CHIEFDOM BUSTED FOR E30M SALE OF SNL

MBABANE – Some of the country’s royal kraals are now making millions through the sale of Swazi Nation Land, something which is against their mandate.

The Land Management Board (LMB), which is chaired by Clement Dlamini has been irked by the discovery of E30 million which a certain royal kraal has made thorough the sale of Swazi Nation Land (SNL).
The sale of SNL remains illegal in the country. The discovery was made in a survey which was conducted to ascertain if people were sticking to the land management policy as provided by the country’s Constitution.
Speaking after the discovery on national radio yesterday morning, Dlamini said under no circumstances should SNL be sold.

Dlamini said the country’s Constitution was clear that SNL was governed by the King who ruled the country through chiefs who are trustees of the land on his behalf.
He wondered how the royal kraal, which he did not name, made over E30 million through the sale of the land which belonged to the Ingwenyama.

Dlamini said even though those who continued to sell the land believed that no action could be taken against them, the time had come for the Board to exercise its authority, which is embodied in the Constitution.
The chairman said ideally, if people felt that they were no longer going to use the land that was located to them, they were expected to return it to the royal kraals instead of selling it to other people. He said it was the royal kraal that would then decide what to do with the land.

Dlamini said the Board was aware that some people were selling land behind the authorities’ back and introduced the new comers to the royal kraals.

Collude

 “Returning the land to the royal kraal with a buyer is totally unacceptable and such should come to an end. We are alive to the fact that some members of the inner councils in some royal kraals collude with the people who sell the Swazi Nation Land for personal gain,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini said it was disturbing that there were people who had made it a habit to spend time at the royal kraal looking for people who were desperate for land so that they could ‘assist’ them. “It is disturbing that some Swazis were selling the land to foreigners including Asians. This is the same land that we have to reserve for the future generation, agriculture, pastures and development,” Dlamini said.

He added that some people have gone to the extent of selling the land which was under the national trust (farms). The chairman said the Board was also aware of the people who were advertising the Swazi Nation Land on newspapers.
He made an example of Mbekelweni, where he said people were allocated land at the mountains.

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