MBABANE:Bheki Maphalala,the Chief Justice(CJ) of the Kingdom of eSwatini allegedly took a bribe and subsequently bullied Israel Matsebula, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) in the CJ’s ‘well-oiled’ corrupt judicial machinery that attempted to release powerful convicted Motor Vehicle thief Mfanakhona “Kakona” Dlamini.
An independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News uncovered that, after accepting the alleged bribe, the Chief Justice summoned the Deputy DPP and told him to stop prosecuting ‘Kakona’ and another convict identified as Senzo Sibeko, the two had filed an appeal as per the alleged advice of the CJ behind the scenes and the intention was to release them.
The amount of bribes allegedly accepted by the Chief Justice who was recently exposed by this publication for defrauding the State over R1million in housing allowances, cannot be revealed for now pending the ongoing intensive investigation into the alleged corruption scandal.
Detailed information in our possession suggests that, CJ Bheki Maphalala operates with different agents who act as conduits and collect the bribes on his behalf, one of the alleged agents is his relative Nikiwe Maphalala, an alleged employee of the Eswatini Electricity Company(EEC), Nikiwe resides at Ludzeludze.
A highly sensitive information obtained by this publication further suggests that on or around October 2021, Mfanakhona “Kakona” Dlamini who was found guilty on fifty-seven(57) of Theft of Motor Vehicle counts allegedly shared some information with other inmates that, he was about to be released as a bribe has been paid to the CJ and according to the information, the CJ, through his agents, allegedly advised Kakona’s relatives to instruct lawyers to file an appeal and subsequently apply for bail pending appeal.
But subsequent to the filing of the appeal,it is alleged that, the arrangement or condition of the bribe was that, the Chief Justice was then expected to delete part of the submissions recorded during the convict’s High Court trial, stall the appeal proceedings at the Supreme Court on the basis of disappeared recordings and subsequently release the suspect on bail pending appeal.
Furthermore,the alleged conditions of the bribe “was that, after releasing the convicts” being Kakona and Senzo Sibeko, he will ensure that, the appeal favors the convicts or alternatively,ensure that, it never see the light of the day.
Reached for comments by this Swaziland News,Israel Magagula,the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) said,he was not comfortable to speak about the matter as it placed his life in danger.
“I am not comfortable to comment about this matter, it placed my life in danger,”said the Deputy DPP.
A questionnaire was sent to the Chief Justice, however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
But an independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News further uncovered court documents suggesting that,subsequent to the bullying by the Chief Justice, the Deputy DPP filed an urgent application in court, calling upon the CJ to recuse himself in the matter that was before the Supreme Court.
This was after the CJ allocated the matter to himself and two(2)other Judges who were his close ‘friends’ and the intention was to release the convicts.
The CJ who at first was reluctant, subsequently recused himself in the matter but, information gathered suggests that,alleged killers from South Africa were subsequently hired to monitor the Deputy DPP with an intention to kill him.
This was after it became evident that,Magagula was an obstacle,bravely challenging the Chief Justice in ensuring that the Motor Vehicle theft convict ‘Kakona’ and his alleged accomplice Senzo Sibeko remain behind bars, Sibeko was subsequently released while Kakona remain behind bars.
In the court documents,the Deputy DPP further alleged that, on or around November 2021,while he was in court for the matter he was approached by the defence attorney, Linda Dlamini who requested that, he accompany him to the chambers of the CJ to introduce an Advocate whom they had instructed in the matter.
The Deputy DPP said,he asked lawyer Linda Dlamini why they had to introduce the Advocate to the CJ and he allegedly responded by stating that the CJ was part of the panel of Judges who were expected to hear the matter.
The Deputy DPP further alleged that, he then informed Linda that he would apply for the removal of the Chief Justice from the appeal hearing because before the commencement of the matter at the High Court, the CJ allegedly called him into his chambers and instructed him to stop prosecuting the appellant’s (Kakona and Senzo Sibeko) case.
Reached for comments, Mfankhona Kakona Dlamini’s lawyer Linda Dlamini asked not to be quoted or comment outside what happened in court.
“Can we agree that you won’t quote,I will share with you the recent judgment on the matter and then give you a comment thereafter,”said the lawyer representing the convicted powerful Motor Vehicle thief.
But a separate investigation into the alleged corrupt syndicate of the Chief Justice uncovered that, the CJ normally communicates with the said Nikiwe Maphalala who is his alleged relative and agent.
Cellphone communication data obtained by this investigative journalist, alleges that, the said Nikiwe once communicated with fired MTN Managers on her MTN and Swazi Mobile numbers.
But after being questioned to clarify what he was communicating with Nikiwe Maphalala, one of the fired MTN Managers who asked to be protected saying, he will assist this publication with more information regarding the CJ’s alleged corrupt dealings confirmed that,he communicated with the said Nikiwe Maphalala.
“Yes,I communicated with Nikiwe after being approached to pay a bribe to the CJ so that our case could be resolved in court.The said Nikiwe told me that Mandvulo who was our MTN CEO was bribing the CJ to ensure that we lose the case and now that Mandvulo is gone,if we want to win the case on review, we must pay the bribe.I refused to pay the bribe,” said the fired Manager.
But the electronic communication data suggests that, after speaking to certain people with pending court cases, the said Nikiwe would then call the Chief Justice’s number possibly to take instructions and report back.
The chain of communication as per the details of the sensitive electronic evidence suggests no links or direct communication with the Chief Justice by the suspected individuals with pending cases.
But it appeared that,Nikiwe Maphalala,the CJ’s relative was not only handling bribes for pending cases by acting as a middle person, “she was allegedly handling even local and foreign businesspeople who want to establish businesses and enjoy protection from the courts”.
On or around August 2023 while this publication was investigating the matter, Nikiwe Maphalala was called after this journalist went uncover and pretended to be a foreign businessman seeking assistance to speak to the eSwatini Chief Justice.
Nikiwe Maphalala who allegedly works for the Eswatini Electricity Company(EEC) was first reluctant to speak claiming that, she was not Nikiwe Maphalala but her friend.
“I am not Nikiwe but her friend, where did you get my number”, she asked and after learning that it was an alleged businessman seeking to speak to the CJ, she promised to pass the message but subsequently both her MTN and Eswatini Mobile numbers were off and as a result, subsequent efforts to seek an official comment proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
But information in our possession suggests that, after learning that,the matter was attracting criticism, the CJ, through his agents,allegedly told Kakona’s relatives that,it was not possible to release him.
Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala.