By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Dave Van Niekerk,the Status Capital Building Society(SCBC) permanent member has confirmed his efforts to facilitate the payment of R85million lost in the widely reported alleged mismanagement of the public investment funds.

Speaking to this Swaziland News on Monday, Dave Van Niekerk said over the past few years, extensive engagements took place between him and the previous companies that Status Capital Building Society invested in and as a result, all investments made during his tenure as a non-Executive member have been settled with the latest being SDFF.

 “I would have preferred that the parties only settled once the curator’s tenure was over and the society members were managing the society themselves. However, given the continued presence of the appointed curator and the position taken by the FSRA, SDFF was ultimately compelled to defend legal action initiated against it and to agree to the settlement. As part of the settlement, SDFF has agreed to start the repayment of a total amount of R85million, which is capital and inclusive of interest,” he said.

On another note, the SCBC permanent Executive member confirmed that, R10million “has already been paid and reflected in the Status Capital Building Society bank accounts adding that, the remaining balance will be paid progressively” over the next few months.

“The first E10 million has already been paid and is reflected in SCBS bank statements. The remaining balance will be repaid progressively over the next few months. I must say also that Despite these repayments, members currently had no assurance regarding how the received funds will be managed or allocated, as long as the Building Society remained under the control of the curator, and while members and key leadership, including Michael Mbetse, remained excluded from operational oversight. It is equally important to acknowledge that previous repayments from other investments-such as the E35 million remitted earlier this year-have not been transparently accounted for. This raises questions about governance, spending priorities, and the continued use of Society resources for unnecessary overheads and protracted legal battles that do not serve the interests of members”, Dave Van Niekerk said.

But Dave Van Niekerk said, notwithstanding these concerns, the SDFF repayment “represents a crucial milestone as this brings to a close all the investments” made while he was still permanent member.

“I remain committed to supporting members in restoring proper governance, reinstating democratic control, and securing new investment capital for SCBS once a member-elected board is reinstated and the curator’s role is brought to an end,” said the Status Capital Building Society permanent member.