SEX SCANDAL MINISTER REARRESTED

Ndumiso Mamba, the Swazi justice minister fired when he was caught in bed with one of King Mswati III’s queens, has been rearrested by authorities to prevent him fleeing the country with his considerable assets, according to Swazi opposition activists.

But Swaziland police deny Mamba was ever arrested in the first place.

Independent Newspapers in South Africa reports today (15 August 2010) that Mamba had transferred all his money from his Swaziland bank account to the account of a Ukraine-based company he owns.

The news group quotes Lucky Lukhele, of the South African chapter of the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), saying, ‘By the looks of things he is preparing to skip the country.’

Mamba was arrested on 27 July in his room in the Royal Villas hotel near the royal palace in Ezulwini with King Mswati’s 12th wife, the 22-year-old Nothando Dube, (also known as Inkhosikati LaDube).

He was soon released - after a beating from the police, Swazi sources said.

But Lukhele said he had heard Mamba had later been rearrested. Other Swazi sources said he had signing rights on behalf of King Mswati in joint business ventures, so the authorities were not going to let him flee the country.

LaDube was not the first of Mswati’s queens to stray from the royal bed, the news group says. In 2004 a young Soweto man, Lizo Shabangu, told a South Africa newspaper he had had an affair with Mswati's wife, Delisa Magwaza (LaMagwaza). She fled to Cape Town when the news broke and is now said to live in London.

The same year another of his wives, Putsoana Hwala (LaHwala), also fled the royal palace to South Africa amid reports of infidelity.

Because the royal authorities shroud any hint of royal misbehaviour in secrecy, ordinary Swazis do not know for sure what will happen to either Mamba or LaDube.

Some believe Mswati will not banish his unfaithful wife, as he is concerned about who will care for their children. This problem came to the fore when the other two queens fled the palace.

Asked to comment on the report, specifically that Mamba had been rearrested, Swazi government spokesperson Macanjana Motsa said ‘there's nothing of that sort’.

Asked specifically about reports Mamba had been arrested on 27 July in the hotel room, leading to his resignation, Swazi police spokesperson Wendy Hleta said, ‘We have no reports of the arrest of Mr Mamba.’

She added, ‘We have never arrested him. We can’t comment on what he is doing now.’