Home | News | ‘MAJOR V’ INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY, SAYS AG, PERCY

‘MAJOR V’ INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY, SAYS AG, PERCY

26/05/2024 16:24:00 Times Sunday Reporter

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MBABANE – Popular prophet Vusumuzi ‘Major V’ Dlamini might have scored the biggest appointment, but a pending criminal case opened two years ago still haunts him.

The case in question is in relation to that in March 2022, the man of the cloth was arrested by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) while at his place of abode in Matsapha for an alleged theft of money amounting to E900 000 that was allegedly unlawful deposited into his account held with Swaziland Building Society (SBS). While the case is still pending, Dlamini was last week appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III as a member of Liqoqo, which is an advisory council whose members are appointed by Ingwenyama from the membership of bantfwabenkhosi (emaLangeni), tikhulu (chiefs) and persons who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation. The Constitution provides that Liqoqo traditionally advises Ingwenyama on disputes in connection with the selection of tikhulu (chiefs) boundaries of chiefdoms and any other matter Ingwenyama may assign for their advice in confidence.

While many have congratulated his latest achievement, some have questioned whether he was fit to be part of an advisory council of Their Majesties when he had a pending criminal case.
When the King’s Officer Director of Communications Percy Simelane was called on the matter, he stated that in the Kingdom of Eswatini, a person was innocent until found guilty by a court of law. “Normal news does not evaporate when a suspect is charged. He still has the basic rights and freedoms on his side, which normally decimate if the court finds him guilty. I want to believe that Dlamini’s case is not different,” Simelane said. Also sought for comment was the Attorney General Chief Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo who said, “We have a presumption of innocence in terms of the Constitution. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Has he been proven guilty or convicted?” Called yesterday, Dlamini did not hide the fact that following his appointment, some people were busy digging up his past and that he did not fear anything. In particular, he said he was grateful for being engaged on the case as he was planning to report to the Liqoqo members about it.

Fear

Regarding the case, he said he did not fear anything, as what he did was pray for a person not knowing that such would land him in trouble. Dlamini shared his version which, however, cannot be printed as the matter is still pending in court. He, however, stated that he was ready to work as a Liqoqo member with due diligence and that the pending case will not deter him as he was innocent and had never been a thief in his life. Dlamini said all that he wished for was for the matter to be concluded especially since it led to the closure of his bank accounts. “I am yet to report the issue to the advisory council. I recently reported that people are sending me screenshots of stories that are focused on my past behaviour,” Dlamini said. He highlighted that what gave him the strength was that he believed that His Majesty appointed him because he was a man who stood for the truth. “I stand for the truth and that will never change. I do not have a problem at all with this case, save to pray that it is concluded and the truth comes out. This matter I can win in court even tomorrow,” the prophet said. In jest he said those who were talking about the case were people full of jealousy.

In vernacular he said, ‘Yinhlitiyo lembi leyo, nemona’. The man of the cloth was arrested by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) while at his place of abode in Matsapha. Dlamini became the second person to be arrested in connection with the theft of the money at the bank. First to be arrested was Ndumiso Khumalo, the bank’s Assistant System Administrator. Khumalo was alleged to have facilitated the allegedly fraudulent transaction. It was alleged that the prophet, being a holder of an SBS Account No.52000362621, unlawfully and acting in furtherance of a common purpose, stole money amounting to E900 000. According to the charge sheet at the time, the money was in lawful possession of Melusi Dalton Malinga of SBS. Dlamini made his first appearance at the Mbabane Magistrates Court before Acting Principal Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati and his arrest came hardly a week after he withdrew his court papers in the matter, where he had been taken to court by the bank over the same money.

‘mysteriously’

When the money was ‘mysteriously’ deposited into his account, the bank rushed to the High Court where it obtained an interim order to freeze part of the money that was left in his account. Dlamini, who was represented by Ntobeko Piliso, was vigorously opposing the application but later changed his mind and withdrew his opposing papers. It was reported that when the prophet was first asked about the source of the money, he allegedly told bank officials that it had been deposited by his wife. He later changed the story to say it had been deposited by a drug dealer he did not know. In her papers, the Managing Director (MD) of the bank, Mbali Sibanyoni, told the court that the prophet dismally failed to produce any evidence, which demonstrated that the money belonged to him. “The sum of E900 000 was a product of a fraudulent act done by the bank’s employee, one Ndumiso Khumalo, who unlawfully transferred the said funds to Dlamini’s account on February 3, 2022. Therefore, these monies having been unlawfully appropriated by Khumalo for the benefit of Dlamini, the bank is entitled to reverse the transaction,” contended the MD argued that the sum of E900 000, which was deposited into Dlamini’s account was as a result of a criminal act done by Khumalo. She told the court that Dlamini could not seek to claim same as a gift.

According to the MD, when the bank approached the High Court on February 18, 2022 to seek the interdict, it relied on an error suspected on its system. It was her contention that this reliance on the error at the time was justified. She narrated to the court that Dlamini had deposited E500 on February 22, 2022. However, the general ledger showed a debit of E500 and a credit of E900 500, which was unusual in the banking industry. Sibanyoni said besides the above, Dlamini’s statement, instead of showing a credit of E500 to his benefit, it reflected a cash deposit of E900 500 (with the narration ‘Cash Deposit Self) when the only cash deposit which was present on that day was for E500. She went on to submit that the bank had engaged an intellect who advised it on February 7, 2022 that there was nothing wrong with its banking application. “In light of the above, it was reasonable for the bank to suspect that the system had an error, hence it then engaged ETS Innovations to check the date,” she argued.

ETS Innovations is a company based in Centurion, South Africa and it is responsible for the bank’s data base support and maintenance. The MD highlighted to the court that preliminary investigations by the intellect viewed this transaction as a systems error because of the abnormality of same. This, according to Sibanyoni, was because as per the system records, the customer made a deposit of E500, made up of one E200 note, four E50 notes and five E20 notes.

Mismatch

She brought it to the attention of the court that the general ledger entries, when viewed, showed a mismatch in the sense that they showed a debit entry of E500 and a credit of E900 500.
It should be noted that Dlamini denied stealing the money. He made the denial in his bail application where he further averred that he had a bona fide and valid defence to the charge he was facing. Meanwhile, some congregants from his church were quoted saying that that to them, Dlamini was their Jesus. According to the congregants, as Jesus had suffered in order to save his people from eternal hell, so had the prophet who was also alleged to have been made to suffer because he was a saviour of the people. They mentioned that to prove that the prophet was the Jesus of the current generation; they alleged that he had performed miracles which were similar to those performed by Jesus.