Africa-Press – Eswatini. Inyatsi Group Holdings has filed an urgent application seeking to stop businessman Mavela Sigwane from defaming the company.
Inyatsi Group has sought relief that Sigwane and FESBC be interdicted and restrained from causing to be made and/or causing to be published any further malicious and defamatory statements about the company. It also seeks relief that they must be interdicted and restrained from causing to be made and/or causing to be published slanderous; manifestly obscene and untruthful statements concerning the applicants and their directors. Sigwane and the Federation of the Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) are yet to file their responding affidavits.
As a result, the veracity of these allegations is yet to be tested in court.
Attempts to get hold of Sigwane to find out if he received the papers were unsuccessful. Calls were made and messages were texted to him. There was no response by 10pm yesterday. The applicants are Inyatsi Group Holdings and Maloma Colliery Limited. The first respondent is Sigwane, while the second is FESBC. Inyatsi Group, whose deponent is Derrick Shiba, has also prayed to the court to make the sought relief to operate with immediate effect as an interim interdict, pending final determination of the defamatory legal proceedings to be instituted by Maloma Colliery against Sigwane. It is stated in the court papers that Maloma Colliery Limited anticipates instituting the defamatory proceedings within 30 days of the grant of the interim interdict.
affidavit
“That the costs of this application be borne by the respondents,” reads the affidavit filed by the construction company yesterday. It could not be ascertained when it would be heard. The applicants also want the court to order Sigwane and FESBC to publish an unequivocal and written apology in relation to the letter issued by them directed to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Eswatini Competition Commission and the statement released by the first respondent during or around December 5, 2023. Inyatsi also wants them to be interdicted and restrained from causing to be made and/or causing to be published any further malicious, defamatory; slanderous; manifestly obscene and untruthful statements concerning the company and Maloma Colliery Limited and their directors. Shiba said he was duly authorised by the applicants to depose to this affidavit and to institute the present urgent proceedings against Sigwane and FESBC.
In the ordinary course of his duties, he said he was tasked, among other duties, to review material that was published in the media concerning any of the members within the Inyatsi Group. “I have, therefore, acquired personal knowledge of some of the articles and correspondence that have been published in the recent past that form part of the subject matter of this application,” Shiba said. He briefed the court that Sigwane was employed by Maloma Colliery as a SHEQ Manager on October 4, 2021 in terms of a fixed three-year term contract of employment that was to lapse on October 10, 2024. Inyatsi attached a copy of the first respondent’s letter of employment to the application. Shiba said Sigwane subsequently concluded a contract of employment which contained a confidentiality clause. The copy of the contract was annexed to the application as well.
He cited Clause 13, which spelt out the confidentiality requirement. The clause reads: “The employee shall not discuss in public any matter of a confidential nature effecting the company and shall not use to his own advantage or gain any information obtained in the course of his employment with the company. “All information received by the employee in the course of his employment whether relating to the affairs of the company or its directors, shareholders and other members of management or their respective families shall be regarded as confidential.”
It further says: “The employee shall not during the course or after termination of his employment disclose to any person any information relating to classified matters, unless specifically authorised by the CEO or any person delegated by him.”
resignation
Shiba said Sigwane resigned his employment from Maloma Colliery Limited on January 11, 2023. He said the company accepted his resignation. In his letter of his resignation, he alleged that he indicated that he would like to continue to assist the company wherever possible. He said Maloma Colliery accepted this offer, subject to the parties concluding a written agreement to that effect. Ultimately, he further alleged that the parties did not conclude such agreement and no assistance has been provided by Sigwane to the company. Since his resignation from the company, Inyatsi alleged that Sigwane has been engaged in a concerted campaign to discredit the company and its associates. The company said the motive of his campaign was unknown to them but was it safe to attribute it to the conduct of a disgruntled former employee who sought to tarnish his former employers’ image.
Inyatsi Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd said it was this campaign that gave rise to the present application, in terms of which they were seeking interdictory relief against Sigwane in order to stop him from continuing with the spread of the malicious and defamatory allegations against them. The applicants alleged that Sigwane portrayed himself as being a person involved in a righteous crusade against the applicants.
allegations
They said the alleged crusade had not gone unnoticed, as other social media users and platforms have also joined the fray in broadcasting his allegations and providing commentary. They annexed an extract from a publication known as Swaziland News, where Sigwane’s allegations were repeated as if they were factually correct. Inyatsi submitted that the allegations by Sigwane did not come across as being righteous, but plainly allegedly appeared to be from an individual that was being both vindictive and malicious. “It is this malicious intent that requires that the court interdict him from repeating and/or continuing to make such defamatory allegations,” said Shiba in the court papers. Inyatsi Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd listed its associates as follows:
* Construction Associates (Pty) limited;
* Eswatini Meat Industries (Pty) Limited;
* Inyatsi Properties (Pty) Limited;
* Maloma Colliery Limited;
* Lidwala Insurance Limited;
* Robicon Media Group Limited;
* Datum (Pty) Limited;
* The Clinic Group Limited;
* E-mali Limited;
* Inyatsi Mining Limited.
Pertaining to the article in question, Inyatsi said on November 30, 2023, FESBC caused to be issued a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Eswatini Competition Commission. The applicants alleged that the letter was signed by Sigwane on behalf of the President of FESBC, Tum du Pont. They said the letter was copied to a number of statutory and non-statutory institutions and was further circulated in both print and social media, both locally and internationally. Consequently, Inyatsi said the letter had been the subject of an intensive public discourse. It said the letter was factually incorrect in various respects and was defamatory to the applicants as it portrayed them in bad light.
Inyatsi Group Holdings and Maloma Colliery Limted said the letter particularly connoted that they were involved in irregular acquisition of companies, ill-treatment of service providers, commercially abusive tendencies, non-adherence to good corporate governance and fair employment practices, involvement in tax fraud and a host of equally calumnious allegations.
Read in totality, they said the correspondence accused the applicants of being involved in ‘State capture’ which it was alleged allowed the applicants to be manipulative of government.
“The letter contains a number of factually incorrect statements. In the letter, it is alleged that Inyatsi Group has dominance and has acquired a number of entities,” the applicants said in the court papers.
acquisitions
They said Umbuluzi Chicken and United Holdings were also listed as acquisitions. “This statement is false as the applicants have not acquired this entity,” it is said in the papers of the court. Under the heading ‘Insurance’, they said it was alleged that they had acquired United Holdings. “This statement is also false, as we have never acquired this entity,” reads the affidavit filed by the group. Under the heading ‘Estate’ it was alleged that they have acquired Nkonyeni Estate. “This statement is likewise false as we have never acquired this entity,” insisted Inyatsi. It said the letter then alleged that they were involved in the exploitation of local businesses.
Source: times
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