MBABANE -While the owners of the Status Capital Building Society have
been expecting a report and close to E100 million repaid to the SCBS account,Mbongiseni Nkambule says there is nothing to report about his time as a curator.
This is despite the fact that the Master of the High Court’s Office, recently cited that the SCBS members,have the right to take the curator to task for a lack of accountability.
Also,this call, by the outgoing Curator, comes at a time when the Investors and Shareholders have filed it in court that the FSRA have deprived them the right to be kept up to date about what was happening regarding the Society’s affairs.
SCBS stands for Status Capital Building Society
Nkambule was appointed Curator after Bimal Da Silva.
A Curator is someone that has been appointed to manage affairs on behalf of someone or an organisation.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority appointed Mbongiseni Nkambule to watch over the affairs of the SCBS.
Nkambule was supposed to deliver his report by December 2025 to the members and shareholders.
Almost three months later,that havent happened and he was asked why?
In his response he said,“a curator is appointed by the regulator and operates in accordance with specific terms of reference, which primarily require reporting to the appointing authority. While, in the spirit of transparency, a curator may elect to communicate with members, this is not a statutory obligation.”
He went on to explain that in his case, he served as Curator from October 1,2025 to 24 December 2025 and that during this period, there was no formal commitment or requirement to produce a report to members, and there were no material developments that necessitated such communication.
It was also brought to his attention that according to the Master’s Office, when the Authority appointed a liquidator, that automatically canceled his role. He was asked if he was aware?
“Yes, I am aware. My tenure as Curator of SCBS formally came to an end on 24 December 2025, following the issuance of a provisional liquidation order by the High Court, at this point of control the entity transitioned in accordance with the legal process.”
Lastly Nkambule was questioned on the evident conflict of interest over the fact that he was appointed a Curator when he was an employee of the Authority.
“I note that this matter forms part of issues currently before the courts. In light of this, it would not be appropriate for me to provide detailed comment at this stage, in order to respect the ongoing judicial process.”
Michael Mbetse who is the Managing Director for the SCBS was reached for comment regarding the sentiments made by Mbongiseni Nkambule.
In his remarks,he highlighted that in Eswatini (and generally in corporate law), a Curator (or Curator Bonis) is appointed by the court to manage the affairs of a company, typically when it’s insolvent or in financial distress.
“A Curator’s primary duty is to act in the best interests of the company and its creditors, not necessarily the shareholders. However, they do have obligations to report to relevant parties, including shareholders, depending on the court’s directions and applicable laws.In Eswatini, under the Companies Act, shareholders have rights to certain information about the company, even when a Curator is appointed. The Curator may need to provide information to shareholders in certain circumstances, like reporting to the court or in accordance with specific court orders.”
He further explained that a Curator for a building society had specific obligations regarding information sharing.
“According to the Building Societies Act, 1962, the Curator’s primary duty is to act in the best interests of the society and its stakeholders, including depositors. While there’s no explicit statutory obligation for the Curator to share information with shareholders, the Act does require the Curator to report to the Registrar and may involve sharing information with relevant parties as directed by the court or the Registrar.”
In general, shareholders have rights to certain information about the building society, but these rights might be limited when a Curator is appointed, especially if the society is insolvent or under financial distress.
Discussion about this post