Swazi Observer

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23 TEACHERS CONNED E54 000

By PHUMELELE MTSETFWA | 2024-12-12

The thought of travelling in a private jet, a cruise on a yacht and a train ride in a vacation to Mozambique saw 23 teachers from SOS Primary School lose E54 000 to a tour guide.

The teachers were sold on the thought of the luxurious vacation as the suspect, Sabelo Thembinkosi Mncina, delivered a well-crafted presentation, highlighting places of interest and activities.

Further sweetening the deal, Mncina also played videos of trips he previously organised, which resulted in the teachers paying for the vacation, which was supposed to last for five days.

Mncina (44) of Malanti was charged with theft by false pretences in that on December 2023 in Mbabane, he unlawfully and intentionally took money amounting to E54 000 from Thobile Nonophile Dlamini, which was paid by 23 teachers for a trip to Mozambique but the trip never happened.

Relating how they were sold on the trip in court yesterday, the Headteacher Linda Dalton Thwala, said he knew Mncina following that he approached him in his office selling the idea that he wanted to take pupils on a trip in Mozambique.

Thwala said he had known Mncina for about three to four months and they were not related in anyway.

“I did not know him, hence I took him to the rest of the teachers to present his idea because he told us to pay about E80 000 to E85 000 but I cannot recall the exact amount,’’ Thwala said.

He told the court that Mncina approached him before August 2023, where he stated that he wanted to take pupils to a trip to Mozambique so they could be exposed to other job careers.
Thwala said they reached an agreement that teachers would be the first to go so that they could attest.

Payments
“We made payments to the account he had given us and 23 teachers were supposed to go. I had hoped to add one school committee member,” said Thwala.

According to the headteacher, Mncina made a presentation which showed places of interest and activities they would undertake.

He added that the chart displayed colourful sites, and stated that the trip was supposed to last for five days, however, they decided on three days due to financial constraints.

Thwala said he made a payment of E12 000 through the school account, which was the outstanding balance following that the organising team had made the other payments.
“I thought I was sending the money to a company account, but I feel like it was his personal account,” Thwala testified.

He further submitted that they were only given an electronic receipt after making the payments and told the court that the trip was cancelled on a Friday yet they were supposed to leave on a Sunday.

Thwala said Mncina told them that they would have to cancel the trip because the private jet and the yacht were no longer available.

The headteacher said they did not ask for a refund and also did not cancel the trip completely because they were promised plenty of lovely things.

He said they were desperate to travel even though they were informed that the yacht and the private jet would not be available.

Thwala said Mncina told them to postpone the trip to April, however, they later demanded their money because Mncina was not making means of communicating with them and when they tried to reach him through cellphones, he was not forthcoming.

He also informed the court that they last saw Mncina in December 2023 until he bumped on him on Monday and reported him to the police and he was arrested.

Thwala said he had to rely on his prayers on Monday when he bumped onto the accused, following that he had not be coming fourth since December because when they tried to reach him through his cellphone, he was not coming through.

He stated that he felt bad when he had to call the police, stating that if Mncina had at least lied to him they would not have been in court.

During cross-examination Mncina said he did not have any questions to ask because all that was said was true.
Mncina said he wanted to clarify that he had already returned E14 000, hence his outstanding debt was E40 000.

...Suspect claims he was
ill-advised by police

SUSPECT Sabelo Thembinkosi Mncina alleged that he did not communicate with the teachers after police advised that he must communicate with them instead.

Mncina said he went to SOS Primary because he identified it as one of the schools that could benefit from the trip, stating that the pupils were going to be exposed to various job careers.
He said the headteacher was happy when he showed him videos of other schools that had taken the trip.

“They paid E54 000 but the private jet and the yacht were not available, hence the trip no longer had value,’’ said Mncina.

He claimed that the trip was then rescheduled for April because schools would be closed.
He wanted to refund the teachers but the companies he had paid in Mozambique did not refund him. He further said he lost his job as a tour guide and also claimed that the company did not belong to him, hence he could not refund them as per his wish.

He submitted that he was recently employed and he intended to pay the teachers back with part of his salary.

Accused likely to face 7 years custodial sentence if….

PROSECUTOR Mzwandile Nxumalo said the court must sentence Mncina to seven years custodial sentence without an option of a fine if he would fail to compensate the teachers.

Nxumalo said Mncina knew that the trip was a scam because he did not tell the court that there was no return policy when he was given an opportunity to present his side of the story.

The prosecutor also emphasised that Mncina was aware that the trip was a scam because he did not disclose the amount which he allegedly paid to the companies.

“You were not forthcoming because you targeted an easy way to scam teachers and you have been on the run since December 2023 until now,” said Nxumalo.

Magistrate Motsa said Mncina’s attitude showed that he was not remorseful even though he took money from teachers who were not earning much, some of whom were single parents.

Mncina applied for bail, stating that he had three children dependent on him and also said if he would be locked up he would be unable to raise funds to compensate the teachers.
He disclosed that he earns E5 000 and would pay E2 000 monthly to compensate the complainants.

Magistrate Motsa admitted him to E4 000 bail and also ordered him to pay E10 000 on December 19 towards compensating the teachers following that he pleaded guilty.

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