one knows where the money went.
But there is a distribution account which states that each beneficiary was to receive about E28,000 each,” said Xulu.
The executor Oliver signed the deed of sale, which means he and Master Stewart allegedly orchestrated the sale of the farms without the knowledge of the beneficiaries.
Xulu further stated that there were letters from lawyers questioning Master where the money went and there were no responses.
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“As for what we have in the file, there are no receipts or evidence of where the money went after the sale,” said Xulu.
He further stated that the estate was not fully distributed according to the will by Gama, hence the discrepancies.
…File disappeared for over 20 years
The file to late Simon Gama’s estate is said to have disappeared and was unveiled to the beneficiaries over 20 years later.
This was disclosed by his grandson Jethro Skhosana who told the Commission that Master Stewart refused to grant access to the family in that he would say they should bring a lawyer to view the file.
Skhosana opted to seek assistance from the Attorney General who advised him to write to the Ministry of Justice. It was only then that the file surfaced in 2021 revealing all the discrepancies inside of it.
When questioned by the Commission where the file was found, the officers representing Master said they did not know, and only received a call that it had been found just recently.
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The Commission concluded that the Master and assistants who were present at the time and who are alive to date should be summoned to answer and fill up the gaps in the file. Further, to respond to where the money made from the sale of the farms went.
The Commission further advised the office not to require answers or information from the beneficiaries when the file had been missing for years.
“It is unfair that you will expect beneficiaries to bring you evidence when you had misplaced, lost, or refused with the file as an office,” said Commissioner LaNgwenya.
