Mbabane Town Mayor Thulani Mkhonto has minced no words in declaring that Mangwaneni is under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Council of Mbabane, despite resistance from residents on this matter.
For multiple years now, the council and residents of Mbabane have been in loggerheads over the boundary of Mangwaneni, with the question still hanging on whether it is within or out of the jurisdiction of the council. In recent times, the council has had to suspend its operations at Mangwaneni due to the resistance and hostility it was receiving from the residents and it a glaring impact to the area, particularly on waste collection and disposal.
During the annual general meeting of the council yesterday, Mkhonto made a bold statement, stating that even though there was a lot of debate on the issue, but Mangwaneni falls under the boundary of the council.
He said they would do everything in their power to ensure that the council carries out its mandate in the area, including the allocation of plots which was already underway in other townships.
He also reminded attendees of the meeting that the council has had to file an urgent application in which it took a Mangwaneni resident to court for allegedly putting up a structure without obtaining a building permit. This was to ensure that buildings within the city boundaries comply with the requisite standards.
The council informed the court that traditional authorities ceased to have administrative authority over the areas falling within the extended municipal boundaries.
“When all has been said and done, one thing stands, and that is Mangwaneni is within the jurisdiction of the council and we will do everything to ensure that there is compliance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mtsambama Member of Parliament (MP) Sibongile Mamba, who also serves as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Portfolio Committee Chairperson, also touched on the issue of Mangwaneni. She firstly declared that she was born and raised there and fully aware of the ongoing issues.
She specifically enquired if Mangwaneni was included in the nine feeding centres, which are manned by the council.
The question emanated after the council’s Chief Executive Officer Gciniwe Fakudze gave clarity on the E60 000 that the council receives from online gambling company, eBet.
Operations
She said they utilised the money to enhance the operations of the nine feeding centres, specifically on buying food, paying school fees and buying school uniforms for the children benefiting from the soup kitchens.
The clarity was sought by Mbabane Businessman Walter Bennett, who wanted to know what the relation was between the council and eBet and how much was it receiving from the betting company.
On that note, Mamba revealed that the suspension of operations at the area by the council was impacting the children and she wanted to know if they were benefiting from this initiative.
Mkhonto revealed that the issue of the children had been resolved and they would soon be benefiting from the initiative. For a while now, the council closed down the Mangwaneni Social Centre, which fed over 300 vulnerable children, mainly pupils from Mangwaneni Primary School. A pre-school where over 50 pupils were enrolled was also shut down owing to the indifferences between the residents and the council.
However, Mkhonto revealed that the matter was has been discussed and there was hope that the services will be rendered by the council.
Meanwhile, Mkhonto, through the council’s annual report 2026, revealed that guided by the integrated development plan (IDP) which was in its second year of the implementation, the council was able to steer the development of the city in an orderly manner and provide much needed services.
“Major breakthroughs have been made in the areas of informal settlements upgrading as well as harmonisation of governance in the city. This has been in the form of alignment with all major players in the city in all the strata of governance to ensure common purpose and commitment,” he said.
He said that in particular, the working relationship between council and tinkhundla, crystalised in a Memorandum of Understanding would facilitate meaningful development for the people of Mbabane.
41 liquor outlets in residential areas, licences revoked
At least 41 of Mbabane’s 103 licenced liquor outlets are located in residential areas and have been identified as non-conforming premises.
This was revealed by the Municipal Council of Mbabane Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gciniwe Fakudze during the council’s annual meeting, where she outlined concerns around liquor outlet compliance and health certification.
Fakudze said the city had 103 licenced liquor outlets, with 41 located in residential areas and another 41 in commercial areas. The remaining outlets are located in industrial areas, public facilities, suspended services and open spaces.
It should be mentioned that operating licences for these liquor outlets were revoked by the council as detected by the Liquor Licensing Act, 2023.
The CEO said the enactment of the Liquor Licensing Act, 2023, provides that a person may only conduct a liquor business in an area designated and approved by the local authority.
She said the council uses the town planning scheme as a guide when dealing with zoning and land use. Among the compliance issues reported were noise nuisance from loud music, public urination, littering, drinking in public and the blockage of access roads and residents’ properties. The council also raised concerns about disruptive behaviour by patrons, particularly where it poses safety risks to children, non-compliance with operating hours and the sale of alcohol to underage individuals.
Residents can lodge complaints against licenced premises. According to the council, a written complaint from at least 10 adults living within one kilometre of a licensed premises may be lodged with the secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board.
Walter Bennett labels council’s report ‘bioskop’
Mbabane Businessman Walter Bennett labelled the municipal council of Mbabane’s annual report a ‘bioskop’.
This is a slang word that translates to movie or theatre and it refers to a venue where films are shown to an audience on a large screen.
Bennett initially decried the late disbursement of the report of the stakeholders, stating that it gave them limited time to go through it and prepare possible questions for clarity in the AGM.
He also drew the attention of the council’s executive to the financial statements, arguing that there were some expenses that were missing, with one being travel expenses.
He wondered if the glaring omission of the travel expenses meant the council did not undertook any official trips or it was a deliberate move.
The ‘bioskop’ label came after he drew a more detailed financial report, suggesting that the one pasted in the annual report was nothing short of a summary.
“Why should we have a meeting of this magnitude but still interrogate basic things that should be part of the report. What is the extent of the travel budget and how much has it accumulated to in the last three years?” he enquired.
Bennett also decried the 8.5% increase in rates but argued that there was no mention of the inflation in the report.
On a separate issue, the businessman also requested an audience with the chairman of the ministry of housing and urban development portfolio committee and the mayor, among others.
He said he wanted to address issues of ethical conduct at the council but did not want to address them at the AGM.
Bennett also touched on the issue of the collections from vendors in town, noting that they had reached over 77%. He wanted to know what had informed the huge surge in the collections, wondering if the council had not piled pressure on the vendors yet they were only trying to make ends meet.
However, clarity was given that for a while, the vendors had defaulted on their financial obligations to the council and they were requested to make the payments as per policy.
One of the vendors told the meeting that they were frustrated by the vendors who were not paying to the council for operating in town but they were selling their products in town. She said at some point, they had a meeting with one of the council’s officials and threatened to also abandon the markets and sell their merchandise in town.
“The official told us not to do that but advised us that we can default in payment if business was bad but not sell our merchandise outside of the permitted areas,” she said.
One of the issues that the businessman wanted clarity on was the issue of the legal battle between some of the councillors and the CEO. Bennett wanted to know who catered for the legal costs and if the bill was taxed.
