Eswatini home affairs official charged for issuing illegal ID to ‘Cat’ Matlala

An Estwatini home affairs official who was suspended over allegations that she fraudulently issued Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala with an Eswatini birth certificate and ID has been arrested.

Nonhlanhla Malambe was arrested on Wednesday afternoon and appeared at the Mbabane magistrate’s court on Thursday for a bail application. She is accused of fraud and of contravening the laws that govern the issuance of government documents.

In a charge sheet Sowetan has seen, Malambe is accused of unlawfully giving Matlala an Eswatini birth certificate on February 12 last year through her powers as an employee of the ministry of home affairs.

According to the charge sheet, Malambe’s action “amounts to an abuse of position of authority, alternatively acts which amounts to breach of trust, alternatively acts which amounted to a violation of the legal duty and a set of rules”.

Malambe issued Matlala with an ID number on the same day, the charge sheet further states.

Malambe was granted E5000 bail, which is equivalent to R5,000.

The Times of Swaziland previously reported that Malambe is on a three-month suspension imposed by the Civil Service Commission pending investigations into the matter.

The publication claims that Matlala is listed in Eswatini’s population register as the second-born child of Christinah Thembi Shongwe of Motshane village. However, Shongwe’s actual second-born child is a girl, and authorities were puzzled as to how Matlala’s details appeared in Shongwe’s family profile, the paper reported.

In an interview, Shongwe said she knew nothing about the fraud and had not received any money regarding the matter.

Sowetan