With October recognised as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Manzini Magistrate’s Court has handed a deterrent sentence to a teenager convicted of defrauding at least four people using the infamous facata scam tactics.
The 19-year-old Ngwane Park man has been convicted on eight counts of cybercrime and money laundering after defrauding the four people of a combined E12 086, with the offences highlighting the growing financial threat posed by cybercrime in the crime.
Mpendulo Brian Kunene was sentenced by Manzini Principal Magistrate Florence Msibi to 12 years in prison, with an option of E24 000 fine, after pleading guilty to all eight counts.
His conviction comes as the country commemorates National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, under the theme ‘Tivikele, Stay Safe Online’, amid mounting evidence of the financial impact of cybercrime in the country.
This is an initiative aimed at educating individuals and organisations about online safety and protecting personal and business information from cybercrime.
This month encourages everyone to take simple steps to enhance their cybersecurity, such as using strong passwords, enabling multifactor authentication, recognising and reporting scams, as well as keeping software up to date.
At the launch of the month-long campaign on Thursday, Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) acting Chief Executive (CE) Ozzie Thakatha disclosed that cyber-related losses in the country had exceeded E15.9 million in one year.
The losses included mobile-money fraud, phishing, identity theft, online scams, fraudulent banking transactions and system intrusions.
Thakatha said the impact extended beyond financial losses to threats such as cyberbullying, harassment, online child exploitation, misinformation and grooming.
The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) had earlier reported that the country lost more than E8.5 million to cybercrime between September 2024 and September 2025, with mobile money and ewallet scams accounting for E7.3 million.
During that period, 276 cyberrelated and operational-risk cases were recorded, resulting in 88 arrests linked to high-profile scams, including facata.
ESCCOM’s 2025 Annual Report separately recorded E2 550 184 in reported losses through the facata scam, describing the continued exploitation of citizens through tactics such as fake e-wallet messages and fraudulent job offers.
It is against this backdrop that Kunene’s case came before the Manzini Magistrate’s Court.
The court heard that Kunene targeted victims in different parts of the country during July 2026, allegedly using convincing stories about compromised mobile-money accounts to persuade them to follow instructions on their phones.
In the first incident, which happened on July 15 at or near Bhunya in the Manzini region, Kunene admitted to telling Lucia Zikalala that her mobile-money account had been used to borrow E95 000.
According to the statement of agreed facts, Kunene told Zikalala that she needed to press certain USSD codes on her cellphone to clear the purported loan.
The instructions resulted in an actual financial loss of E5 588.
He pleaded guilty to contravening Section 11 of the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act No. 6 of 2022.
He also pleaded guilty to a corresponding money laundering charge after admitting that he unlawfully used the E5 588, knowing that the money had been obtained through the commission of an offence.
The second incident occurred on July 11 at or near Lomahasha in the Lubombo region.
Kunene admitted that he unlawfully and intentionally hacked the mobile-money account of Florence Thandi Mahlalela by telling her to press certain codes on her cellphone.
The action resulted in a financial loss of E5 632.
He again admitted to unlawfully using the money obtained through the offence, leading to the corresponding money laundering charge.
The third victim was Nonhlanhla Matsebula, who was targeted at or near Mbabane on July 25.
Kunene unlawfully accessed Matsebula’s mobile-money account, resulting in a financial loss of E673.
He admitted to subsequently using the money, which resulted in another charge under the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2011.
Two days later, on July 27, Kunene targeted Nokuthula Masilela at or near Mbabane.
He told Masilela that her cellphone number was being targeted by scammers and instructed her to press certain USSD codes on her cellphone.
He also allegedly asked her to provide codes received through her phone messages.
The incident resulted in an actual financial loss of E193.
Kunene admitted to both the cybercrime and corresponding money laundering charge arising from the incident.
The four incidents, therefore, resulted in a combined loss of E12 086.
The eight charges comprised four counts of contravening Section 11 of the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act and four counts of contravening Section 4(1)(c), read with Sections 76 and 89(1)(a), of the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2011.
The Crown accepted the pleas, and the court convicted him on all eight counts.
Kunene was arrested at or near Logoba in Matsapha on August 9.
He made his first appearance before the Manzini Magistrates Court on August 10.
A black Redmi cellphone, together with Eswatini MTN and Swazi Mobile SIM cards, were detained by the police and they formed part of the exhibits agreed upon by the Crown and defence.
In mitigation, Kunene pleaded with the court for leniency.
He told the magistrate that he was an orphan and that he had become involved in the offences after impregnating a woman.
Kunene said the baby was two months old and the child’s mother was unemployed.
He added that he was also without employment.
HOW SENTENCING WAS HANDED DOWN
On counts one to four, the convicted Mpendulo Brian Kunene was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with a fine option of E5 000 on each count.
On counts five to eight, he was sentenced to one year imprisonment with a fine option of E1 000 on each count.
The sentences total to 12 years’ imprisonment, while the corresponding fine options amount to E24 000.
The case demonstrates how facata scams can rely not on sophisticated hacking alone, but also on social engineering, where criminals manipulate victims into voluntarily providing information or carrying out instructions on their own devices.
This has become a significant concern as more citizens use mobile phones and digital platforms for banking, payments, communication and business. For Kunene’s four victims, however, the threat was not an abstract national statistic. It translated into actual money being taken from their mobile-money accounts after they were persuaded to follow instructions presented as legitimate solutions to supposed problems with their accounts.
His case, therefore, comes at a time when authorities are urging local citizens to be more cautious about what they are told over the phone, what codes they enter and what personal or financial information they disclose. As Cybersecurity Awareness Month gets under way, the conviction provides a court-level illustration of the growing challenge facing a country whose citizens are increasingly conducting everyday financial transactions through digital platforms.
