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WIDOW, STEPSON, IN-LAWS IN ESTATE ROW

30/11/2020 06:38:00 BY SIBUSISO SHANGE

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SITFOBELA - A widowed woman of Sitfobela has narrated how she has allegedly been subjected to a life of misery after the death of her husband.

Sitfobela is situated at Siphocosini in the Hhohho Region.

Nomcebo Sihlongonyane, nee Mahlangu, alleged that her in-laws subjected her to abuse shortly after the death of her husband in February this year.

It has been reliably gathered that Nomcebo was the second wife of the late Mzondi Sihlongonyane and was married to him in civil rites under community of property after the death of the first wife.

It has also been gathered that Nomcebo was brought to the homestead which her late husband established with his first wife, whom he had six children with but left behind three as the others passed away.

Inheritor

It has been confirmed that when Mzondi died, he left a will wherein he declared Nomcebo as an inheritor of all his estate which included a car, cattle, goats and the homestead.

A will is a legal document that expresses a person’s wishes as to how their property is to be distributed after their death and as to which person is to manage the property until its final distribution. The will was recognised by the master of the High Court and there was no objection from the deceased’s children until the distribution of the estate. However, Nomcebo was advised to offer a cow known as insulamnyembeti to the deceased’s children as it was not counted in the estate according to Eswatini Law and Custom.

Nomcebo alleged that her in-laws and the deceased’s children never objected to the will. However, she claimed that even though they never showed any objection, the deceased’s elder son, Mduduzi, confronted her over the homestead and part of the estate. She further alleged that the deceased’s children and her in-laws always interfered whenever she wanted to do something within the estate.

She made an example of a recent incident, which occurred in early November, 2020.

Ceremony

“My in-laws offloaded cattle from a motor vehicle, claiming that I have no authority to relocate them. I wanted to relocate the cattle to Ngculwini because there are cattle rustlers in the area. Just recently, nine cattle were stolen so I feared that the remaining cattle would be stolen,” she alleged. She added that she was yet to use the cattle for a cleansing ceremony.

Nomcebo made a lot of allegations, some which cannot be published due to their sensitive nature.

Nomcebo has since approached the Mbabane Magistrates Court wherein she sought a peace binding order. She submitted that her in-laws did not give her peace of mind since the death of her husband.

She alleged that there had been a series of verbal and physical attacks by Mduduzi, who was allegedly supported by his family.

However, Mduduzi denied having attacked his stepmother. He confirmed that there was a pending family issue before the inner council of the area. Mduduzi told the court that trouble began after his stepmother allegedly accused him of stealing a fence. He stated that his stepmother never apologised even after the fence was recovered from a certain man of the area.

On the issue of the will and the distribution of the estate, Mduduzi said he didn’t care about the estate as he had his own property.

“I don’t know how my father arrived at leaving out his children in the will. My father left six children, however, three have passed away. My two sisters live at their matrimonial homesteads.

Harmony

However, we never fought our stepmother over the estate. I once advised her to adopt me (kungifaka esiswini) so that we can live in harmony but she refused,” he submitted.

Mduduzi further confirmed that the family disapproved to the relocation of the cattle. This, he claimed was because they were made to understand that the cattle were being taken to Nomcebo’s homestead.

“We disapproved the relocation of the cattle because the matter is pending before the inner council,” he submitted.

In view of the circumstances, Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati issued an order wherein he ordered both parties to keep and maintain peace. Vilakati ordered both parties to refrain from using violence. The judicial officer ordered the parties to avoid talking to each other if that was bound to cause violence. However, the court order worsened the situation. Nomcebo returned to court and claimed that Mduduzi never complied with the court order. She submitted that Mduduzi locked a water tap after the issuance of the court order on August 15, 2020. It was her evidence that she used toilet water for cooking, cleaning, washing and drinking.

She stated that she had been fetching water from the toilet since August 15, 2020.

Illness

According to Nomcebo, the water would have not been installed at the toilet had it not been for the long illness of her late husband. She told the court that the family had been sharing the outside tap.

Mduduzi confirmed in court that he locked the water tap to stop Nomcebo from using it. He stated that as a result of the court order, he had decided to fence his houses situated a few metres from his father’s house.

“I will not remove the padlock from the water tap. The court will have to cancel the court order before I can remove the padlock. The court order barred us from talking to each other so how can we share a water tap if we are not talking to each other?” Mduduzi asked the court.

He confirmed that his stepmother used water sourced from the toilet. He submitted that it would be better if the court conducted an inspection in loco when dealing with the issue at hand.

Upon a visit to the Sihlongonyane homestead, it was discovered that both parties used the main gate and the same kraals for their livestock. A padlock was found hanging from the water tap, which is at the centre of the two homesteads. There is also a washing line next to the water tap. However, Nomcebo alleged that she had been stopped from using it after the issuance of the court order.

She was found fetching water from the toilet. She used a small bucket to fetch the water from the water tap, which is attached to a small sink.

She mentioned that it took her almost an hour to fill a 20 litre container as the water hardly came out of the tap.

“This is what I have been subjected to since August 2020 despite that my husband made it clear in the will that no one should fight me over his estate, including the homestead. Nobody challenged my husband during his lifetime when he brought me to this homestead,” she said.

Vilakati referred the matter to the royal kraal of the area for deliberations. He ordered both parties to keep and maintain peace pending the deliberations.

It was reliably gathered that the matter had not yet been formally reported to the inner council but was dealt with at the Zone level.