By Sifiso Nhlabatsi | 2025-01-31

Timothy Velaphi Tsabedze has claimed that he was misled into signing a document regarding his son, Principal Secretary Sipho’s date of birth, without being properly informed of its contents or purpose.

This transpired in the controversial case of the principal secretary’s retirement age at the Industrial Court yesterday, which was postponed to today. The PS according to a ruling by the CSC is supposed to retire on Monday, however, he is challenging this decision.

An issue of an affidavit from the PS’s father, which was disputing a sworn statement he made in 2023, was raised in court.

In the new affidavit filed by the PS’s legal team, Tsabedze senior recounts that in May 2023, two men and two women unexpectedly visited his homestead, introducing themselves as visitors from Mbabane. The group inquired whether he was Sipho’s father, to which he confirmed.

They claimed to be his son’s colleagues and proceeded to ask detailed questions about Sipho’s birthdate.

Tsabedze, who admits to be struggling with memory due to his age, initially estimated that his son was born in 1963 or 1964. However, he later clarified that he was unsure and advised them to ask Sipho’s mother, whom he believed had his birth certificate.

“I told them that I am not sure of the date and that his mother would know better as I believe she was in possession of his birth certificate. I went further to tell them where she can be found.
‘‘They urged me to estimate and after trying to recall the events surrounding my son’s birth, I told them it might have been 1963 or 1964,” Tsabedze stated.

Despite this, he alleges that the visitors persisted, urging him to provide a birth year. Tsabedze further recalls that he mentioned his incarceration in 1964 during a public protest and initially suggested that Sipho had already been born at that time.

However, upon further reflection, he realised that only his eldest son, Petros, had been born then.

“During the discussion I did tell them that I was incarcerated during a public protest in 1964. I did say to them that when I was incarcerated Sipho was already born. In fact, on the contrary, Sipho and even his older brother were not born and at that time I only had one child, Petros who was an infant,” Tsabedze submitted in his affidavit.

Most concerning to the elderly man is that he was handed a document to sign without it being read to him. He claims he was told it was work-related but was not informed that it was an affidavit.

Additionally, he states that no commissioner of oaths was present and that he was not asked to swear to the truth of its contents.

Tsabedze now disputes the statement that his son was born in 1963, reiterating that he was merely guessing and later withdrew that estimate, directing the visitors to Sipho’s mother for accurate information.

“I must point out that I am not a young man, I am an elderly person born in 1944, now 80 years old and my mind is not always clear and I easily become confused, but I do remember that after we discussed my incarceration, I again told them that I am not sure of the date of birth of Sipho and they must go to his mother,” Tsabedze stated.

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