MBABANE – Can a 44-year-old woman, arrested on charges of double-selling a piece of land, fulfill her promise to pay E10 000 monthly?
This is the pressing question for Hlengiwe Precious Sibandze, who pledged her commitment to a magistrate on May 8 after being found guilty of theft by false pretenses.
Sibandze, from Mahlalini, has been released from prison after posting E2 000 bail. However, she faces a deadline to repay Diana Mnisi E10 000 each month as part of a restitution plan related to the alleged land scam.
She made this promise before Mbabane Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi, proposing to start payments on May 23, 2025. In July 2024, Sibandze is accused of unlawfully defrauding Mnisi by falsely claiming to be the rightful seller of Plot 140 in Mahwalala Zone 5.
According to the charge sheet, she allegedly swindled Mnisi out of E70 000 by misrepresenting by selling to her the plot which she had previously sold to another.
The charge states, “Whereas the accused made the aforementioned misrepresentation, she well knew that the said plot had been sold by herself to another person in 2016, thereby committing the crime of Theft by False Pretenses.”
Sibandze is scheduled to return to court on May 26, 2025 for the continuation of the matter.
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