swaziland times

BABANE – Princess Lengyel has demanded that her lawyer, Mlongisi Kumalo, pay LE10 million, which she allegedly paid him for the e-visa project.

Other defendants include Prince Guduza and protocol officer Candelela Mdluli. The princess, who was married to the late businessman and football administrator Victor Gameze, wants the defendants to repay the money. She allegedly handed the money to Kumalo, who told her it would be used to finance a commercial tender awarded by Crypto Technology (PTY) Limited to build an e-visa platform worth EGP 263 million. In court documents, Princes Mdluli and Guduza, who were employed as protocol officers by the King’s Office, were accused of being directors of Crypto Technology (PTY) Limited. Other defendants in the case include the company, Crypto Technology and the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP).

The e-visa tender, which is issued and recorded electronically without the need for a visa label (sticker) in a passport, had been controversial in parliament as the way it was issued came under scrutiny from lawmakers. In the details of the lawsuit, Princess Longier stated that Kumalo, the first defendant in the case, was her lawyer and legal advisor at all material times. She said that because of the special relationship between her and Kumalo, she relied on his advice and guidance in both business and personal matters.

The plaintiff (Princess Longier) stated to the court that Kumalo verbally requested a loan of €10 million in November 2020. According to the princess, when Kumalo made the loan request, he claimed that he was making the loan request on behalf of Crypto Technology (PTY) Limited. She stressed that they were at their residence in Mbabane when the oral agreement application was first discussed. Princess Langill told the court that they were at Mbabane during most of the subsequent negotiations on the matter.

Stakeholders

The plaintiff informed the court that at all material times, Kumalo had in some way represented himself as one of the shareholders of the company. “When making the loan application, the first defendant informed the plaintiff that the money was required for a commercial tender awarded by the second defendant (Crypto Technology (PTY) Limited) to build an e-visa platform for the Swaziland government, a project he said was worth EGP 263 million,” Princess Lengyel stated.She further argued that Kumalo personally made the loan application. Princess Longier said Kumalo convinced her to grant the €10 million loan despite not providing any security. “The plaintiff entered into a written loan agreement with the second defendant (the company). The agreement was signed in Mbabane on November 25, 2020. “Sabelo Masuku signed the agreement on behalf of the second defendant and the plaintiff signed the agreement in his own capacity,” the princess said.

She insisted that the loan amounts were disbursed on different dates in full accordance with Kumalo’s instructions. She also argued that for all transactions she dealt only with Kumalo and that the funds came from Mfana Trust, a company she owned and controlled. The plaintiff claims that under the written loan agreement, the money had to be paid, with interest, on or before April 30, 2021. Princess Langille claims that on April 28, 2023, she sent a demand letter to the company and, despite repeated requests, has not been paid. She said she would not have agreed to the unsecured loan request if it were not for Kumalo’s constant pressure and influence on her.

easy

She said she would suffer damages and losses by doing so. In the joint summons, the princess argued that Kumalo was liable to compensate her for damages and losses caused by the company’s failure to repay interest on the loan. In another lawsuit she filed against Kumalo, the princes said in November 2020 that Kumalo represented to her that the company had been awarded the e-visa tender by the government of the Kingdom of Swaziland. These are the allegations contained in the particulars of claim, the truth of which remains to be tested in court.

The summons reads: “At the time the first defendant made the representation, he knew it was false as the company had not received any such bid at that time. At the time the first defendant made the representation, he hoped that the plaintiff would take action to provide him and the company with an unsecured loan of €10 million and lead her to believe that the company could easily repay the loan.” She also argued that through the false representations, she was induced to provide the company with an unsecured loan, which she would not have done if she had known the correct circumstances so as not to harm her interests.

Princess Longier claims that Kumalo was the only person she dealt with when committing the alleged fraudulent intent and that he claimed to represent the company at all material times. The princess claims that Kumalo instructed her to deposit large sums of money directly into his personal account. She claims that due to Khumalo’s alleged misrepresentations, she suffered damages of €999,999.28, an amount she paid on his instructions. The case is still before the courts and the defendants have yet to file documents in case they dispute the claim.