Nonhlanhla Malambe, a suspended Eswatini Home Affairs officer, faces charges related to the unlawful issuance of an Eswatini ID and birth certificate to alleged South African crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. She has been granted E5,000 bail, which is equivalent to R5,000. Before her arrest, she had already been serving a three-month suspension imposed by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) pending an internal investigation into the matter.
Nonhlanhla Malambe was an Assistant Regional Civil Registrar within Eswatini’s Ministry of Home Affairs at the time of the alleged offense. The core accusations against her are:
Malambe is accused of unlawfully providing Matlala with an Eswatini birth certificate and an ID number on February 12, 2024. The charge sheet states her actions “amount to an abuse of position of authority, alternatively acts which amounts to breach of trust, alternatively acts which amounted to a violation of the legal duty and a set of rules”.
Matlala was listed in the Eswatini population register under the alias “Vusimuzi Dlamini,” purportedly as the second-born child of a local woman, Christinah Thembi Shongwe. Shongwe has denied any relation to Matlala, and records show her actual second child is a girl, indicating the details were fabricated.
The discovery of the fraudulent Eswatini ID was a significant factor in Matlala’s separate legal proceedings in South Africa, where he faces charges including attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, and money laundering.
The scandal has prompted high-level investigations in both Eswatini and South Africa, with the Eswatini police launching a probe into how national documentation systems were compromised. Matlala’s name has also featured prominently in South Africa’s ongoing Madlanga Commission, which is investigating allegations of corruption and criminality within the South African Police Service (SAPS).
