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BABANE — “It is a common phenomenon that civil servants’ income is not high.”
Noncedo Ndlangamandla of Mabira Law Firm made the submission to Chief Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi in a bail application on behalf of Njabulo Thwala of Mpolonjeni. Thwala was one of seven employees of the Ministry of Home Affairs who were arrested on Thursday and charged with 89 counts of violating Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2006. Thwala was charged with 46 counts. The accused were suspected of illegally providing refugee identification numbers to foreign nationals, among other offences.
The other accused, Mbhekwa Ncongwane, Dumsile Lukhele, Phumzile Mdluli, Jean Khangezile Sitsebe, Faith Matse and Nqobile Helen Dlamini, appeared before the chief magistrate for the first time yesterday. They are represented by lawyers. One of the legal representatives is former High Court judge Sipho Nkosi, who is also Matese’s lawyer. Prosecutor Ngcebo Lukhele applied for the accused to be remanded in custody pending the High Court hearing. The accused applied for bail. Ndrangamandla, on behalf of Thwala, told the court that the accused was the breadwinner of the family, married with five children. The lawyer said Thwala’s wife was unemployed and the family depended on him for a living.
Ndlangamandla prayed that the court would grant Thwala bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds. “It is common that civil servants do not earn much,” she said. She also said her client promised that if granted bail, he would abide by all bail conditions. Ndlangamandla mentioned that Thwala appeared in court for counts 44 to 88. She pleaded with the court not to treat him differently because of this.
risk
Ben Simelane of Ben J. Simelane and Associates represented Mdluli and Lukhele. He also applied for bail on their behalf. Simelane said Mdluli, 52, who is retiring soon, had been a loyal public servant for the past 25 years. He said she was not a flight risk. “The state owes her a lot in pension. She is not going to fly away and lose her pension. She will appear in court on this matter. All her assets and family are in Swaziland; she is not going to leave the country because of this case,” Simelane said. Simelane, on behalf of Lukele (35), told the court that she was a reliable and hardworking public servant. He said the court had the power to grant them bail.
He argued that the court should not grant an excessive bail amount as it would be tantamount to denying bail. According to Simelane, his client cooperated with investigators. Nkosi said Matese, 44, a mother of three, faces only two charges. Nkosi told the court it was unlikely Matese would escape trial as she was not a flight risk. He pleaded with the court to set her bail at EGP 5,000. Nqobile also asked that her bail be set at EGP 5,000. Nqobile’s lawyer is Linda Dlamini of Linda Dlamini and Associates. Linda said Nqobile realizes the seriousness of the crimes she is accused of. She faces one charge. Ncongwane told the court he will plead not guilty. His lawyer is Sivesonkhe Ngwenya of Sivesonkhe Ngwenya and Associates. Ngwenya, for Ncongwane, said the main consideration was whether his client would attend the trial.
Married
He paid bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds, which he said was a suitable amount. He also told the court that Nkongwane would not abscond. He said Nkongwane was married and he was the only one working in the family. Vuyo Mbingo of Robinson Bertram, representing Sitsebe, said she would plead not guilty to all charges. She faces five of the 89 charges. He said she had never been arrested or charged with any wrongdoing. He said she would comply with all bail conditions. The prosecution said 10,000 Egyptian pounds in cash would be enough as bail.
The Chief Magistrate granted bail to the defendants. Nqobile was ordered to pay €5,000 bail and the others €6,000. According to the court, those charged with more than one offence are required to pay €6,000 and those charged with one offence are required to pay €5,000. Nqobile was charged with only one offence. The charges against the immigration officials stem from their alleged violations of Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2006. They were charged on the basis that they allegedly directly or indirectly provided and/or offered to benefit a number of foreigners by granting them registration and/or issuance of refugee identification numbers.
Benefits
They allegedly did this in order to obtain refugee status in Swaziland for foreign nationals. The foreign nationals who allegedly benefited from the defendants’ alleged corrupt practices were from countries in Africa and abroad. According to the charge sheet, the accused were suspected of abusing their positions, which amounted to breach of trust and breach of legal obligations and/or rules. The arrests were made on Thursday by members of the Royal Swaziland Police Service (REPS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The offences occurred in Mbabane between November 2017 and March 2023. The majority of the offences occurred in March 2023. The indictment states that on certain days in March 2023, multiple offences were committed in a single day. The accused were charged with offences under Section 42(1)(b) read with Section 42(2)(b)(i) or Section 42(2)(b)(ii) of the PCA.
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