By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:Queen Ntombi Tfwala and her right-hand woman Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) Thulisile Dladla allegedly defrauded thousands of emaSwati through the Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment Trust(SWEET), in what appears to be one of the biggest multimillion fraud and corruption scandal involving the King’s mother.

SWEET was established by the Queen Mother who then appointed the Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) Thulisile Dladla and former Central Bank Deputy Governor Sibongile Mdluli to be members of the Board.

The purpose of the investment scheme was to empower women in the rural areas who earn a living through informal businesses that include,among others,selling handcrafts.

But the DPM and other members of the Board allegedly masterminded the looting of the public funds,police failed to arrest the influential,powerful and politically connected suspects.

But on Wednesday members of the public particularly women were at the Manzini Library to collect their money after the collapse of the investment scheme, some received twenty-five Rands(R25.00) after investing Five hundred Rands(R500.00) for close to ten(10) years.

A questionnaire was sent to the Deputy Prime Minister(DPM),the SWEET Board Chairperson who was representing the Queen Mother in the investment scheme, however,she had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

Reached for comments on Wednesday evening,Sibongile Mazibuko,the President of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress(NNLC) expressed disappointment with the manner in which the SWEET issue was handled as Central Bank Governor had earlier announced that, emaSwati will get back what they invested.

The NNLC President said,the Governor lied and gave emaSwati false hope.

“That’s why as NNLC we demand democracy where all who defraud the nation will face the wrath of the law, for now emaSwati have nowhere to go since the organisation belongs to the Queen Mother who is immune to prosecution”, said the NNLC President.