Court remands woman for spying on husband’s WhatsApp messages
A woman in Eswatini, identified as Dumsile Dludlu has been remanded for allegedly snooping through the WhatsApp account of her husband, Samukeliso Matse, without his consent.
Dludlu’s act is said to contravene Eswatini’s Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act of 2022, which criminalises accessing any part of a computer system without justification in Eswatini, according to the Times of Swaziland on Thursday.
Dludlu was remanded by Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi at the Mbabane Magistrates Court.
Her trial will resume on March 10, 2025.
She currently faces up to three years in prison for the digital crime.
Dludlu had pleaded not guilty to the unauthorised access charge as she also admitted to insulting her husband.
She, however, claimed the insults were different from those recorded in the police statement.
“I did insult him, but it wasn’t as severe as what’s in the police statement,” Dludlu told the court, according to a report by iHarare.
The Act aims to help curtail unauthorised access to individuals’ and/or organisation’s electronic devices and the importance of respecting digital boundaries.
Section 3 of the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act, as quoted by iHarare, read, “A person who intentionally and without lawful excuse accesses or destroys any computer data, for purposes of concealing information necessary for an investigation, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding E5,000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or both.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Eswatini Communications Commission, Prince Mvilawemphi, cautioned against unauthorised access to one’s partner.
He added that fines could be up to a maximum of E300,000.
“Viewing your love partner’s cellphone is now a crime in Eswatini. The E300,000 fine is the maximum, but a lenient judge may impose a E5,000 fine,” he stated.
In a related case of cybercrime, the Times of Swaziland reported that a woman, Nontsikelelo Gina, was arrested and charged for allegedly intimidating and harassing one Sonto whom she (Gina) suspected of having a love affair with her husband.
Gina had allegedly posted Sonto’s picture on a Facebook page titled ‘Eswatini Ladies House,’ wherein she allegedly insulted and caused her emotional distress.
In another case, a woman, Hlengiwe Mathunjwa, in July 2024, was reportedly arrested for undressing an unnamed woman whom she accused of an alleged relationship with the father of her child.
Mathunjwa then shared a recorded video of the incident on WhatsApp.
