Home | News | MONTIGNY SUES SIBONGILE MAZIBUKO E0.5M

MONTIGNY SUES SIBONGILE MAZIBUKO E0.5M

26/02/2021 01:38:00 BY MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE

Font size:

MBABANE – Montingy Investments Limited, a company owned by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, is suing political activist Sibongile Mazibuko.

The company wants Mazibuko who is an erstwhile member of the board of trustees of the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF), to compensate it with a sum of E500 000 for alleged defamation. Mazibuko, who is the president of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) is also a former president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).

Montigny Investments is a limited liability company duly incorporated in accordance with the company laws of the Kingdom of Eswatini, carrying on business as a timber company at Bhunya.

In its particulars of claim, the company claimed that on November 18, 2020, the defendant (Mazibuko) wrongfully and with intention to injure its reputation, validated and/or confirmed the veracity of allegations published in an article by an online publication styled Swati Newsweek.

The contents of the article complained of will not be repeated as they are now subject to litigation.

Pensioners

The online publication, according to the plaintiff (Montigny Investment Limited), published an article titled: “Outcry: Neal, State companies, get nearly E3 billion pensioners fund.” The plaintiff brought it to the attention of the court that the article was published on social media.

These are allegations contained in particulars of claim whose veracity is still to be tested in court and Mazibuko is yet to file her papers. “Contained in the article were claims that the plaintiff has ‘willy-nilly’ received loans from the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF). The defendant publicly took a stance that the alleged deeds of the company were ‘looting’ which led to pensioners being ‘owed’,” reads part of the company’s particulars of claim.

It was further the company’s averment that its business reputation was allegedly damaged by the material that Mazibuko caused to be published and/or validated in the publication about it. The company submitted that the statements that were purported had a tendency to negatively impact upon its standing in the business sector in which it operated.

Montigny Investment Limited argued that the purported validation allegedly by Mazibuko, was designed to damage the business reputation of the company in the market place and ultimately divert business away from it by virtue of the dearth of fair comment made.

“The statement by the defendant (Mazibuko) was wrong and defamatory of the plaintiff in that it purported to authenticate a certain state of affairs at the plaintiff’s undertaking that is wholly untrue, unsubstantiated and conjectural in its nature,” averred the company.

Lowering

In the particulars of claim, the company went on to contend that the statement by the defendant had the effect of lowering its estimation in its work environment and in the society in general.

The plaintiff asserted that Mazibuko allegedly intended the following innuendo when she purported to confirm the allegations made about the company; that it (company) acts or acted illegally; that it was dishonest and that it acted deceitful or fraudulently.

The statement by Mazibuko, according to the company, also implied that it allegedly acted or was in disregard of the lawful mandate it had been established to execute and in addition, the persons to whom the allegations were confirmed and made understood same to bear such innuendo.

The matter is still pending at the High Court and the defendant is yet to file her papers. The company is represented by senior lawyer Zweli Jele of Robinson Bertram.