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TENANTS DRAW SPEARS, BUSH KNIVES FOR DEPUTY SHERIFF

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MANZINI – Police were called as angry tenants drew their weapons and chased away a deputy sheriff and his team who had come to attach their belongings for outstanding rentals.

The incident took place at a Mbonane homestead in Mangwaneni, Manzini, where seven tenants were locked out of their rented flats by a messenger of the court about a month ago. In total, there are about 14 tenants and the sheriff had come to attach items of seven tenants. A source, who witnessed the incident when it started, said the deputy sheriff was accompanied by three members of Siyatentela Savings and Credit Cooperative Limited, and they came in a mini-truck to load the items to be attached. He said the deputy sheriff and the members of the association were spotted by one of the affected tenants and he alerted the others. The source said the deputy sheriff and his team approached one of the tenants and told him that they had come to attach his items for outstanding rentals to the new owners of the home.

“The affected tenants came out of their houses armed with all sorts of weapons, which included spears, bush knives, knobkerries and sticks, and charged towards the deputy sheriff and his team. The driver of the truck sped off right away,” the source said. During a visit to the homestead, the angry tenants were found engaged in a heated confrontation with the deputy sheriff and members of the association. According to some court papers which were given to the tenants, they were supposed to pay E600 and interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, calculated from the date of  debt falling due to date of final payment and costs of suit. One of the affected tenants, Sifiso Zikalala, said the owner of the home died a while ago and since then, they were paying rentals to her daughter who was residing within the compound. He said after a while, they were approached by the deceased’s younger brother, who informed them that they had sold the home and ordered them to pay rent to the new owners, something which they never did because the estate was still being processed at the Master of the High Court offices.

He said after the other seven tenants were locked out of their houses last month, the deputy sheriff came to attach their belongings, yet the matter was still pending before court. “The court ordered that nothing should be done to the houses until the estate was finalised by the Master of the High Court,” he said.

Land

Again, Zikalala, who was joined by another tenant, Fikile Dlamini, said prior to going to court, the matter was also heard before the regional administrator and the buyers were told to go and claim their money from the sellers as the land was not for sale.

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