By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Phumzile Thomo, the Master of the High Court has allegedly seized control of all multimillion eStates bank accounts in a suspected act of corruption thus, grounding widows and orphans across the country who are now struggling with no money for food and school fees.

An independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News uncovered documents suggesting that, on or around 27th August 2025, the Master of the High Court wrote to the various banks, directing the financial institutions not to allow Assistant Masters in the Regions to approve monies exceeding fifty thousand Rands(R50,000.00) and that, eStates monies “must now be transferred to the Guardian Fund controlled by her”.

But this directive specifically means, beneficiaries can no longer approach Assitants Master of the High Court Offices in the various Regions and file emergency requests to pay school fees, funeral preparations among others if the costs will exceed R50,000.00.

As a result, orphans are currently grounded with no money for school fees as their parents monies have been locked in the Guardian Fund controlled by Government and signed for, by the Master of the High Court.

Worth-noting and in terms of the law, the Guardian Fund was established specifically to protect monies for minors or children who are below the age of eighteen(18), adults can establish an eState account  with the various banks and, Assistants Master of the High Court were able to approve payments thus enhancing speedy service delivery.

“Subsequent transactions involving disbursement of funds above E50,000.00(Fifty thousand Emalangeni) in the same name of the deceased’s account, estate late account, business account or company account wherein deceased holds a legal interest must include the undersigned’s endorsement as a second signatory thereof”, reads the directive letter in part, signed by the Master of the High Court.

But now, allegations are rife within the judicial circles suggesting that, Phumzile Thomo “wants to create a backlog of multimillion eStates files controlled by her so that, the desperate widows and orphans” can negotiate her signature with a reasonable percentage of the eState, as bribes.

Responding to this Swaziland News on Tuesday afternoon, the Master of the High Court confirmed the directive but said she was not in a rightful position to explain what influenced this decision.

It remains unclear “who Phumzile Thomo might be working with or for, within the corridors of power and if the purpose does not include frustrating the release of the eState monies” with intent to loot same or engage in corruption.

“Kindly contact the Registrar of the High Court, I have informed her that you will call regarding this matter. Even though I may wish to clarify the matter, the Registrar is the authorised person to respond on matters involving the Judiciary,” said the Master of the High Court.

But efforts to reach Registrar of the High Court Nosipho Mazibuko proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report as her cellphone rang unanswered.

Reached for comments by this publication, human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi described the directive by the Master of the High Court as a bureaucratic decision that will undermine the operations of the Master’s Office.

“It’s surprising that, she decided to take this decision while there’s an ongoing investigation into the operations of the Master of the High Court’s Office. This is a bureaucratic decision that will undermine the operations of the Master’s Office because as the situation stands, the Master’s Office is not performing to the expectation of the public. What would be the role of the Assistants Master of the High Court if everything now will be signed for or handled by the Master of the High Court?. Then the question would be; what does this decision mean?. It means members of the public will now struggle to receive their money on time because eState monies have been locked in the Guardian Fund. This will result to a backlog and the beneficiaries won’t receive assistance in case of emergency. It’s an unnecessary decision that will frustrate the public and render the Assistants Master mute,” said the lawyer.