MAGISTRATE, WOMAN IN COURT AFTER WIDOW FORCED TO SIGN AFFIDAVIT

MBABANE-“It’s an unusual and a very sad scenario.”

These were the comments of Judge Titus Mlangeni in a matter where a senior magistrate and a woman have been taken to court for allegedly colluding to force a widow to sign an affidavit. Nhlangano Senior Magistrate, Peter Simelane, is alleged to have forced Nonhlanhla Mayisela to sign an affidavit declaring that Nomcebo Dlamini was also the wife of the late Ocean Mayisela and was eligible to benefit from his pension. Senior Magistrate Simelane is reported to have intimidated the widow (Mayisela) by telling her that it was in terms of the law that she should sign the affidavit confirming that Dlamini was the wife of the deceased. The widow is said to have refused and it was then that the senior magistrate allegedly insisted that it was by the order of the court that she should sign the affidavit. These are allegations that are yet to be proven in court.

According to the widow, while she was refusing to sign the affidavit, Simelane threatened her that she would be jailed for contempt of court. “Subsequently, the senior magistrate directed a court orderly to fetch a warrant of arrest from the Criminal Registry so that he can issue same,” submitted Nonhlanhla. The judicial officer is alleged to have then instructed the other family members to leave as Nonhlanhla was now under arrest waiting to be committed to prison.  At that time the widow was reportedly crying. “I was under a lot of pressure because the police officers were also threatening me. This was when the magistrate ordered me to put a thumb print on the affidavit,” submitted the widow.
The woman who now claims to the beneficiary is alleged to have disappeared 24-years ago only to resurface now to make the claim. She allegedly escaped a day after she was traditionally wedded.

The Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) has been cited as the third respondent in the matter. In her application, Nonhlanhla (widow) stated the matter emanated from the death of her husband. She mentioned that Mayisela who was employed by Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) died around September 2017. She submitted that during Mayisela’s lifetime he attempted to marry Dlamini in terms of kuteka custom but the latter ran away a day after the kuteka ceremony. “She never came back to the Mayisela homestead. I have been advised that when she was traditionally wed, her child was 18 months old,” submitted the widow. The applicant (widow) alleged that Dlamini had never been in the life of Mayisela ever since she ran away. According to Nonhlanhla, Mayisela was humiliated in the area because Dlamini ran away. She claimed that people concluded that Dlamini ran away because she was no longer in love with Mayisela.

Nonhlanhla alleged that after Dlamini ran away, Mayisela married her in the year 2009 and she had been living with him until his death. “When he died in September 2017, we prepared for the funeral. I mourned him and the Mayisela family performed all customary practice which are performed to widows which include inter alia, wearing mourning gowns and cutting my hair,” submitted the widow.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: