Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com Insolvency Act, 1955 [01 October 1955] CONTENTS 1. Short title 2. Definitions 3. Petition for acceptance of surrender of estate 4. Notice of surrender and lodging of statement of debtors affairs 5. Prohibition of sale in execution after publication of notice of surrender and appointment of curator bonis 6. Acceptance by court of surrender of estate 7. Withdrawal of notice of surrender 8. Acts of insolvency 9. Petition for sequestration of estate 10. Provisional sequestration 11. Service of rule nisi upon the debtor 12. Final sequestration or dismissal of petition 13. Sequestration of partnership estate 14. Petitioning creditor to prosecute sequestration proceedings until trustee appointed 15. Compensation to debtor if petition malicious or vexatious 16. Insolvent must deliver his business records and lodge statement of his affairs with Master 17. Notice of sequestration 18. Appointment of provisional trustee by Master 19. Attachment of property by Sheriff 20. Effect of sequestration on insolvents property 21. Effect of sequestration on property of spouse of insolvent 22. Payment of debts after sequestration 23. Rights and obligations of insolvent during sequestration 24. Provisions relating to property in possession of insolvent after sequestration 25. Estate to remain vested in trustee until composition or rehabilitation 26. Dispositions without value 27. Antenuptial contracts 28. Life insurance policies 29. Voidable preferences 30. Undue preference to creditors 31. Collusive dealings before sequestration 32. Proceedings to set aside improper disposition 33. Improper disposition does not affect certain rights 34. Voidable sale of business 35. Contracts to buy immovable property 36. Sales for cash 37. Effect of sequestration upon a lease 38. Contracts of service 39. Time and place of meetings of creditors 40. First and second meetings of creditors 41. General meetings of creditors 42. Special meetings of creditors 43. Registration of creditors name and address 44. Proof of liquidated claims 45. Trustee to examine claims 46. Set-off 47. Right of retention and landlords hypothec 48. Proof of conditional claim 49. Claims against partnership distinct from claims against partners 50. Debt bearing interest and debt due after sequestration 51. Withdrawal of claim already proved 52. Voting at meeting of creditors 53. Questions upon which creditors may vote 54. Election of trustee 55. Persons disqualified from being trustees 56. Appointment of trustee and security for administration 57. Appointment of trustee or co-trustee by the Master 58. Vacation of office by trustee 59. Court may declare a person disqualified from being a trustee, or remove a trustee 60. Removal of trustee by Court 61. Leave of absence or resignation of trustee 62. Election of new trustee 63. Remuneration of trustee or curator bonis 64. Insolvent and others to attend meetings of creditors 65. Interrogation of insolvent or other witnesses 66. Enforcing summons and giving of evidence 67. Steps to be taken on suspicion of an offence 68. Presumptions as to records and validity of acts at meetings 69. Trustee must take charge of property of estate 70. Opening of banking account 71. Record of all receipts 72. Unlawful retention of moneys or use of property by trustee 73. Trustee may obtain legal advice 74. Improper advising of legal proceedings 75. Legal proceedings against estate 76. Continuance of pending legal proceedings by surviving or new trustee 77. Receiving of debts due to estate 78. Extention of time for payment or compounding of debts due to estate, and arbitration 79. Subsistence allowance for insolvent and family 80. Continuation of insolvents business 81. Sale of movable property on authorisation of Master 82. Trustees report to creditors 83. Sale of property after second meeting and manner of sale 84. Realisation of securities for claims 85. XXX XXX XXX 86. Special provision in case of sale of goods under a suspensive condition 87. Exclusion or limitation of preference under legal hypothec 88. Effect of general bond and general clause 89. Ranking of mortgage for future debts 90. Certain mortgages are invalid 91. Costs to which securities are subject 92. Liquidation account and plan of distribution or contribution 93. Manner of framing liquidation account 94. Trading account 95. Form of plan of distribution 96. Application of proceeds of security 97. Funeral and death-bed expenses 98. Costs of sequestration 99. Costs of execution 100. Salary or wages of former employee of insolvent 101. Preference in regard to taxes on income 102. Preference under a general bond 103. Non-preferent claims 104. Late proof of claims 105. Form of plan of contribution 106. Contributions by creditors towards cost of sequestration 107. Trustees account to be signed and verified 108. Inspection of accounts by creditors 109. Extension of time for submitting trustees account 110. Compelling trustee to submit accounts 111. Objection to trustees account 112. Confirmation of accounts 113. Distribution of estate and collection of contributions 114. Trustee to produce acquittance or to pay over unpaid dividends to Master 115. Application to Court for an order to pay dividend 116. Surplus to be paid to Master until rehabilitation 117. Enforcement of order of Court 118. Enforcing of payment of contributions 119. Composition 120. Effect of composition 121. On composition by insolvent partner, trustee of partnership estate may take over his estate 122. Effect of composition on spouse of the insolvent 123. Functions of trustee under composition 124. Application for rehabilitation 125. Security to be furnished prior to application for rehabilitation 126. Facts to be averred on application for rehabilitation 127. Opposition to or refusal by Court of rehabilitation 128. Partnership cannot be rehabilitated 129. Effect of rehabilitation 130. Illegal inducement to vote for composition or not to oppose rehabilitation 131. Recovery of penalty 132. Concealing or destroying books or assets 133. Concealment of liabilities or representation as to existence of assets 134. Failure to keep proper records 135. Undue preferences, contracting debts without expectation of ability to pay, etc 136. Failure to give information or to deliver assets, books, etc 137. Obtaining credit during insolvency, offering inducements, etc 138. Failure to attend meetings of creditors or give certain information 139. Failure to appear or to give evidence or giving false evidence 140. Failure of insolvent or spouse to appear to give evidence 141. Acceptance of consideration for certain illegal acts or omissions 142. Removing or concealing property to defeat an attachment or failure to disclose property 143. Criminal liability of partners, administrators, servants or agents 144. Criminal liability of trustee for neglect of certain duties 145. Obstructing trustee 146. Offences may be tried in region of place of business or residence 147. Penal jurisdiction of Magistrates Courts 148. Evidence of liability incurred by insolvent 149. Deportation of certain persons for certain offences 150. Jurisdiction of the Court 151. Review 152. Master may direct trustee to deliver documents or property or call upon any person to furnish information 153. Fees of office and certain costs 154. Custody of documents and admissibility of copies or certificate 155. Destruction of documents 156. Formal defects 157. Saving of law as to Government grants 158. Power of the Deputy Prime Minister to make regulations 159. Repeal of laws and saving SCHEDULE 1 :- FIRST SCHEDULE SCHEDULE 2 :- SECOND SCHEDULE SCHEDULE 3 :- THIRD SCHEDULE Insolvency Act, 1955 [01 October 1955] An Act to amend and consolidate the law in force in Swaziland relating to insolvent persons and the administration of their estates. 1. Short title :- This Act may be cited as the Insolvency Act, 1955. 2. Definitions :- In this Act unless inconsistent with the context - "account", in relation to a trustee, means a liquidation account or a plan of distribution or of contribution, or any supplementary liquidation account or plan of distribution or contribution, as the case may require; "court" or "the court" means the High Court, or any Judge of that court; and in relation to any offence under this Act or in sections 8, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34(3), 72, 75, 76 or 78 includes a magistrates court having jurisdiction in regard to the offence or matter in question; "creditor" means any person who, or the estate of any person which, is a creditor in the usual sense of the word; "debtor", in connection with the sequestration of the debtors estate, means a person or a partnership or the estate of a person or partnership which is a debtor in the usual sense of the word, except a body corporate or a company or other association of persons which may be placed in liquidation under the law relating to companies; "disposition" means any transfer or abandonment of rights to property and includes a sale, lease, mortgage, pledge, delivery, payment, release, compro- mise, donation or any contract therefor, but does not include a disposition in compliance with an order of the court; "free residue", in relation to an insolvent estate, means that portion of the estate which is not subject to any right of preference by reason of any special mortgage, legal hypothec, pledge or right of retention; "good faith", in relation to the disposition of property, means the absence of any intention to prejudice creditors in obtaining payment of their claims or to prefer one creditor above another; "immovable property" means land and every right or interest in land or minerals which is registrable by any law in force in Swaziland in any deeds or other registration office intended for the registration of title to land or mineral rights; "insolvent" when used as a noun, means a debtor whose estate is under sequestra-tion and includes such a debtor before the sequestration of his estate, accord-ing to the context; "insolvent estate" means an estate under sequestration; "magistrates court" means a court established under the Magistrates Courts Act, No. 66 of 1938; "marketable security" means any stock, debentures, share or any other interest whatsoever capable of being sold in a share market or exchange, and includes the scrip, certificate, warrant or other instrument by which the title to such stock, debenture, share or other interest is represented; "Master" means the Master of the High Court, and includes an assistant Master and any officer appointed to act as Master or assistant Master; "messenger" means a messenger of a magistrates court and includes a deputy-messenger; "movable property" means every kind of property and every right or interest which is not immovable property; "preference", in relation to any claim against an insolvent estate, means the right to payment of that claim out of the assets of the estate in preference to other claims; and "preferent" has a corresponding meaning; "property" means movable or immovable property wherever situate within Swazi-land, and includes contingent interests in property other than the contingent interests of a fidei commissary heir or legatee; "provisional order" means an order whereby an estate is placed under sequestra-tion provisionally; "region" means a region as defined in terms of the General Administration Act No. 11 of 1905; "Regional Administrator" includes a Regional Secretary; "registrar" means the registrar of the High Court and, includes an assistant registrar and any officer appointed to act as registrar or assistant registrar; "security" in relation to the claim of a creditor of an insolvent estate, means property of that estate over which the creditor has a preferent right by virtue of any special mortgage, landlords legal hypothec, pledge or right of retention; "sequestration order" means any order of court whereby an estate is sequestrated and includes a provisional order, when it has not been set aside; "sheriff" means the sheriff of the High Court, and includes a deputy-sheriff and any officer appointed to act as sheriff or deputy-sheriff; "special mortgage" means a mortgage bond hypothecating any immovable property, but excludes any other mortgage bond executed after the commence-ment of this Act and purporting to hypothecate movable property; "trader" means any person who carries on any trade, business, industry or under-taking in which property is sold, or is bought, exchanged or manufactured for purpose of sale or exchange, or in which building operations of whatever nature are performed, or an object whereof is public entertainment, or who carries on the business of an hotel keeper or boarding-house keeper, or who acts as a broker or agent of any person in the sale or purchase of any property or in the letting or hiring of immovable property; and any person shall be deemed to be a trader for the purpose of this Act [except for the purpose of section 21(10)] unless it is proved that he is not a trader as hereinbefore defined; Provided that if any person carries on the trade, business, industry or undertaking of selling property which he produced (either personally or through any servant) by means of farming operations, the provisions of this Act relating to traders only shall not apply to him in connection with his said trade, business, industry or undertaking; "trustee" means the trustee of an estate under sequestration, and includes a provisional trustee; "unliquidated claim" means a claim the amount of which has not been determined by agreement or by judgment of a court and includes a claim for damages. 3. Petition for acceptance of surrender of estate :- (1) An insolvent debtor or his agent or a person entrusted with the administration of the estate of a deceased insolvent debtor who is incapable of managing his own affairs, may petition the court for the acceptance of the surrender of the debtors estate for the benefit of his creditors. (2) The surrender of the estate of a partnership may be accepted by the court upon petition presented on behalf of the partnership estate by the greater number of the partners (other than partners en commandite) present or represented in Swaziland. (3) Before accepting or declining a surrender, the court may direct the petitioner or any other person to appear and be examined before the court. 4. Notice of surrender and lodging of statement of debtors affairs :- (1) Before presenting a petition mentioned in section 3 the petitioner shall cause to be published in the Gazette and in a newspaper circulating in the region in which the debtor resides, or, if the debtor is a trader, in the region in which his principal place of business is situated, a notice of surrender in a form corresponding substantially with Form A in the First Schedule. (2) The said notice shall be published not more than thirty days and not less than fourteen days before the date stated in the notice of surrender as the date upon which application will be made to the court for acceptance of the surrender of the estate of the debtor. (3) Within a period of seven days from the date of publication of the said notice in the Gazette, the petitioner shall deliver or post a copy of the said notice to every one of the creditors of the debtor in question whose address he knows or can ascertain. (4) The petitioner shall lodge at the office of the Master a statement in duplicate of the debtors affairs, framed in a form corresponding substantially with Form B in the First Schedule. (5) That statement shall contain the particulars for which provision is made in the said Form, shall comply with any requirements contained therein and shall be verified by an affidavit (which shall be free from stamp duty) in the form set forth therein. (6) Upon receiving the said statement, the Master may direct the petitioner to cause any property set forth therein to be valued by a sworn appraiser or by any person designated by the Master for the purpose. (7) If the debtor resides or carries on business as a trader in any region other than the Hhohho region, the petitioner shall also lodge a copy of the said statement at the office of the Regional Administrator of the region. (8) The said statement shall be open to the inspection of any creditor of the debtor during office hours for a period of fourteen days from a date to be mentioned in the notice of surrender. 5. Prohibition of sale in execution after publication of notice of surrender and appointment of curator bonis :- (1) After the publication of a notice of surrender in the Gazette in terms of section 4, it shall not be lawful to sell any property of the estate in question, which has been attached under writ of execution or other process, unless the person charged with the execution of the writ or other process could not have known of the publication: Provided that the Master, if in his opinion the value of any such property does not exceed one thousand emalangeni, or the court, if it exceeds that amount, may order the sale of the property attached and direct how the proceeds of the sale shall be applied. (2) The proceeds of any such property already sold at the date of the publication aforesaid shall be retained by the person charged with the execution of the writ or other process, and shall not be paid out by him before the application for surrender shall have been adjudicated upon, except upon an order of the court, or unless the notice of surrender has been withdrawn as provided in section 7. (3) After the publication of a notice of surrender as aforesaid in the Gazette the Master may appointed a curator bonis to the debtors estate, who shall forthwith take the estate into his custody and take over the control of any business or undertaking of the debtor, as if he were the debtor, as the Master may direct, including any business the debtor is licensed to carry on in terms of the Liquor Licences Act, No. 30 of 1964, but subject in every case, mutatis mutandis to the provisions of section 70. 6. Acceptance by court of surrender of estate :- (1) If the court is satisfied that section 4 has been complied with, that the estate of the debtor in question is insolvent, that he owns realisable property of a sufficient value to defray all costs of the sequestration which will in terms of this Act be payable out of the free residue of his estate and that it will be to the advantage of creditors of the debtor if his estate is sequestrated, it may accept the surrender of the debtors estate and make an order seques-trating that estate. (2) If the court does not accept the surrender or if the notice of surrender is withdrawn in terms of section 7 or if the petitioner fails to make the application for the acceptance of the surrender of the debtors estate before the expiry of a period of fourteen days from the date specified in the notice of surrender, as the date upon which application will be made to the court for the acceptance of the surrender of the debtors estate, the notice of surrender shall lapse and if a curator bonis was appointed, the estate shall be restored to the debtor as soon as the Master is satisfied that sufficient provision has been made for the payment of all costs incurred under section 5(3). 7. Withdrawal of notice of surrender :- (1) A notice of surrender published in the Gazette may not be withdrawn without the written consent of the Master. (2) A person who has published a notice of surrender in the Gazette may apply to the Master for his consent to the withdrawal of the notice, and if it appears to the Master that the notice was published in good faith and that there is good cause for its withdrawal, he shall give his written consent thereto. (3) Upon the publication, in the Gazette and in the newspaper in which the notice of surrender appeared of a notice of withdrawal and of the Masters consent thereto, the notice of surrender shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. (4) The cost of such publications shall be at the expense of the applicant. 8. Acts of insolvency :- A debtor commits an act of insolvency - (a) if he leaves Swaziland or being out of Swaziland remains absent therefrom, or departs from his dwelling or otherwise absents himself, with intent by so doing to evade or delay the payment of his debts; (b) if a court has given judgment against him and he fails, upon the demand of the officer whose duty it is to execute that judgment, to satisfy it or to indicate to that officer disposable property sufficient to satisfy it, or if it appears from the return made by that officer that he has not found sufficient disposable property to satisfy the judgment; (c) if he makes or attempts to make any disposition of any of his property which has or would have the effect of prejudicing his creditors or of preferring one creditor above another; (d) if he removes or attempts to remove any of his property with intent to prejudice his creditors or to prefer one creditor above another; (e) if he makes or offers to make any arrangement with any of his creditors for releasing him wholly or partially from his debts; (f) if, after having published a notice of surrender of his estate which has not lapsed or been withdrawn in terms of section 6 or 7, he fails to comply with the requirements of section 4(3) or lodges, in terms of that subsection, a statement which is incorrect or incomplete in any material respect or fails to apply for the acceptance of the surrender of his estate on the date mentioned in the aforesaid notice as the date on which such application is to be made; (g) if he gives notice in writing to any one of his creditors that he is unable to pay any of his debts; (h) if, being a trader, he gives notice in the Gazette in terms of section 34(1), and is thereafter unable to pay all his debts. 9. Petition for sequestration of estate :- (1) A creditor (or his agent) who has a liquidated claim for not less than one hundred emalangeni, or two or more creditors (or their agent) who in the aggregate have liquidated claims for not less than two hundred emalangeni against a debtor who has committed an act of insolvency or is insolvent, may petition the court for the sequestration of the estate of the debtor. (2) A liquidated claim which has accrued but which is not yet due on the date of hearing of the petition, shall be reckoned as a liquidated claim for the purposes of subsection (1). (3) Such a petition shall set forth the amount, cause and nature of the claim in question, shall state whether the claim is or is not secured and, if it is, the nature and value of the security, and shall set forth the debtors act of insolvency upon which the petition is based or otherwise allege that the debtor is in fact insolvent. (4) The facts stated in the petition shall be confirmed by affidavit and the petition shall be accompanied by a certificate of the Master or Regional Administrator that sufficient security has been given for the payment of all fees and charges necessary for the prosecution of all sequestration proceedings and of all costs of administering the estate until a trustee has been appointed, or if no trustee is appointed, of all fees and charges necessary for the discharge of the estate from sequestration. (5) Before such a petition is presented to the court, a copy of the petition and of every confirming affidavit shall be lodged with the Master, who may report to the court any facts ascertained by him which would appear to him to justify the court in postponing the hearing or in dismissing the petition. (6) The Master shall transmit a copy of that report to the petitioning creditor or his agent. (7) The court, in considering the petition, the Masters report thereon and of any further affidavit which the petitioning creditor may have submitted in answer to that report, may act in terms of section 10 or may dismiss the petition, or postpone its hearing or make such other order in the matter as in the circumstances appears appears to be just. 10. Provisional sequestration :- If the court to which the petition for the sequestration of the estate of a debtor has been presented is of the opinion that prima facie - (a) the petitioning creditor has established against the debtor a claim such as is mentioned in section 9(1); and (b) the debtor has committed an act of insolvency or is insolvent; and (c) there is reason to believe that it will be to the advantage of creditors of the debtor if his estate is sequestrated, it may make an order sequestrating the estate of the debtor provisionally. 11. Service of rule nisi upon the debtor :- (1) If the court sequestrates the estate of a debtor provisionally it shall simultaneously grant a rule nisi calling upon the debtor upon a day mentioned in the rule to appear and to show cause why his estate should not be sequestrated finally. (2) If the debtor has been absent during a period of twenty-one days from his usual place of residence and of his business (if any) within Swaziland the court may direct that it shall be sufficient service of that rule if a copy thereof is affixed to or near the outer door of the buildings where the court sits and is published in the Gazette, or the court may direct some other mode of service. (3) Upon the application of the debtor the court may anticipate the return day for the purpose of discharging the order of provisional sequestration if twenty-four hours notice of such application has been given to the petitioning creditor. 12. Final sequestration or dismissal of petition :- (1) If at the hearing pursuant to the aforesaid rule nisi the court is satisfied that - (a) the petitioning creditor has established against the debtor a claim such as is mentioned in section 9(1); and (b) the debtor has committed an act of insolvency or is insolvent; and (c) there is reason to believe that it will be to the advantage of creditors of the debtor if his estate is sequestrated, it may sequestrate the estate of the debtor. (2) If at such hearing the court is not so satisfied, it shall dismiss the petition for the sequestration of the estate of the debtor and set aside the order of provisional sequestration or require further proof of the matters set forth in the petition and postpone the hearing for any reasonable period but not sine die. 13. Sequestration of partnership estate :- (1) If the court sequestrates the estate of a partnership (whether provisionally or finally or on acceptance of surrender) it shall simultaneously sequestrate the estate of every member of that partnership other than a partner en commandite who has not held himself out as an ordinary or general partner of the partnership in question: Provided that if a partner has undertaken to pay the debts of the partnership within a period determined by the court and has given security for such payment to the satisfaction of the registrar, the separate estate of that partner shall not be sequestrated by reason only of any fact forming a ground for the sequestration of the estate of the partnership. (2) Save as in sub-section (1), every fact which is a ground for the sequestration of the estate of a partnership shall be a ground for the sequestration of every partner other than a partner en commandite. (3) Where the individual estate of a partner is unable fully to meet the costs of sequestration, the balance shall be paid out of the estate of the partnership. (4) The petitions to surrender the separate estates of the partners may be incorporated in the petition for the surrender of the estate of the partnership. 14. Petitioning creditor to prosecute sequestration proceedings until trustee appointed :- (1) The creditor upon whose petition a sequestration order has been made shall at his own cost prosecute all the proceedings in the sequestration until a provisional trustee has been appointed or if no provisional trustee has been appointed until a trustee has been appointed. (2) The trustee shall pay to the said creditor out of the first funds of the estate available for that purpose under section 98 his costs, taxed according to the tariff applicable. (3) In the event of a contribution by creditors under section 106, the petitioning creditor, whether or not he has proved a claim against the estate in terms of section 44, shall be liable to contribute not less than he would have had to contribute if he had proved the claim stated in his petition. 15. Compensation to debtor if petition malicious or vexatious :- Whenever the court is satisfied that a petition for the sequestration of a debtors estate is malicious or vexatious, the court may allow the debtor forthwith to prove any damage which he may have sustained by reason of the provisional sequestration of his estate and award him such compensation as it may deem fit: Provided that nothing in this section contained shall debar the debtor from claiming any other relief open to him in law. 16. Insolvent must deliver his business records and lodge statement of his affairs with Master :- (1) A final order of sequestration (including an order on acceptance of surrender) shall be served upon the insolvent, and when the order has been served, the insovlent shall - (a) forthwith deliver to the officer who served the order all records relating to his affairs if they have not yet been taken into custody by the deputy-sheriff in terms of section 19(1)(a); and (b) within seven days of such service lodge with the Master a statement of his affairs, in duplicate, framed in a form corresponding substantially with Form B of the First Schedule, containing the particulars for which provision is made in the said Form and verified by an affidavit (which shall be free from stamp duty) in the form set forth therein. (2) The officer to whom the records of the insolvent are delivered in terms of subsection (1)(a) shall issue a detailed receipt therefor. (3) In the statement referred to in sub-section (1)(b) any merchandise mentioned therein shall be valued at its cost price or at its market value, at the time of the making of the affidavit, whichever is the lower. (4) If the Master is satisfied that the insolvent was unable to prepare, without assistance, such a statement which he lodged as aforesaid, the person who assisted the insolvent with the preparation of the statement shall be entitled to a reasonable fee, to be determined by the master, which shall be deemed to be part of the cost of the sequestration. 17. Notice of sequestration :- (1) The registrar shall without delay transmit - (a) one original of every sequestration order and of every order relating to an insolvent estate or to a trustee or to an insolvent, made by the court, to the Master; (b) one original of every provisional sequestration order or if a final sequestration order was not preceded by a provisional sequestration order, then of that final order, and of every order amending or setting aside any prior order so transmitted, which was made by the court to - (i) the sheriff; (ii) the officer in charge of any office in which registration of title to any immovable property or interest in minerals which appears to be an asset of the insolvents estate is registrable; (iii) every messenger of a subordinate court by whom it shall appear that the property of the insolvent is under attachment. (2) Every officer who has received an order transmitted to him in terms of subsection (1) shall register it and note thereon the day and hour when it was received in his office. (3) Upon receipt by an officer referred to in sub-section (1)(b)(ii) of a sequestration order he shall enter a caveat against the transfer of all immovable property or interest in minerals or the cancellation or cession of any bond registered in the name of or belonging to the insolvent or to his or her spouse. (4) When the Master has received a sequestration order or an order setting aside a provisional sequestration order he shall in each case give notice in the Gazette of such order. 18. Appointment of provisional trustee by Master :- (1) As soon as an estate has been sequestrated (whether provisionally or finally) or when a person appointed as trustee ceases to be trustee or to function as such, the Master may appoint a provisional trustee to the estate in question who shall give security to the satisfaction of the Master for the proper performance of his duties as provisional trustee and shall hold office until the appointment of a trustee. (2) At any time before the first meeting of the creditors of an insolvent estate in terms of section 40, the Master may, subject to sub-section (3), give such directions to the provisional trustee as could be given to a trustee by the creditors at a meeting of creditors. (3) A provisional trustee shall have the powers and the duties of a trustee, as provided in this Act, except that without the authority of the court or for the purpose of obtaining such authority he shall not bring or defend any legal proceedings and that without the authority of the court or Master he shall not sell any property belonging to the estate in question. (4) Such sale shall be after such notice and subject to such conditions as the Master may direct. (5) When a meeting of creditors for the election of a trustee has been held in terms of section 40 and no trustee has been elected, and the Master has appointed a provisional trustee in the estate in question, the Master shall appoint him as trustee on his finding such additional security as the Master may have required. 19. Attachment of property by Sheriff :- (1) As soon as the sheriff has received a sequestration order, he shall proceed by his deputy or by a messenger to attach and make an inventory of the movable property of the insolvent which is in Swaziland and is capable of manual delivery and not in the possession of a person who claims to be entitled to retain it under a right of pledge or a right of retention or under attachment by a messenger, in the following manner: (a) he shall take into his own custody all books of accounts, invoices, vouchers, business correspondence, cash, share certificates, bonds, bills of exchange, promissory notes, and other securities, and remit all such cash to the Master; (b) he shall leave movable property other than animals in a room or other suitable place properly sealed up or appoint some suitable person to hold any movable property in his custody; (c) he shall hand to the person so appointed a copy of the inventory, with a notice that the property has been attached by virtue of a sequestration order which shall contain a statement of the offence constituted by section 142 and the penalty provided therefor. (2) Any person interested in the insolvent estate or in the property attached may be present or may authorise another person to be present when the deputy-sheriff or messenger is making his inventory. (3) Immediately after effecting the attachment the deputy-sheriff or messenger shall report to the Master in writing the fact of the attachment in which he shall mention any property which to his knowledge is in the lawful possession of a pledgee or of a person who is entitled to retain it by virtue of a right of retention, and he shall transmit with the report a copy of his inventory. (4) A messenger shall transmit to the Master without delay an inventory of all property attached by him which he knows to belong to an insolvent estate. (5) The deputy-sheriff or messenger shall be entitled to fees taxed by the Master according to Tariff A in the Second Schedule and the rules for the construction of that tariff. 20. Effect of sequestration on insolvents property :- (1) The effect of the sequestration of the estate of an insolvent shall be - (a) to divest the insolvent of his estate and to vest it in the Master until a trustee has been appointed, and, upon the appointment of a trustee, to vest the estate in him; (b) to stay, until the appointment of a trustee, any civil proceedings instituted by or against the insolvent save such proceedings as may, in terms of section 23, be instituted by the insolvent for his own benefit or be instituted against the insolvent: Provided that if any claim which formed the subject of legal proceedings against the insolvent which were so stayed, has been proved and admitted against the insolvents estate in terms of section 44 or 78, the claimant may also prove against the estate a claim for his taxed costs, incurred in connection with those proceedings before the sequestration of the insolvents estate; (c) as soon as any sheriff or messenger, whose duty it is to execute any judgment given against an insolvent becomes aware of the sequestration of the insolvents estate, to stay that execution, unless the court otherwise directs; (d) to empower the insolvent, if in prison for debt, to apply to the court for his release, after notice to the creditor at whose suit he is so imprisoned, and to empower the court to order his release, on such conditions as it may think fit to impose. (2) For the purposes of sub-section (1) the estate of an insovlent shall include - (a) all property of the insolvent at the date of the sequestration, including property or the proceeds thereof which are in the hands of a sheriff or a messenger under a writ of attachment; (b) all property which the insolvent may acquire or which may accrue to him during the sequestraiton, except as otherwise provided in section 23. 21. Effect of sequestration on property of spouse of insolvent :- (1) The additional effect of the sequestration of the separate estate of one of two spouses who are not living apart under a judicial order of separation shall be to vest in the Master, until a trustee has been appointed, and, upon the appointment of a trustee, to vest in him all the property (including property or the proceeds thereof which are in the hands of a sheriff or a messenger under a writ of attachment) of the spouse whose estate has not been sequestrated (hereinafter referred to as the solvent spouse) as if it were property of the seques-trated estate, and to empower the Master or trustee to deal with such property accordingly, but subject to the provisions of this section. (2) The trustee shall release any property of the solvent spouse which is proved to - (a) have been the property of that spouse immediately before his or her marriage to the insolvent or before the first day of October, 1955; or (b) have been acquired by that spouse under a marriage settlement; or (c) have been acquired by that spouse during the marriage with the insolvent by a title valid as against creditors of the insolvent; or (d) be safeguarded in favour of that spouse by section 28; or (e) have been acquired with any such property as aforesaid or with the income or proceeds thereof. (3) If the solvent spouse is in Swaziland and the trustee is able to ascertain his or her address, the trustee shall not, except with the leave of the court, realise property which ostensibly belonged to the solvent spouse, until the expiry of six weeks written notice of his intention to do so, given to that spouse which shall also be published in the Gazette and in a newspaper circulating in the region in which the solvent spouse resides or carries on business, and shall invite all separate creditors for value of that spouse to prove their claims as provided in sub-section (5). (4) The solvent spouse may apply to the court for an order releasing any property vested in the trustee of the insolvent estate under sub-section (1) or for an order staying the sale of such property or, if it has already been sold, but the proceeds thereof not yet distributed among creditors, for an order declaring the application to be entitled to those proceeds; and the court may make such order on the application as it thinks just. (5) Subject to any order made under sub-section (4) any property of the solvent spouse realised by the trustee shall bear a proportionate share of the costs of the sequestration as if it were property of the insolvent estate but the separate creditors for value of the solvent spouse having claims which could have been proved against the estate of that spouse if it had been the estate under sequestration, shall be entitled to prove their claims against the estate of the insolvent spouse in the same manner and, except as this Act otherwise provides shall have the same rights and remedies and be subject to the same obligations as if they were creditors of the insolvent estate; and the creditors who have so proved claims shall be entitled to share in the proceeds of the property so realised according to their legal priorities inter se and in priority to the separate creditors of the insolvent estate, but shall not be entitled to share in the separate assets of the insolvent estate. (6) If any property of the solvent spouse [other than property mentioned in sub-section (2)(d)] has been released by virtue of sub-section (2) or (4) the separate creditors of that spouse shall only be entitled to share in the proceeds of any property of the solvent spouse which has been realised by the trustee, after the property so released and any property of that spouse acquired by her or him since the sequestration, have been excused. (7) Before awarding any such creditor a share in such proceeds, the trustee may require the creditor to lodge with him, within a period to be determined by the Master, an affidavit, supported by such evidence as may be available, setting forth the result of such excussion and disclosing the balance of his claim which remains unpaid and he shall then be entitled to share as aforesaid in respect of that balance only: Provided that any creditor who has incurred costs in excussing the separate property of the solvent spouse and has been unable to recover those costs from the proceeds of that property shall be entitled to add the amount of those costs to the amount of his claim as proved. (8) If, during the period determined by the Master, any such creditor has failed either to lodge with the trustee such an affidavit as aforesaid, or to excuss any separate property of the solvent spouse still available for the satisfaction of his claim, he shall be debarred from sharing as aforesaid unless the court otherwise orders. (9) A creditor of the solvent spouse who has proved a claim as provded in sub-section (5) shall not be liable to make any contribution under section 106, and shall not be entitled to vote at any meeting of the creditors of the insolvent estate held in terms of section 40, 41 or 42; but any direction of the creditors of the insolvent estate which infringes the rights of any such first-mentioned creditor may be set aside by the court on the application of such creditor. (10) If the solvent spouse is carrying on business as a trader, apart from the insolvent spouse or if it appears to the court that the solvent spouse is likely to suffer serious prejudice through the immediate vesting of the property of that spouse in the Master or the trustee, and the court is satisfied in either case that the solvent spouse is willing and able to make arrangements whereby the interest therein of the insolvent estate in the said property will be safeguarded without such a vesting, the court, either when making the sequestration order or at some later date, but subject to the immediate completion of such arrangement as aforesaid, may exclude that property or any part thereof from the operation of the order for such period as it thinks fit; and during that period the solvent spouse shall lay before the trustee the evidence available in support of her or his claim to such property and within that period the trustee shall notify the solvent spouse in writing whether or not he will release such property in accordance with sub-section (2): Provided that if the property has not been so released, then upon the expiry of the said period that property shall vest in the Master or in the trustee, but subject to the provisions of this section. (11) If application is made to the court for the sequestration of the estate of the solvent spouse on the ground of an act of insolvency committed by that spouse since the vesting of her or his property in the Master or the trustee of the insolvent estate, and the court is satisfied that the act of insolvency alleged in that application was due to such vesting, then if it appears that - (a) an application is being or, if necessary, will be made under sub-section (4) for the release of any property of the solvent spouse; or (b) any property of the solvent spouse has been released since the making of the sequestration order, and that the solvent spouse is now in a position to discharge her or his liabilities, the court may postpone the hearing of the said application or may make such interim order thereon as to it may seem just. (12) If the trustee has in accordance with the preceding provisions of this section released any property alleged to belong to the solvent spouse, he shall not be debarred thereby from proving that it belongs to the insolvent estate and from recovering accordingly. (13) In this section the word "spouse" means not only a wife or husband in the legal sense, but also a wife or husband by virtue of marriage according to any law or custom, and also a woman living with a man as his wife or a man living with a woman as her husband, although not married to one another. 22. Payment of debts after sequestration :- Every satisfaction in whole or in part of any obligation the fulfilment whereof was due or the cause of which arose before the sequestration of the creditors estate shall, if made to the insolvent after such sequestration, be void, unless the debtor proves that it was made in good faith and without knowledge of the sequestration. 23. Rights and obligations of insolvent during sequestration :- (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 24, all property acquired by an insolvent shall belong to his estate. (2) The fact that a person entering into any contract is an insolvent, shall not affect the validity of that contract: Provided that the insolvent does not thereby purport to dispose of any property of his insolvent estate; and Provided further than an insolvent shall not, without the consent in writing of the trustee of his estate, enter into any contract whereby his estate or any contribution towards his estate which he is obliged to make, is or is likely to be adversely affected, but in either case subject to section 24(1). (3) An insolvent may follow any profession or occupation or enter into any employment, but he may not, during the sequestration of his estate without the consent in writing of the trustee of his estate, either carry on, or be employed in any capacity or have any direct or indirect interest in, the business of a trader who is a general dealer or a manufacturer; Provided that any one of the creditors of the insolvents estate or the insolvent himself may, if the trustee gives or refuses such consent, appeal to the Master, whose decision shall be final. (4) Where a trustee has given his written consent to an insolvent to enter into a contract, or to carry on a trade in terms of sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), as the case may be, he shall forthwith forward to the Master a copy of such consent, and any trustee who does not so forward such consent within one week after it has been granted, shall be deemed to have contravened the provisions of section 60(b). (5) The insolvent shall keep a detailed record of all assets received by him from whatever source, and of all disbursements made by him in the course of his profession, occupation or employment, and, if required thereto by the trustee, shall transmit to the trustee in the first week of every month a statement verified by affidavit of all assets received and of all disbursements made by him during the preceding month; the trustee may inspect such record at all reasonable times and may demand the production of reasonable vouchers in support of any item in such accounts and of the expenditure of the insolvent for the support of himself and those dependent upon him. (6) The trustee shall be entitled to any moneys received or to be received by the insolvent in the course of his profession, occupation or other employment which in the opinion of the Master are not or will not be necessary for the support of the insolvent and those dependent upon him, and if the trustee has notified the employer of the insolvent that the trustee is entitled, in terms of this sub-section, to any part of the insolvents remuneration due to him at the time of such notification, or which will become due to him thereafter, the employer shall pay over that part to the trustee. (7) The insolvent may sue or may be sued in his own name without reference to the trustee of his estate in any matter relating to status or any right in so far as it does not affect his estate or in respect of any claim due to or against him under this section, but no cession of his earnings after the sequestration of his estate, whether made before or after the sequestration shall be of any effect so long as his estate is under sequestration. (8) The insolvent may for his own benefit recover any pension to which he may be entitled for services rendered by him. (9) The insolvent may for his own benefit recover any compensation for any loss or damage which he may have suffered, whether before or after the sequestration of his estate by reason of any defamation or personal injury; Provided that he shall not, without the leave of the court, institute an action against the trustee of his estate on the ground of malicious prosecution or defamation. (10) Subject to sub-section (5) the insolvent may recover for his own benefit, the remuneration or reward for work done or for professional services rendered by or on his behalf after the sequestration of his estate. (11) The insolvent may be sued in his own name for any delict committed by him after the sequestration of his estate, and his insolvent estate shall not be liable therefor. (12) Any property claimable by the trustee from the insolvent under this section may be recovered from the insolvent by writ of execution to be issued by the registrar upon the production to him of a certificate by the Master that the property stated therein is so claimable. (13) The insolvent shall at any time before the second meeting of the creditors of his estate held in terms of section 40, at the request of the trustee assist the trustee to the best of his ability in collecting, taking charge of or realising any property belonging to the estate: Provided that the trustee shall, during the period of such assistance, give to the insolvent out of the estate such allowance in money or goods as, in the opinion of the Master, is necessary to support the insolvent and his or her dependants. (14) The insolvent shall keep the trustee of his estate informed of his residential and postal addresses. (15) Any notice or information, which is to be conveyed to an insolvent in terms of this Act, may be delivered to him personally or may be delivered at or sent in a registered letter by post to an address given by the insolvent to the trustee in terms of sub-section (14). 24. Provisions relating to property in possession of insolvent after sequestration :- (1) If an insolvent purports to alienate, for valuable consideration, without the consent of the trustee of his estate any property which he acquired after the sequestration of his estate (and which by virtue of such acquisition became part of his sequestrated estate) or any right to any such property to a person who proves that he was not aware and had no reason to suspect that the estate of the insolvent was under sequestration the alienation shall nevertheless be valid. (2) Whenever an insolvent has acquired the possession of any property, such property shall, if claimed by the trustee of the insolvents estate, be deemed to belong to that estate unless the contrary is proved; but if a person who became the creditor of the insolvent after the sequestration of his estate, alleges (whether against the trustee or against the insolvent) that any such property does not belong to the said estate and claims any right thereto, the property shall be deemed not to belong to the estate, unless the contrary is proved. 25. Estate to remain vested in trustee until composition or rehabilitation :- (1) The estate of an insolvent shall remain vested in the trustee until the insolvent is reinvested therewith pursuant to a composition as in section 119 provided, or until the rehabilitation of the insolvent in terms of section 127; Provided that any property which immediately before the rehabilitation is vested in the trustee shall remain vested in him after the rehabilitation for the purpose of realisation and distribution. (2) When a trustee has vacated his office or has been removed from office or has resigned or died the estate shall vest in the remaining trustee, if any; otherwise it shall vest in the Master until another trustee has been appointed. 26. Dispositions without value :- (1) Every disposition of property not made for value may be set aside by the court if such disposition was made by an insolvent - (a) more than two years before the sequestration of his estate, and it is proved that, immediately after the disposition was made, the liabilities of the insolvent exceeded his assets; (b) within two years of the sequestration of his estate, and the person claiming under or benefited by the disposition is unable to prove that, immediately after the disposition was made, the assets of the insolvent exceed his liabilities: Provided that if it is proved that the liabilities of the insolvent at any time after the making of the disposition exceeded his assets by less than the value of the property disposed of, it may be set aside only to the extent of such excess. (2) A disposition of property not made for value, which was set aside under this section or which was uncompleted by the insolvent, shall not give rise to any claim in competition with the creditors of the insolvents estate. 27. Antenuptial contracts :- (1) No immediate benefit under a duly registered antenuptial contract given in good faith by a man to his wife or any child to be born of the marriage shall be set aside as a disposition without value, unless that mans estate was sequestrated within two years of the registration of that antenuptial contract. (2) In sub-section (1) the expression "immediate benefit" means a benefit given by a transfer, delivery, payment, cession, pledge, or special mortgage of property completed before the expiration of a period of three months as from the date of the marriage. 28. Life insurance policies :- (1) When a person before or during marriage has effected in favour of or ceded to or for the benefit of his wife any policy or policies of life insurance, the policy or policies to an amount not exceeding four thousand emalangeni, together with any bonus claimable in respect thereof shall be excluded from her estate, if she becomes insolvent. (2) When a person before or during marriage has in good faith effected in favour of or ceded to or for the benefit of his wife or child or both a policy or policies of life insurance at any time more than two years before the sequestration of his estate, the policy or policies, if they be not an immediate benefit within the meaning of section 27 whether to a wife or child or both, shall to an amount not exceeding four thousand emalangeni, together with any bonus claimable in respect thereof, be excluded from his insolvent estate, and, if the insolvent is married in community of property, from the joint estate of the insolvent and his wife: Provided that - (a) every policy which, at the time of the sequestration of the estate, was ceded or pledged to any person (other than the wife or child of the insured, or a trustee for such wife or child) shall not, to the extent of the cession or pledge, fall under the protection of this section; (b) when any policy is protected as to a part only, the person entitled to the protected part may apply to the company by whom such policy was granted for the issue of two policies, in the place of such policy one for the unprotected part and the other for the protected part, in favour of the parties respectively entitled thereto; and the company shall thereupon issue such policies at the expense of the applicant, and the original policy shall thereupon become void; (c) for the purposes of this section, the expression "policy of life insurance" shall include a contract for securing an insurance endowment, bonus, or annuity upon the death of the insured, or on the expiration of any period, or on the happening of any event, as well as a fully paid-up policy granted for the surrender or exchange of a policy of an equivalent value, but shall not include any other property acquired in consideration of the surrender, pledge or cession of a policy. (3) A policy of life insurance effected by a person on his own life which has endured for three years from the date of payment of the first premium shall not, during the lifetime of the insured, vest upon the sequestration of the estate of the insured in the trustee of the estate: (a) the protection afforded to a debtor under this section shall not exceed four thousand emalangeni together with any bonus claimable in respect thereof; (b) a policy which is pledged, to the extent to which it is pledged, and the proceeds of a policy which is surrendered shall not be protected by this section; but nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing the insured from agreeing with an insurance company for the surrender or exchange of his existing policy to the extent to which it is protected by this section for a fully paid- up policy, and such last-mentioned policy shall be wholly protected. (4) A policy protected under sub-section (3) shall, to the extent to which it is protected, not be available on the death of the insured for the payment of creditors as against the claims of - (a) the surviving spouse of the insured, if the marriage was in community of property, to one-half the protected portion of the policy; or (b) the surviving spouse or any parent, child or stepchild of the insured, under the will of the insured; or (c) any parent or child of the insured by right of succession ab intestato. (5) Notwithstanding this section, if in any case it is proved that any policy was affected, or that the premiums, upon any policy were paid, with intent to defraud creditors, the court may order a sum equal to the premium so paid, with interest thereon to be a charge upon the policy and to be payable out of the proceeds of such policy. 29. Voidable preferences :- (1) Every disposition of his property made by a debtor not more than six months before the sequestration of his estate, which has had the effect of preferring one of his creditors above another, may be set aside by the court if immediately after the making of such disposition the liabilities of the debtor exceeded the value of his assets, unless the person in whose favour the disposition was made proves that the disposition was made in the ordinary course of business and that it was not intended thereby to prefer one creditor above another but subject to sub-section (2). (2) Every disposition of property made under a power of attorney whether revocable or irrevocable, shall for the purposes of this section and of section 30 be deemed to be made at the time at which the transfer or delivery or mortgage of such property takes place. 30. Undue preference to creditors :- (1) If a debtor made a deposition of his property at a time when his liabilities exceeded his assets, with the intention of preferring one of his creditors above another, and his estate is thereafter sequestrated, the court may set aside the disposition. (2) For the purposes of this section and of section 29 a surety for the debtor and a person in a position by law analogous to that of a surety shall be deemed to be a creditor of the debtor concerned. 31. Collusive dealings before sequestration :- (1) After the sequestration of a debtors estate the court may set aside any transaction entered into by the debtor before the sequestration, whereby he, in collusion with another person, disposed of property belonging to him in a manner which had the effect of prejudicing his creditors or of preferring one of his creditors above another. (2) Any person who was a party to such collusive disposition shall be liable to make good any loss thereby caused to the insolvent estate in question and shall pay for the benefit of the estate, by way of penalty, such sum as the court may adjudge, not exceeding the amount by which he would have benefited by such dealing if it had not been set aside: and if he is a creditor he shall also forfeit his claim against the estate. (3) Such compensation and penalty may be recovered in any action to set aside the transaction in question. 32. Proceedings to set aside improper disposition :- (1) Proceedings to set aside any disposition of property under section 26, 29, 30 or 31, or for the recovery of compensation or a penalty under section 31, may be taken by the trustee, but if the trustee fails to take any such proceedings they may be taken by any creditor in the name of the trustee upon his indemnifying the trustee against all costs thereof. (2) In any such proceedings the insolvent may be compelled to give evidence on a subpoena issued on the application of any party to the proceedings or he may be called by the court to give evidence and when giving such evidence he may not refuse to answer any question on the ground that the answer may tend to incriminate him or on the ground that he is to be tried on a criminal charge and may be prejudiced at such a trial by his answer. (3) When the court sets aside any disposition of property under any of the said sections, it shall declare the trustee entitled to recover any property alienated under the said disposition or in default of such property the value thereof at the date of the disposition or at the date on which the disposition is set aside, whichever is the higher. 33. Improper disposition does not affect certain rights :- (1) A person who, in return for any disposition which is liable to be set aside under sections 26, 29, 30 or 31, has parted with any property or security which he held or who has lost any right against another person, shall, if he acted in good faith, not be obliged to restore any property or other benefit received under such disposition, unless the trustee has indemnified him for parting with such property or security or for losing such right. (2) Section 26, 29, 30 or 31 shall not affect the rights of any person who acquired property in good faith and for value from any person other than a person whose estate was subsequently sequestrated. 34. Voidable sale of business :- (1) If a trader has alienated any business belonging to him or the goodwill or any property belonging to such a business (except goods sold in the ordinary course of that business), and his estate is sequestrated within six months of such alienation, the alienation shall be void as against the trustee of his estate, unless, not less than ten days and not more than thirty days before such alienation, he published a notice of such intended alienation in two issues of the Gazette and in two issues of a newspaper circulating in the region in which the business was carried on. (2) As soon as any such notice is published, every liquidated liability of the said trader in connection with the said business, which would become due at some future date, shall fall due forthwith, if the creditor concerned demands payment of such liability: Provided that if such liability bears no interest the amount of such liability which would have been payable at such future date if such demand had not been made, shall be reduced at the rate of six percent per annum of that amount, over the period between the date when payment is made and that future date. (3) If any person who has any claim against the said trader in connection with the said business has, before such alienation, for the purpose of enforcing his claim, instituted proceedings against the said trader in any court, and the person to whom the said business was alienated knew at the time of the alienation that those proceedings had been instituted, the alienation shall be void as against him for the purpose of such enforcement. 35. Contracts to buy immovable property :- (1) If an insolvent, before the sequestration of his estate, entered into a contract for the acquisition of immovable property which was not transferred to him, the trustee of his insolvent estate may enforce or abandon the contract. (2) The other party to the contract may call upon the trustee by notice in writing to elect whether he will enforce or abandon the contract, and if the trustee has after the expiry of six weeks as from the receipt of the notice, failed to make his election as aforesaid and inform the other party thereof, the other party may apply to the court by motion for cancellation of the contract and for an order directing the trustee to restore to the applicant the possession of any immovable property under the control of the trustee, of which the insolvent or the trustee gained possession or control by virtue of the contract, and the court may make such order on the application as it thinks fit. (3) This section shall not affect any right which the other party may have to establish against the insolvent estate, a non-preferent claim for compensation for any loss suffered by him as a result of the non-fulfilment of the contract. 36. Sales for cash :- (1) If a person, before the sequestration of his estate, by virtue of a contract of purchase and sale which provided for the payment of the purchase price upon delivery of the property in question to the purchaser, received any movable property without paying the purchase price in full, the seller may, after the sequestration of the purchasers estate, reclaim that property if within thirty days after delivery thereof he has given notice in writing to the purchaser or to the trustee of the purchasers insolvent estate or to the Master, that he reclaims the property: Provided that if the trustee disputes the sellers right to reclaim the property, the seller shall not be entitled to reclaim it, unless he institutes, within fourteen days after having received notice that the trustee so disputes his right, legal proceedings to enforce his right. (2) For the purpose of sub-section (1) a contract of purchase and sale shall be deemed to provide for the payment of the purchase price upon delivery of the property in question to the purchaser, unless the seller has agreed that the purchase price or any part thereof shall not be claimable before or at the time of such delivery. (3) The trustee of the purchasers insolvent estate shall not be obliged to restore any property reclaimed by the seller in terms of sub-section (1) unless the seller refunds to him every part of the purchase price which he has already received. (4) Except as in this section provided, a seller shall not be entitled to recover any property which he sold and delivered to a purchaser whose estate was sequestrated after the sale, only by reason of the fact that the purchaser failed to pay the purchase price. (5) The owner of the movable property which was in the possession or custody of a person at the time of the sequestration of that persons estate, shall not be entitled to recover that property if it has, in good faith, been sold as part of the said persons insolvent estate, unless the owner has, by notice in writing, given, before the sale, to the curator bonis if one has been appointed or to the trustee of the insolvent estate, or if there is no such curator bonis or trustee, to the Master, demanded a return of the property. (6) If any such property has been sold as part of the insolvent estate, the former owner of that property may recover from the trustee, before the confirmation of any trustees account in the estate in terms of section 112, the nett proceeds of the sale of that property (unless he has recovered the property itself from the purchaser), and thereupon he shall lose any right which he may have had to recover the property itself in terms of sub-section (5). 37. Effect of sequestration upon a lease :- (1) A lease entered into by any person as lessee shall not be determined by the sequestration of his estate, but the trustee of his insolvent estate may determine the lease by notice in writing to the lessor: Provided that the lessor may claim from the estate, compensation for any loss which he may have sustained by reason of the non-performance of the terms of such lease. (2) If the trustee does not, within three months of his appointment notify the lessor that he desires to continue the lease on behalf of the estate, he shall be deemed to have determined the lease at the end of such three months. (3) The rent due under any such lease, from the date of the sequestration of the estate of the lessee to the determination or the cession thereof by the trustee, shall be included in the costs of sequestration. (4) The determination of the lease by the trustee in terms of this section shall deprive the insolvent estate of any right to compensation for improvements, other than improvements made in terms of an agreement with the lessor, made on the leased property during the period of the lease. (5) A stipulation in a lease that the lease shall terminate or be varied upon the sequestration of the estate of either party shall be null and void, but a stipulation in a lease which restricts or prohibits the transfer of any right under the lease or which provides for the termination or cancellation of the lease by reason of the death of the lessee or of his successor in title, shall bind the trustee of the insolvent estate of the lessee or of his successor in tile, as if he were the lessee or the said successor, or the executor in the state of the lessee or his said successor, as the case may be. 38. Contracts of service :- The sequestration of the estate of an employer shall terminate the contract of service between him and his employees, but any employee whose contract of service has been so terminated shall be entitled to claim compensation from the insolvent estate of his former employer for any loss which he may have suffered by reason of the termination of his contract of service prior to its expiration. 39. Time and place of meetings of creditors :- (1) Whenever the Master convenes any meeting of creditors as hereinafter provided, he shall appoint it to be held at such time and place as he considers to be convenient for all parties concerned and may, if necessary, alter the time and place of any such meeting; but he shall publish sufficient notice of any such alteration in the Gazette. (2) All meetings of creditors held in the Hhohho region shall be presided over by the Master but meeting of creditors held in any other region shall be held in accordance with the directions of the Master and shall be presided over by the Regional Administrator of the region, or by any other officer in the public service designated by the Regional Administrator for that purpose. (3) The officer presiding at such meeting shall keep a record of the proceedings, which he shall certify at the conclusion of the proceedings, and if he is not the Master, he shall transmit the record to the Master. (4) If at a meeting of creditors held outside the Hhohho region an officer other than the Regional Administrator presides, the presiding officer shall state in the record of the proceedings the reason for the Regional Administrators absence. (5) The officer presiding at a meeting of creditors may, if necessary or desirable adjourn the meeting from time to time. (6) The place where a meeting of creditors is held shall be accessible to the public and publication of any statement made at such a meeting shall be privileged to the same extent as is the publication of a statement made in a court of law. 40. First and second meetings of creditors :- (1) On the receipt of an order of the court sequestrating an estate finally, the Master shall immediately convene by notice in the Gazette, a first meeting of the creditors of the estate for the proof of their claims against the estate and for the election of a trustee. (2) The Master shall publish such notice on a date not less than ten days before the date upon which the meeting is to be held and shall in such notice state the time and place at which the meeting is to be held. (3) After the first meeting of creditors and the appointment of a trustee, the Master shall appoint a second meeting of creditors for the proof of claims against the estate, and for the purpose of receiving the trustees report on the affairs and condition of the estate, and of giving the trustee directions in connection with the administration of the estate. (4) The trustee shall convene such meeting the manner prescribed in sub-sections (1) and (2). 41. General meetings of creditors :- (1) The trustee of an insolvent estate may at any time and shall, whenever he is thereto required by the Master or by a creditor or creditors representing one-fourth of the value of all claims proved against the estate, convene in the manner prescribed in section 40, a meeting of creditors, hereinafter called a general meeting, to give him directions concerning any matter relating to the administration of the estate. (2) In the notice convening the meeting the trustee shall state the matters to be dealt with at the meeting. 42. Special meetings of creditors :- After the second meeting of creditors the trustee shall convene in the manner prescribed in section 40, a special meeting of creditors for the proof of claims against the estate in question whenever he is thereto required by any interested person who at the same time tenders to the trustee payment of all expenses to be incurred in connection with such a meeting. 43. Registration of creditors name and address :- (1) Any person who claims to be a creditor of an insolvent estate may register his name and address in Swaziland with the trustee of that estate upon payment to the trustee of a fee of one lilangeni, and thereupon the trustee shall send to that address a notice of every meeting of creditors of that estate and a copy of every account which he is submitting to the Master. (2) Failure on the part of the trustee to comply with a provision of this section shall constitute a failure to perform his duties but shall not invalidate anything done under this Act. 44. Proof of liquidated claims :- (1) Any person or the representative of any person who has a liquidated claim against an insolvent estate, the cause of which arose before the sequestration of that estate may, at any time before the final distribution of that estate in terms of section 113, but subject to the provisions of section 104, prove that claim in the manner hereinafter provided; Provided that no claim shall be proved against an estate after the expiration of a period of three months as from the conclusion of the second meeting of creditors of the estate, except with leave of the court or the Master, and on payment of such sum to cover the cost or any part thereof, occasioned by the late proof of the claim, as the court or Master may direct. (2) If a person who appears from the books of an insolvent estate to be a creditor of that estate, or who to the knowledge of the trustee in that estate is a creditor of that estate, has failed at the first or second meeting of creditor of that estate, has failed at the first or second meeting of creditors of that estate, to prove his claim against the estate, the trustee shall, immediately after the second meeting of creditors, notify him in writing of the sequestration of the estate. (3) A claim made against an insolvent estate shall be proved at a meeting of the creditors of that estate to the satisfaction of the officer presiding at that meeting, who shall admit or reject the claim: Provided that the rejection of a claim shall not debar the claimant from providing that claim at a subsequent meeting of creditors or from establishing his claim by an action at law, but subject to section 75; and Provided further that if a creditor has twenty-four or more hours before the commence-ment of a meeting of creditors submitted to the officer who is to preside at that meeting the affidavit and other documents mentioned in sub-section (4), he shall be deemed to have tendered proof of his claim at the meeting. (4) Every such claim shall be proved by affidavit in a form corresponding substantially with Form C or D in the First Schedule. (5) Such affidavit may be made by the creditor or by any person fully cognisant of the claim, who shall set forth in the affidavit the facts upon which his knowledge of the claim is based and the nature and particulars of the claim, whether it was acquired by cession after the institution of the proceedings by which the estate was sequestrated, and if the creditor holds security therefor, the nature and particulars of that security and if it consists of movable property in his possession which he has not realised in terms of section 84, the amount at which he values the security. (6) Such affidavit or a copy thereof and any documents submitted in support of the claim shall be delivered at the office of the officer who is to preside at the meeting of creditors not later than twenty-four hours before the advertised time of the meeting at which the creditor concerned intends to prove the claim, failing which the claim shall not be admitted to proof at that meeting, unless the presiding officer is of opinion that through no fault of the creditor he has been unable to deliver such evidences of his claim within the prescribed period. (7) If a creditor has submitted or proved an incorrect claim, he may, with the consent in writing of the Master given after consultation with the trustee and on such conditions as the Master may think fit to impose, correct his claim or submit a fresh correct claim. (8) Any document by this section required to be delivered before a meeting of creditors at the office of the officer who is to preside at that meeting, shall be open for inspection at such office during office hours free of charge by any creditor, the trustee or the insolvent or the representative of any of them. (9) A claim against an insolvents estate for payment of the purchase price of goods sold and delivered to the insolvent on an account shall not be admitted to proof unless there have been submitted to the insolvent, not later than three months after the opening of the account, a detailed statement thereof, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding three months detailed statements of account, each from the date up to which the previous statement was made up. (10) The officer presiding at any meeting of creditors may of his own motion or at the request of the trustee or his agent or at the request of any creditor who has proved his claim, or his agent, call upon any person present at the meeting who wishes to prove or who has at any time proved a claim against the estate to take an oath, to be administered by the said officer, and to submit to interrogation by the said officer or by the trustee or his agent or by a creditor or the agent of a creditor whose claim has been proved, in regard to the said claim. (11) If any person who wishes to prove or who has at any time proved a claim against the estate is absent from a meeting of creditors the officer who presideded or who presides thereat, may summon him in writing to appear before him at a place and time stated in the summons, for the purpose of being interrogated by the said officer or by the trustee or his agent or by a creditor or the agent of a creditor whose claim has been proved, and if he appears in answer to the summons of sub-section (1) shall apply. (12) If any such person fails without reasonable excuse to appear in answer to such summons or having appeared or when present at any meeting of creditors refuses to take the oath or to submit to the said interrogation or to answer fully and satisfactorily any lawful question put to him, his claim, if already proved, may be expunged by the Master, and if not yet proved, may be rejected. 45. Trustee to examine claims :- (1) After a meeting of creditors the officer who presided thereat shall deliver to the trustee every claim proved against the insolvent estate at that meeting and every document submitted in support of the claim. (2) The trustee shall examine all available books and documents relating to the insolvent estate for the purpose of ascertaining whether the estate in fact owes the claimant the amount claimed. (3) If the trustee disputes a claim after it has been proved against the estate at a meeting of creditors, he shall report the fact in writing to the Master and shall state in his report his reasons for disputing the claim. (4) Thereupon the Master may confirm the claim, or he may, after having afforded the claimant an opportunity to substantiate his claim, reduce or disallow the claim, and if he has done so, he shall forthwith notify the claimant in writing: Provided that such reduction or disallowance shall not debar the claimant from establishing his claim by any action at law, but subject to section 75. 46. Set-off :- If two persons have entered into a transaction the result whereof is a set-off, wholly or in part, of debts which they owe one another and the estate of one of them is sequestrated within a period of six months after the taking place of the set-off, or if a person who had a claim against another person (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "debtor") has ceded that claim to a third person against whom the debtor had a claim at the time of the cession, with the result that the one claim has been set-off wholly or in part, against the other, and within a period of one year after the cession the estate of the debtor is sequestrated, then the trustee of the sequestrated estate may in either case abide by the set-off or he may if the set-off was not effected in the ordinary course of business, with the approval of the Master disregard it and call upon the person concerned to pay to the estate the debt which he would owe it but for the set-off, and thereupon that person shall be obliged to pay that debt and may prove his claim against the estate as if no set-off had taken place. 47. Right of retention and landlords hypothec :- If a creditor of an insolvent estate who is in possession of any property belonging to that estate, to which he has a right of retention or over which he has a landlords legal hypothec, delivers that property to the trustee of that estate, at the latters request, he shall not thereby lose the security afforded him by his right of retention or lose his legal hypothec, if, when delivering the property, he notifies the trustee in writing of his rights and in due course proves his claim against the estate: Provided, that a right to retain any book or document of account which belongs to the insolvent estate or relates to the insolvents affairs shall not afford any security or preference in connection with any claim against the estate. 48. Proof of conditional claim :- A creditor whose claim against an insolvent estate is dependent upon a condition may prove that claim in the manner set forth in section 44 but subject to the following provisions: (a) if the condition is of such a nature that it will be fulfilled, if at all, within a year of the sequestration, the creditor may prove his claim, but he shall have no vote in respect of that claim at a meeting of creditors but if a dividend is awarded on such a claim it shall be paid by the trustee to the Master, who shall pay it to the creditor, if the condition has been fulfilled, and otherwise shall return it to the trustee for distribution among the other creditors; (b) if the condition is not such as is described in paragraph (a), the creditor may call upon the trustee at a meeting of creditors to place a value upon the claim and the trustee shall thereupon lay before the officer presiding at the meeting a written valuation of the claim with reasons therefor, and the presiding officer shall admit that claim at such value as he may determine, or reject it: Provided that when the condition has been fulfilled, before the confirmation, by the Master, in terms of section 112, of a trustees account in the liquidation of the estate, the creditor may prove his claim as if it had been unconditional. 49. Claims against partnership distinct from claims against partners :- When the estate of a partnership and the estates of the partners in that partnership are under sequestration simultaneously, the creditors of the partnership shall not be entitled to prove claims against the estate of a partner and the creditors of a partner shall not be entitled to prove claims against the estate of the partnership; but the trustee of the estate of the partnership shall be entitled to any balance of a partners estate that may remain over after satisfying the claims of the creditors of the partners estate in so far as that balance is required to pay the partnerships debts and the trustee of the estate of a partner shall be entitled to any balance of the partnership estate that may remain over after satisfying the claims of the creditors of the partnership estate, so far as that partner would have been entitled thereto, if his estate had not been sequestrated. 50. Debt bearing interest and debt due after sequestration :- (1) When a debt bearing interest became due before the sequestration of the debtors estate, the creditor to whom that debt is owing may include in his claim against the debtors estate in respect of that debt any interest thereon, which is in arrear, to the date of the sequestration. (2) If a person, before the sequestration of his estate, incurred a debt which is payable upon a date (hereinafter referred to as the "due date") after the date of the sequestration, the creditor, towards whom the debts was incurred, may claim from the insolvent estate the full amount of that debt as if it were payable on the date of sequestration: Provided that if the debt bears no interest and a distribution account in the estate in question in confirmed by the Master in terms of section 112 before the due date, an amount shall be paid on that claim equal to the amount which would have been paid thereon under the distribution account if the debt had been payable on the date of sequestration, less six per cent of that amount per annum, reckoned from the date of sequestration to the due date. 51. Withdrawal of claim already proved :- (1) A creditor who has proved a claim against an insolvent estate may withdraw his claim by registered letters addressed to the Master and to the trustee and the latter shall in writing notify the other creditors of the withdrawal: Provided that the creditor so withdrawing his claim shall remain liable in terms of section 106 for his pro rata share of the costs of sequestration and all costs lawfully incurred by the trustee in connection with the sequestration up to the time when he received the creditors letter of withdrawal. (2) A creditor who has so withdrawn his claim may, by registered letters addressed to the Master and to the trustee, cancel his withdrawal, but if he does so, he shall not become liable for any costs in connection with the sequestration for which he was not liable at the time of cancellation and he shall not be entitled to any payment out of the estate in respect of his claim until all the other creditors who have proved their claims before such cancellation have been paid in full. 52. Voting at meeting of creditors :- (1) Save as in this section and in section 48 is otherwise provided, every creditor of an insolvent estate shall be entitled to vote at any meeting of the creditors of that estate as soon as his claim against the estate has been proved. (2) The vote of any creditor shall be reckoned according to the value of his claim except when it is provided in this Act that votes shall be reckoned in number. (3) The vote of a creditor shall in no case be reckoned in number, unless his claim is of the value of at least sixty emalangeni. (4) A creditor may not vote in respect of any claim which was ceded to him after the commencement of the proceedings by which the estate was sequestrated. (5) A creditor holding any security for his claim shall, except in the election of a trustee and upon any matter affecting that security, be entitled to vote only in respect of the amount by which his claim exceeds the amount at which he valued his security when proving his claim, or if he did not value his security, in respect of the amount by which his claim exceeds the amount of the proceeds of the realisation of his security in terms of section 84. (6) A creditor may not vote on the question as to whether steps should be taken to contest his claim or preference. 53. Questions upon which creditors may vote :- (1) A creditor may vote at a meeting of creditors upon all matter relating to the administration of the estate, but may not vote in regard to matters relating to the distribution of the assets of the estate, except for the purpose of directing the trustee to contest, compromise or admit any claim against the estate. (2) Subject to sections 54 and 119(7) every matter upon which a creditor may vote shall be determined by the majority of votes reckoned in accordance with section 52(2), and every creditor may vote either personally or by an agent specially authorised thereto or acting under his general power of attorney. (3) Every resolution of creditors at a meeting of creditors and the result of the voting on any matter as declared by the officer presiding at that meeting, shall be recorded upon the minutes of the meeting and shall be binding upon the trustee in so far as it is a direction to him. (4) Any direction by creditors which infringes the rights of any creditor may be set aside by the court on the application of the creditor whose rights are affected or of the trustee with the consent of the Master. (5) The creditors shall not be entitled to direct the trustee to employ or not to employ a particular attorney or auctioneer in connection with the administration of the estate but the creditors may recommend the employment of a particular attorney or auctioneer and if the trustee does not accept the recommendation, any creditor may submit the matter to the Master whose decision, after hearing the trustee, shall be final. 54. Election of trustee :- (1) At the first meeting of the creditors of an insolvent estate the creditors who have proved their claims against the estate may elect one or two trustees. (2) Any person who has obtained a majority in number and in value of the votes of the creditors entitled to vote, who voted at such meeting, shall be elected trustee. (3) If no person has obtained a majority of votes then - (a) the person who has obtained a majority of votes in number, when no other person has obtained a majority of votes in value, or has obtained a majority of votes in value, when no other person has obtained a majority of votes in number, shall be deemed to be elected sole trustee; (b) if one person has obtained a majority of votes in value and another a majority of votes in number, both such persons shall be deemed to the elected trustees, and if either person declines a joint trusteeship, the other shall be deemed to be elected sole trustee. (4) For the purpose of this section "majority of votes in number" means a greater number of votes (apart from the value of the claims which they represent, but subject to section 52(3)) that has been obtained by any competitor and "majority of votes in value" means votes representing claims of a greater aggregate value than the votes obtained by any competitor. (5) If at any meeting of creditors convened for the purpose of electing a trustee, no trustee is elected and the estate is not vested at the time of that meeting in a provisional trustee, the Master may appoint a trustee and if he does not so appoint a trustee, the Master or the insolvent with the Masters consent, may apply, at the cost of the estate, to the court by petition to set aside the sequestration and the court may make such order thereon as it thinks fit. 55. Persons disqualified from being trustees :- Any of the following persons shall be disqualified from being elected or appointed a trustee - (a) any insolvent; (b) any person related to the insolvent concerned by consanguinity or affinity within the third degree; (c) a minor or any other person under legal disability; (d) any person who does not reside in Swaziland; (e) any person who has an interest opposed to the general interest of the creditors of the insolvent estate; (f) a former trustee disqualified under section 72; (g) any person declared under section 59 to be incapacitated for election as trustee, while any such incapacity lasts, or any person removed by the court, on account of misconduct, from an office of trust; (h) a corporate body; (i) any person who has at any time been convicted (whether in Swaziland or elsewhere) of theft, fraud, forgery, or uttering a forged document, or perjury and has been sentenced therefor to serve a term of imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to a fine exceeding twenty emalangeni; (j) any person who was, at any time, a party to an agreement or arrangement with any debtor or creditor whereby he undertook that he would, when performing the functions of a trustee or assignee, grant or endeavour to grant to, or obtain or endeavour to obtain for any debtor or creditor any benefit not provided for by law; (k) any person who has by means of any misrepresentation or any reward or offer of any reward, whether direct or indirect, induced or attempted to induce any person to vote for him as trustee or to effect or assist in effecting his election as trustee of any insolvent estate: Provided that, notwithstanding anything in paragraph (d), any person who, though not resident within Swaziland, maintains a bona fide office within Swaziland to the satisfaction of the Master (whose opinion shall be final) may be elected trustee: Provided further that such person is not otherwise disqualified from election and that immediately after his election he chooses for the purpose of his administration of the estate a domicilium citandi et executandi within Swaziland which shall be notified by him in the Gazette. 56. Appointment of trustee and security for administration :- (1) If a trustee was elected at a meeting of creditors at which a person other than the Master presided, the election shall not be valid unless it has been confirmed by the Master. (2) When the Master is satisfied that any person elected as trustee was duly elected and when a person so elected has given security to the satisfaction of the Master for the proper performance of his duties as trustee, the Master shall confirm his election and appoint him as trustee by delivering to him a certificate of appointment, which shall be valid throughout Swaziland: Provided that if the Master is of the opinion that a person so elected is not suitable for appointment as trustee to the estate in question he may, in his discretion, decline to confirm the election of that person as trustee or to appoint him as such. (3) On receipt of his certificate of appointment the trustee shall notify his appoint-ment and address in the Gazette. (4) When two trustees have been appointed or when the Master has appointed a co-trustee in terms of section 57(5), both or all three trustees shall act jointly in performing their functions as trustees and each of them shall be jointly and severally liabile for every act performed by them jointly. (5) Whenever two or three trustees disagree on any matter relating to the estate of which they are trustees one or more of them may refer the matter to the Master who may thereupon determine the question in issue. (6) Subject to section 91(1) the cost of giving the security mentioned in subsec-tion (2), to an amount which the Master considers reasonable, shall be paid out of the estate in question as part of the costs of sequestration. (7) When a trustee has in the course of liquidating an insolvent estate accounted to the Master, to his satisfaction, for any property in the estate, the Master may consent to a reduction of the security mentioned in sub-section (2) if he is satisfied that the reduced security will suffice to indemnify the estate or the creditors thereof against any malad-ministration by the trustee of the remaining property in the estate. 57. Appointment of trustee or co-trustee by the Master :- (1) If a person who has been elected as trustee was not properly elected or is disqualified from being a trustee of the estate in question or has failed to give within a period of seven days as from the date upon which he was notified that the Master had confirmed his election, or within such further period as the Master may allow, the security mentioned in section 56(2), or if the Master is of the opinion that the person elected is not suitable for appointment as trustee to the estate in question, the Master shall give notice in writing to the person so elected that he declines to confirm his election or to appoint him as trustee and shall, in that notice, state his reason for declining to confirm his election or to appoint him: Provided that if the Master declines to confirm the election of a trustee because he is of the opinion that the person elected is not suitable for appointment as trustee, it shall be sufficient if the Master states, in that notice, as such reason, that he is of the opinion that the person elected is not suitable for appointment as trustee to the estate in question. (2) When the Master has declined to confirm the election of a trustee or to appoint a person elected as trustee, he shall in accordance with section 40(1) and (2) convene a meeting of the creditors of the estate in question for the purpose of electing another trustee in the place of the person whose election as trustee the Master declined to confirm or whom the Master declined to appoint. (3) In the notice convening the meeting the Master shall state that he has declined to confirm the election of the person previously elected as trustee, or to appoint a person so elected, and the reasons therefor (but subject to the proviso to sub-section (1)), and that the meeting is convened for the purpose of electing another trustee a copy of which the Master shall post to every creditor whose claim against the estate was previously proved and admitted. (4) A meeting mentioned in sub-section (2) shall be deemed to be the continuation of a first meeting of creditors held after an adjournment thereof. (5) If the Master declines, for any reason mentioned in sub-section (1), to confirm the election of a person who was elected as trustee at a meeting mentioned in sub-section (2), or to appoint a person so elected, he shall act in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) and thereupon, if the person whose election the Master declined to confirm or whom the Master declined to appoint, was elected as sole trustee, or if two trustees were elected and the Master did not appoint both or one of them, the Master shall appoint as trustee of the estate in question any other person who is not disqualified from being a trustee of that estate. (6) Whenever the Master considers it desirable, he may appoint a person not disquali-fied from holding the office of trustee who has given the security mentioned in section 56(2) as a co-trustee with the trustee or trustees of an insolvent estate. (7) All the provisions of this Act, relating to a trustee shall apply to a trustee or a co-trustee appointed by the Master under this section. 58. Vacation of office by trustee :- A trustee shall vacate his office - (a) if his estate is sequestrated under this Act; or (b) if an order is issued under the law relating to mental disorders for his reception and detention in an institution or if he is declared by a competent court to be incapable of managing his own affairs; or (c) if he is convicted of any offence and sentenced to serve any term of imprisonment without the option of a fine, or if he is convicted (whether in Swaziland or elsewhere) of theft, fraud, forgery or uttering a forged document, or perjury. 59. Court may declare a person disqualified from being a trustee, or remove a trustee :- On the application of any person interested the court may either before or after the appointment of a trustee, declare that the person appointed or proposed is disqualified from holding the office of trustee, and, if he has been appointed, may remove him from office and may in either case declare him incapable of being elected or appointed trustee under this Act during the period of his life or such other period as it may determine, if - (a) he has accepted or expressed his willingness to accept from any person engaged to perform any work on behalf of the estate in question, any benefit whatever in connection with any matter relating to that estate; or (b) in order to induce a creditor to vote for him at the election of a trustee or in return for his vote at such election, or in order to exercise any influence upon his election as trustee, he has - (i) wrongly omitted or included or been privy to the wrongful omission or inclusion of the name of a creditor from any record by this Act required; or (ii) directly or indirectly given or offered or agreed to give to any person any consideration; or (iii) offered to or agreed with any person to abstain from investigating any previous transactions of the insolvent concerned; or (iv) been guilty of or privy to the splitting of claims for the purpose of increasing the number of votes. 60. Removal of trustee by Court :- Upon the application of the Master or of any other person interested the court may remove a trustee from his office on the ground - (a) that he was not qualified for election or appointment as trustee or that his election or appointment was for any other reason illegal, or that he has become disqualified from election of appointment as a trustee; or (b) that he has failed to perform satisfactorily any duty imposed upon him by this Act or to comply with a lawful demand of the Master; or (c) that he is mentally or physically incapable of performing satisfactorily his duties as trustee. 61. Leave of absence or resignation of trustee :- At the request of a trustee, the Master may grant him leave of absence from his duties, or may relieve him of his office, in either case upon such conditions as the Master may think fit to impose and subject to his giving such notice of his intention to absent himself or to resign as the Master may direct. 62. Election of new trustee :- (1) When a court has removed one of two joint trustees from office, it may order the convening of a meeting of the creditors of the estate in question for the purpose of electing a new trustee in the place of the trustee who was removed. (2) When a sole trustee has vacated his office or has been removed from office, has resigned or died, the Master shall convene a meeting of the creditors of the estate in question for the purpose of electing a new trustee, and in the meantime the Master may appoint a provisional trustee for the preservation of the estate. (3) When one of two joint trustees has vacated his office or has been removed from office, has resigned or died the Master may convene a meeting of the creditors of the estate in question for the purpose of electing a new trustee in the place of the trustee who has vacated his office or has been removed from office, has resigned or died, or if the court has so ordered in terms of sub-section (1), he shall convene such a meeting. (4) Section 54 shall apply in connection with the election of a new trustee in terms of this section. 63. Remuneration of trustee or curator bonis :- (1) Every trustee or curator bonis shall be entitled to a reasonable remuneration for his services, to be taxed by the Master according to tariff B in the Second Schedule: Provided that the Master may, for good cause, reduce or increase his remuneration, or may disallow his remuneration either wholly or in part on account of any failure of or delay in the discharge of his duties or on account of any improper performance of his duties. (2) A person who employes or is a fellow employee or is ordinarily in the employment of the trustee shall not be entitled to any remuneration out of the insolvent estate for services rendered to the estate, and a trustee or his partner shall not be entitled to any remuneration out of the estate for services rendered to the estate, except the remuneration to which under this Act he is entitled as trustee. 64. Insolvent and others to attend meetings of creditors :- (1) An insolvent shall attend the first and second meetings of the creditors of his estate and every adjourned first and second meeting, unless he has previously obtained the written permission of the officer who is to preside or who presides at such meetings granted after consultation with the trustee to absent himself, and he shall also attend any subsequent meeting of creditors if required so to do by written notice of the trustee of his estate. (2) The officer who is to preside or who presides at any meeting of creditors may summon any person who is known or upon reasonable grounds believed to be or to have been in possession of any property which belonged to the insolvent before the sequestration of his estate or which belongs or belonged to the insolvent estate or to the spouse of the insolvent or to be indebted to the estate, or any person (including the insolvents spouse) who in the opinion of the said officer may be able to give any material information concerning the insolvent or his affairs (whether before or after the sequestration of his estate) or concerning any property belonging to the estate or concerning the business, affairs or property of the insolvents spouse, to appear at such meeting or adjourned meeting for the purpose of being interrogated under section 65. (3) The said officer may summon any person who is known or upon reasonable grounds believed to have in his possession custody or under his control any book or document containing any such information as is mentioned in sub-section (2), to produce that book or document, or an extract therefrom at any such meeting of creditors. 65. Interrogation of insolvent or other witnesses :- (1) At any meeting of the creditors of an insolvent estate the officer presiding thereat may call and administer the oath to the insolvent and any other person present at the meeting who was or might have been summoned in terms of section 64(2) and the said officer, the trustee and any creditor who has proved a claim against the estate or the agent of any of them may interrogate a person so called and sworn concerning all matters relating to the insolvent or his business or affairs, whether before or after the sequestration of his estate, and concerning any property belonging to this estate, and concerning the business, affairs, or property of his or her spouse: Provided that the presiding officer shall disallow any question which is irrelevant and may disallow any question which would prolong the interrogation unnecessarily. (2) In connection with the production of any book or document in compliance with a summons issued under section 64(3) or at an interrogation of a person under sub-section (1), the law relating to privilege as applicable to a witness summoned to produced a book or document or giving evidence in a magistrates court, shall apply: Provided that a banker at whose bank the insolvent in question or his or her spouse keeps or at any time kept an account, shall be obliged to produce, if summoned to do so under section 64(3), any cheque in his possession which was drawn by the insolvent or his or her spouse within one year before the sequestration of the insolvents estate, or if any cheque so drawn is not available, then any record of the payment, date of payment and amount of that cheque which may be available to him, or a copy of such a record and if called upon to do so, to give any other information available to him in connection with such cheque or the account of the insolvent or his or her spouse; and Provided further that a person interrogated under sub-section (1) shall not be entitled at such interrogation to refuse to answer any question upon the ground that the answer would tend to incriminate him. (3) The presiding officer shall reduce to writing the statement of any person giving evidence under this section: Provided that if a person who may be required to give evidence under this section made to the trustee or his agent a statement which was reduced to writing, or delivered a statement in writing to the trustee or his agent, that statement may be read by or read over to that person when he is called as a witness under this section and if then adhered to by him, shall be deemed to be evidence given under this section. (4) The insolvent shall at such interrogation be required to make a declaration that he has made a full and true disclosure of all his affairs. (5) Any evidence given under this section shall be admissible in any proceedings instituted against the person who gave that evidence. (6) Any person called upon to give evidence under this section may be assisted at his interrogation by counsel, an attorney or agent. (7) Any person summoned to attend a meeting of creditors for the purpose of being interrogated under this section (other than the insolvent and his or her spouse) shall be entitled to witness fees to be paid out of the estate, to which he would be entitled if he were a witness in any civil proceedings in a magistrates courts. (8) If the insolvent or his or her spouse is called upon to attend any meeting of creditors held after the second meeting or an adjourned second meeting, he or she shall be entitled to an allowance out of the insolvent estate to defray his or her necessary expenses in connection with such attendance. 66. Enforcing summons and giving of evidence :- (1) If a person summoned under section 64 fails to appear at a meeting of creditors, in answer to the summons, or fails to remain in attendance at that meeting the officer presiding at such meeting may issue a warrant authorising any member of the police force to apprehend the person summoned and to bring him before the said officer. (2) Unless the person summoned satisfies the said officer that he had a reasonable excuse for his failure to answer the summons, or for absenting himself from the meeting, the said officer may commit him to prison to be detained there until such time as the said officer may appoint, and the officer in charge of the prison or gaol to which the said person was committed, shall detain him and produce him at the time and place appointed by the first- mentioned officer for his production. (3) If a person summoned as aforesaid, appears in answer to the summons but fails to produce any book or document which he was summoned to produce, or if any person who may be interrogated at a meeting of creditors in terms of section 65(1) refuses to be sworn by the officer presiding at a meeting of creditors at which he is called upon to give evidence or refuses to answer any question lawfully put to him under the said section or does not answer the question fully and satisfactorily, the officer may issue a warrant committing the said person to prison, where he shall be detained until he has undertaken to do what is required of him, but subject to sub-section (5). (4) If a person who has been released from prison after having undertaken in terms of sub-section (3) to do what is required of him, fails to fulfil his undertaking, the said officer may commit him to prison as often as may be necessary to compel him to do what is required of him. (5) Any person committed to prison under this section may apply to the court for his discharge from custody and the court may order his discharge if it finds that he was wrongfully committed to prison or is being wrongfully detained. (6) In connection with the apprehension of a person or with the committal of a person to prison under this section, the officer who issued the warrant of apprehension or committal to prison shall enjoy the same immunity which is enjoyed by a judicial officer in connection with any act performed by him in exercise of his functions. 67. Steps to be taken on suspicion of an offence :- (1) If it appears from any statement made at an interrogation under section 65 that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that any person has committed any offence the Master shall transmit the said statement, or a certified copy thereof, and all necessary documents, to the Attorney-General, in order that the Attorney-General may take such action thereon as he shall think fit. (2) When any such statement has been made at a meeting at which an officer other than the Master presided, the presiding officer, when transmitting the record of the proceedings to the Master, in terms of section 39(3), shall direct the attention of the Master to what appears to him to be reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed. (3) For the purposes of this section and sections 64 and 65, a person who was, before the sequestration of an estate, an executor, curator or administrator of that estate, shall after the sequestration of that estate, be deemed to be an insolvent in relation to that estate. 68. Presumptions as to records and validity of acts at meetings :- (1) Any record purporting to be a record of any proceedings at a meeting of the creditors of an insolvent estate held under this Act and purporting to have been signed by a person describing himself as Master, Regional Administrator or other presiding officer shall, upon its mere production by any person, be received as prima facie evidence of the proceedings recorded therein. (2) Unless the contrary is proved, it shall be presumed that any meeting, of the proceedings whereat there was kept and signed such a record as is mentioned in sub-section (1), was duly convened and held and that all acts performed thereat were validly performed. 69. Trustee must take charge of property of estate :- (1) Immediately after his appointment a trustee shall take into his possession or under his control all movable property, books and documents belonging to the estate of which he is trustee. (2) If the trustee has reason to believe that any such property, book or document is concealed or otherwise unlawfully withheld from him, he may apply to the magistrate having jurisdiction for a search warrant mentioned in sub-section (3). (3) If it appears to a magistrate to whom such application is made, from a statement made upon oath, that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that any property, book or document belonging to an insolvent estate is concealed upon any person, or at any place or upon or in any vehicle or vessel or receptable of whatever nature, or is otherwise unlawfully withheld from the trustee concerned, within the area of the magistrates jurisdiction, he may issue a warrant to search for and take possession of that property, book or document. (4) Such a warrant shall be executed in a like manner as a warrant to search for stolen property, and the person executing the warrant shall deliver any article seized thereunder to the trustee. 70. Opening of banking account :- (1) The trustee of an insolvent estate shall open an account in the name of the estate with a bank within Swaziland and shall deposit therein to the credit of the estate from time to time all sums received by him on behalf of the estate and all cheques or orders drawn upon that account shall contain the name of the payee and the cause of payment and shall be drawn to order and be signed by every trustee of the estate or by his agent. (2) Within fourteen days after his appointment the trustee shall give to the Master notice in writing of the bank and branch thereof with which the said account has been or will be opened, and he shall not, without the written permission of the Master, transfer that account from that branch. (3) The Master and any surety for the trustee, or any person authorised by such surety, shall have the same right to information in regard to the account as the trustee himself possesses, and may examine all vouchers in relation thereto, whether in the hands of the bank or of the trustee. (4) The master may, after notice to the trustee in writing, direct the manager of the said branch of the bank in writing that the estate shall not be permitted to operate on the said account, and that all moneys standing to the credit of that account and all moneys which may thereafter be paid into that account, shall be paid over to him; and the said manager shall carry out any such directions. 71. Record of all receipts :- (1) Immediately after his appointment the trustee of an insolvent estate shall open a book wherein he shall enter as soon as possible a statement of all moneys, goods, books, accounts and other documents received by him on behalf of the estate. (2) The Master may at any time direct the trustee in writing to produce the said book for inspection and every creditor who has proved his claim against the estate, and, if the Master so orders, every person claiming to be a creditor or a surety for the trustee may inspect the said book at all reasonable times. 72. Unlawful retention of moneys or use of property by trustee :- (1) A trustee who, without lawful cause, retains any money exceeding forty emalangeni belonging to the estate of which he is trustee, or knowingly permits his co-trustee to retain such a sum of money longer than the earliest day after its receipt on which it was possible for him or his co-trustee to pay that money into a bank, or who uses or knowingly permits his co-trustee to use any property of the estate except for the benefit of the estate, shall, in addition to any other penalty to which he may be liable, be liable to pay into the estate an amount equal to double the amount so retained or double the value of the property so used. (2) The amount which a trustee is so liable to pay may be deducted from any claim which the said trustee may have against the estate in question or may be recovered from him by action in a magistrates court at the instance of his co-trustee, the Master or any creditor of the estate who has proved his claim. (3) A person whose estate is sequestrated while he is, in terms of sub-section (1) indebted to an estate of which he was trustee for any sum of money which he misappropriated from that estate, shall be for ever incapable of holding the office of trustee, provisional trustee, liquidator, curator dative, tutor dative, curator bonis, or executor dative. 73. Trustee may obtain legal advice :- (1) A trustee may obtain legal advice on any question of law affecting the administration or distribution of the estate of which he is trustee and may employ an attorney or an attorney and counsel for the institution or defence of legal proceedings on behalf of or against the estate, and all costs incurred by the trustee under this section as well as costs awarded against the estate in those legal proceedings, in so far as they result from any action taken by the trustee under this sub-section, shall be included in the cost of the sequestration of the estate: Provided that, subject to section 53(4), the trustee shall not act as aforesaid, unless he has been authorised thereto by the creditors or by the Master. (2) All costs incurred under this section which are not the subject of taxation by the taxing officer of the court, shall be taxed by the Master according to a tariff framed by him. 74. Improper advising of legal proceedings :- If it appears to the court that any attorney or counsel has, with intent to benefit himself, improperly advised the institution, defence or conducting of legal proceedings by or against an insolvent estate or has incurred any unnecessary expense therein, the court may order the whole or part of the expense thereby incurred to be borne by that attorney or counsel personally. 75. Legal proceedings against estate :- (1) Any civil legal proceedings instituted against a debtor before the sequestration of his estate shall lapse upon the expiration of a period of three weeks as from the date of the first meeting of the creditors of that estate, unless the person who instituted those proceedings gave notice, within that period, to the trustee of that estate, or if no trustee has been appointed, to the Master, that he intends to continue those proceedings and after the expiration of a period of three weeks as from the date of such notice, prosecutes those proceedings with reasonable expedition: Provided that the court in which the proceedings are pending may permit the said person (on such conditions as it may think fit to impose) to continue those proceedings even though he failed to give such notice within the said period, if it finds that there was a reasonable excuse for such failure. (2) After the confirmation, by the Master, of any trustees account in an insolvent estate in terms of section 112, no person shall isntitute any legal proceedings against that estate in respect of any liability which arose before its sequestration: Provided that the court in which it is sought to institute proceedings may, on such conditions as it may think fit to impose, but subject to the provisions of the said section, permit the institution of such proceedings after the said confirmation, if it finds that there was a reasonable excuse for the delay in instituting such proceedings. 76. Continuance of pending legal proceedings by surviving or new trustee :- (1) Whenever a trustee of an insolvent estate has vacated his office or has been removed from office or has resigned or died, no legal proceedings previously instituted, in which the said estate is involved, shall lapse merely by reason of the vacating, removal, resignation or death. (2) The court in which any such proceedings are pending may, upon receiving notice of the vacating, removal, resignation or death, allow the name of the surviving or new trustee to be substituted for the name of the former, and the proceedings shall thereupon continue as if the surviving or new trustee had originally represented the estate in those proceedings. 77. Receiving of debts due to estate :- A trustee shall, in the notification of his appointment in the Gazette, in terms of section 56(3), call upon all persons indebted to the estate of which he is trustee to pay their debts within a period and at a place mentioned in that notice, and if any such person fails to do so, the trustee shall forthwith recover payment from him if need be by legal proceedings. 78. Extention of time for payment or compounding of debts due to estate, and arbitration :- (1) The trustee may accept from a debtor of the insolvent estate who is unable to pay his debt in full, any reasonable part of the debt in discharge of the whole debt or grant any debtor of the estate an extension of time for the payment of his debt in so far as this is compatible with section 91: Provided that if the debt exceeds one hundred emalangeni, the trustee shall not accept a part of the debt in discharge of the whole debt, unless he has been authorised thereto by the creditors of the estate, or if no creditor has proved a claim against the estate, by the Master. (2) If authorised thereto by the creditors, or if no creditor has proved a claim against the estate, by the Master, the trustee may submit to the determination of arbitrators any dispute concerning the estate or any claim or demand upon the estate, when the opposite party consents to arbitration. (3) If authorised thereto by the creditors or if no creditor has proved a claim against the estate, by the Master, the trustee may compromise or admit any claim against the estate, whether liquidated or unliquidated if proof thereof has been duly tendered at a meeting of creditors, but when a claim has been so compromised or admitted, or when it has been settled by a judgment of a court, it shall be deemed to have been proved and admitted against the estate in the manner set forth in section 44, unless the creditor informs the trustee in writing within seven days of the compromise or admission or judgment that he abandons his claim: Provided that the preceding provisions of this sub-section shall not debar the trustee from appealing against such judgment, if authorised thereto by the creditors. 79. Subsistence allowance for insolvent and family :- At any time before the second meeting of creditors the trustee may, with the consent of the Master, allow the insolvent such moderate sum of money or such moderate quantity of goods out of the estate as may appear to the trustee to be necessary for the support of the insolvent and his dependants. 80. Continuation of insolvents business :- (1) A trustee shall not carry on the business of the insolvent concerned or any part thereof unless authorised thereto by the creditors of the insolvents estate or, in the absence of instructions from the creditors, by the Master and such authorisation may be given by the Master at any time, whether before or after the second meeting of creditors. (2) If the trustee is authorised to carry on any such business, he shall, unless the creditors have otherwise directed him, purchase for cash only and only out of the takings of that business any goods which he may require for that business. 81. Sale of movable property on authorisation of Master :- (1) At any time before the second meeting of creditors the trustee shall, if satisfied that any movable property of the estate ought forthwith to be sold, recommend to the Master, in writing, accordingly stating his reasons for such recommendations. (2) The Master may thereupon authorise the sale of such property, or of any portion thereof, on such conditions and in such manner as he may direct: Provided that, if the Master has notice that such property or a portion thereof is subject to a right of preference, he shall not authorise the sale of such property or such portion unless the person entitled to such right of preference has given his consent thereto, in writing, or the trustee has guaranteed that person against loss by such sale. 82. Trustees report to creditors :- (1) A trustee shall investigate the affairs and transactions of the insolvent concerned before the sequestration of his estate and shall, at the second meeting or at an adjourned second meeting of the creditors of that estate, submit a full written report on those affairs and transactions and on any matter of importance relating to the insolvent or the estate, and more especially in regard to - (a) the assets and liabilities of the estate; (b) the cause of the debtors insolvency; (c) the books relating to the insolvents affairs, and the question whether the insolvent appears to have kept a proper record of his transactions, and if not, in what respect the record is insufficient, defective or incorrect; (d) the question whether the insolvent appears to have contravened this Act or to have committed any other offence; (e) any allowance he has made to the insolvent in terms of section 79 and the reasons therefor; (f) any business which he may have been carrying on on behalf of the estate, any goods he may have purchased for that business, and the result of carrying on that business; (g) any legal proceedings instituted by or against the insolvent which were suspended by the sequestration of his estate or which may be pending or threatened against the estate; (h) any matter mentioned in section 35 of 37; (i) any matter in regard to the administration or realisation of the estate requiring the direction of creditors. (2) For the purpose of any investigation mentioned in sub-section (1) the Collector of Income Tax and the officers under him shall (notwithstanding the provisions of the law relating to income tax) permit a trustee to inspect any return rendered to the Collector by or on behalf of the insolvent in question in connection with income tax, and shall permit the trustee to make copies of any such return. (3) At the request of the trustee the said collector or any officer under him who is in charge of any such return shall certify as correct any such copy which is correct, and if any entry in such return is relevant in any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which the insolvent estate or the insolvent is involved, that return or a copy thereof, purporting to have been certified as aforesaid, shall be admissible in evidence in those proceedings, on its mere production by any person and any such certified copy shall have the same force and effect as the original return. (4) The creditors may direct what action the trustee shall take in regard to any matter reported to them under sub- section (1)(c), (f), (g), (h) or (i) and failing any such directions the trustee may exercise his discretion in any such matter, but subject to any provision of this Act relating thereto. (5) The trustee shall render such assistance in connection with any prosecution or contemplated prosecution of the insolvent, under this Act, as the Master may direct him to render. 83. Sale of property after second meeting and manner of sale :- (1) Subject to section 84 the trustee of an insolvent estate shall, as soon as he is authorised to do so at the second meeting of the creditors of that estate, sell all the property in that estate in such manner and upon such conditions as the creditors may direct: Provided that if any rights acquired from the Government under a lease, licence, purchase, or allotment of land is an asset in that estate, the trustee shall, in his administration of the estate, act in accordance with those provisions (if any) which by law under which the rights were acquired, are expressed to apply in the event of the sequestration of the estate of the person who acquired those rights: Provided further that if the creditors have not prior to the final closing of the second meeting of creditors of that estate given any directions the trustee shall sell the property by public auction or public tender. (2) A sale by public auction or public tender shall be after notice in the Gazette and after such other notices as the Master may direct and in the absence of directions from creditors as to the conditions of sale, upon such conditions as the Master may direct. (3) When the sale is by public tender, every tenderer shall transmit his tender in duplicate in a sealed envelope to the Master, or if the Master has so directed, to a Regional Administrator specified by him. (4) The Master or such Regional Administrator shall keep each tender unopened until the expiry of the period for the lodging of tenders and he shall then open the sealed envelope and, in the case of the Master, file one duplicate of each tender or, in the case of the Regional Administrator, transmit one duplicate of each tender to the Master. (5) The Master or the Regional Administrator (as the case may be) shall forthwith transmit the other duplicate of each tender to the trustee and the trustee or his representative shall have the right to be present when the Master or the Regional Administrator opens the tenders. (6) If, after the opening of the tenders, any person makes an offer for the property to which the tenders relate, it shall be rejected although it may be better than the best tender: Provided that if such person - (a) requests the trustee to call for fresh tenders and pays to him the expenses to be incurred in connection therewith; and (b) undertakes to tender for the property in question, and to pay, if his tender is accepted, an amount not less than the amount of the said offer; and (c) deposits with the trustee the sum of two hundred emalangeni or a bank guarantee for the payment of that sum, the trustee shall call for fresh tenders and notify that fact and the amount of the aforesaid offer to every person who tendered previously. (7) If the person who made the aforesaid offer, fails to make a tender equal to or better than the said offer, the said sum of two hundred emalangeni shall be forfeited to the estate. (8) After the opening of the fresh tenders no further offer for the property in question shall be considered and unless the creditors have otherwise directed, or if they have given no directions, unless the Master has otherwise directed, the trustee shall accept the best tender or reject all the tenders and sell the property by public auction. (9) From the sale of the movable property shall be excepted the wearing apparel and bedding of the insolvent and the whole or such part of his household furniture, and tools and other essential means of subsistence as the creditors, or if no creditor has proved a claim against the estate, as the Master may determine and the insolvent shall be allowed to retain, for his own use any property so excepted from the sale. (10) The trustee or an auctioneer employed to sell property of the estate in question, or the trustees or the auctioneers spouse, partner, employer, employee or agent shall not acquire any property of the estate unless the acquisition is confirmed by an order of the court. (11) If any person other than a person mentioned in sub-section (10) has purchased in good faith from an insolvent estate any property which was sold to him in contravention of this section, or if any person in good faith and for value acquired from a person mentioned in sub-section (10) any property which the last-mentioned person acquired from an insolvent estate in contravention of that sub-section, the purchase or other acquisition shall nevertheless be valid, but the person who sold or otherwise disposed of the property shall be liable to make good to the estate twice the amount of the loss which the estate may have sustained as a result of the dealing with the property in contravention of this section. 84. Realisation of securities for claims :- (1) A creditor of an insolvent estate who holds as security for his claim any movable property shall, before the second meeting of the creditors of that estate, give notice in writing of that fact to the Master, and to the trustee if one has been appointed. (2) If such property consists of a marketable security or a bill of exchange, the creditor may, after giving the notice mentioned in sub-section (1) and before the second meeting of creditors, realise the property in the manner and on the conditions mentioned in sub-section (9). (3) If such property does not consist of a marketable security or a bill of exchange, the trustee may, within seven days as from the receipt of the notice mentioned in sub-section (1) or within seven days as from the date upon which the certificate of appointment issued by the Master in terms of sections 18(1) or 56(2) reached him whichever be the later, take over the property from the creditor at a value agreed upon between the trustee and the creditor or at the full amount of the creditors claim, and if the trustee does not so take over the property the creditor may, after the expiration of the said period but before the said meeting, realise the property in the manner and on the conditions mentioned in sub-section (9). (4) In no trustee has been appointed before the said meeting, the creditor may, with the permission in writing of the master and before the said meeting, realise in manner and on the conditions mentioned in sub-section (9) any such property which he is not entitled to realise in terms of sub-section (2). (5) The creditor shall, as soon as possible after he has realised such property, prove in terms of section 44 the claim thereby secured and he shall attach to the affidavit submitted in proof of his claim a statement of the proceeds of the realisation and of the facts on which he relies for his preference. (6) If he has not so realised such property before the second meeting of creditors, he shall as soon as possible after the commencement of that meeting deliver the property to the trustee, for the benefit of the insolvent estate and if t h e creditor has not delivered the said property to the trustee within a period of three days as from the commencement of the said meeting the trustee may demand from him delivery of such property. (7) If the creditor fails to comply with such demand of the trustee, the Master at the request of the trustee and after notice to the creditor shall direct the sheriff to attach the property and to deliver it to the trustee, and in that case the creditor shall be liable for the sheriffs costs, as taxed and allowed by the Master and if those costs cannot be recovered from the creditor, they shall be paid out of the estate as part of the costs of the sequestration. (8) When the trustee has received the property mentioned in subsection (6) the said creditor may prove his claim and place a value upon the said property in terms of section 44(4). (9) The creditor may realise such property in the manner and on the conditions following - (a) if it is any property of a class ordinarily sold through a stockbroker the creditor may forthwith sell it through a broker approved of by the trustee or the Master; (b) if it is a bill of exchange, the creditor may realise it in any manner approved of by the trustee or by the Master; (c) if it consists of a right of action, the creditor shall not realise it except with the approval of the trustee or of the Master; (d) if it is any other property, the creditor may sell it by public auction after affording the trustee a reasonable opportunity to inspect it and after giving such notice of the time and place of the sale as the trustee directed. (10) As soon as the trustee has directed a creditor in terms of sub-section (9)(d) to give notice of a sale by public auction, the trustee shall give notice in writing to all the other creditors of the estate in question of the time and place of the proposed sale. (11) Whenever a creditor has realised his security as hereinbefore provided he shall forthwith pay the nett proceeds of the realisation to the trustee, or if there is no trustee, to the Master and thereafter the creditor shall be entitled to payment, out of such proceeds, of his preferent claim if such claim was proved and admitted as provided by section 44 and the trustee or the Master is satisfied that the claim was in fact secured by the property so realised but if the trustee disputes the preference, the creditor may either lay before the Master an objection under section 111 to the trustees account, or apply to court, after notice of motion to the trustee, for an order compelling the trustee to pay him forthwith and the court may make such order as to it seems just. (12) If a creditor has valued his security when proving his claim, the trustee, if authorised by the creditors, may, unless the creditor has realised his security in terms of sub-section (2) or (3), within three months as from the date of his appointment or as from the date of the proof of the claim (whichever is the later) take over the property which constitutes the security at the value placed thereon by the creditor when his claim was proved: Provided that if two or more creditors have a pledge of the same property, a creditor who has valued his security shall be deemed to have valued, and the trustee shall be entitled to take over, only the preferent rights of the creditor in respect of the property, and not the property itself. (13) If the trustee does not, within that period, take over the said property or security he shall realise it for the benefit of all creditors whose claims are secured thereby, according to their respective rights. (14) If the claim of a secured creditor exceeds the sum payable to him in respect of his security he shall be entitled to rank against the estate in respect of the excess, as an unsecured creditor, and if the nett proceeds of any such property exceed all claims secured thereby the balance, after payment of those claims, shall be added to the other free residue (if any) in the estate in question. (15) The preceding provisions of this section shall apply mutatis mutandis in respect of any creditor for value of a solvent spouse mentioned in section 21, who holds as security for his claim against that spouse any movable property belonging to that spouse. 85. XXX XXX XXX :- (Section 85 repealed by A.11 of 1969.) 86. Special provision in case of sale of goods under a suspensive condition :- (1) If any property was delivered to a debtor in pursuance of an agreement which is a hire-purchase agreement in terms of section 2 of the Hire-Purchase Act No. 11 of 1969, such agreement shall be regarded on the sequestration of the debtors estate as creating in favour of the creditor a hypothec over that property whereby the amount still due to him under the agreement is secured and the trustee of the debtors insolvent estate shall, if required by the creditor, deliver the property to him, and thereupon the creditor shall be deemed to be holding that property as security for his claim and section 84 shall apply. (2) If the debtor returned the property to the creditor within a period of one month prior to the sequestration of the debtors estate, the trustee may demand that the creditor deliver to him that property or the value thereof at the date when it was so returned to the creditor, subject to payment to the creditor by the trustee or to deduction from the value (as the case may be) of the difference between the total amount payable under the said agreement and the total amount actually paid thereunder, but if the property is delivered to the trustee, sub-section (1) shall apply. (Amended A.11/1969.) 87. Exclusion or limitation of preference under legal hypothec :- (1) A tacit or legal hypotec (other than a landlords legal hypothec or the hypothec mentioned in section 86(1) shall not confer any preferent right against an insolvent estate. (2) A landlords legal hypothec shall confer a preference with regard to any article subject to that hypothec for any rent calculated in respect of any period immediately prior to and up to the date of sequestration but not exceeding - (a) three months, if the rent is payable monthly or at shorter intervals than one month; (b) six months, if the rent is payable at intervals exceeding one month but not exceeding three months; (c) nine months, if the rent is payable at intervals exceeding three months but not exceeding six months; (d) fifteen months in any other case. 88. Effect of general bond and general clause :- No general mortgage bond registered after the commencement of this Act shall confer any preference in respect of immovable property, and no general clause in a mortgage bond hypothecating immovable property registered after the said date shall confer any preference in respect of any property: Provided that this section shall not affect any preference conferred by a general clause in any mortgage bond passed by a widower or widow in favour of the Master, for the purpose of securing payment to his or her child of any sum of money due to the child from the estate of the widowers or widows deceased spouse. 89. Ranking of mortgage for future debts :- Priority under a mortgage bond to secure the payment of future debts shall depend on the date of the registration of that mortgage bond, and not on the date upon which any such debt comes into existence. 90. Certain mortgages are invalid :- A mortgage bond, other than a kustingbrief, whether special or general, passed for the purpose of securing the payment of a debt not previously secured, which was incurred more than two months prior to the lodging of the bond with the registrar of deeds for registration or for the purpose of securing the payment of a debt incurred in novation of or substitution for any such first-mentioned debt, shall not confer any preference if the estate of the mortgage debtor is sequestrated within a period of six months after such lodging: Provided that a mortgage bond shall be deemed not to have been so lodged, if it was withdrawn from registration. 91. Costs to which securities are subject :- (1) The cost of maintaining, conserving and realising any property shall be paid out of the proceeds of that property, if sufficient, and if insufficient and that property is subject to a special mortgage, landlords legal hypothec, pledge, or right of retention the deficiency shall be paid by those creditors, pro rata, who have proved their claims and who would have been entitled, in priority to other persons, to payment of their claims out of those proceeds if they had been sufficient to cover the said cost and those claims. (2) The trustees remuneration in respect of any such property and a proportionate share of the costs incurred by the trustee in giving security for his proper administration of the estate, calculated on the proceeds of the sale of the property, a proportionate share of the Masters fees, and if the property is immovable, any tax as defined in sub-section (6) which is or will become due thereon in respect of any period not exceeding two years immediately preceding the date of the sequestration of the estate in question and in respect of the period from that date to the date of the transfer of that property by the trustee of that estate, with any interest or penalty which may be due on the said tax in respect of any such period, shall form part of the costs of realisation. (3) If a secured creditor (other than a secured creditor upon whose petition the estate in question was sequestrated) states in his affidavit submitted in support of his claim against the estate that the relies for the satisfaction of his claim solely on the proceeds of the property which constitutes his security, he shall not be liable for any costs of sequestration other than the costs specified in sub-section (1), and other than costs for which he may be liable under paragraph (a) or (b) of the proviso to section 106. (4) Any interest due on a secured claim in respect of any period not exceeding two years immediately preceding the date of sequestration shall be likewise secured as if it were part of the capital sum. (5) Notwithstanding the provisions of any law which prohibits the transfer of any immovable property unless any tax as defined in sub-section (6) due thereon has been paid, that law shall not debar the trustee of an insolvent estate from transferring any immovable property in that estate for the purpose of liquidating the estate, if he has paid the tax which may have been due on that property in respect of the periods mentioned in sub-section (2) and no preference shall be accorded to any claim for such a tax in respect of any other period. (6) For the purpose of sub-sections (2) and (5) "tax" in relation to immovable property means any amount payable periodically in respect of that property to the Government of Swaziland, or to a body established by or under the authority of any law in discharge of a liability to make such periodical payments, if that liability is an incident of the ownership of that property. (Amended P.87/1959.) 92. Liquidation account and plan of distribution or contribution :- Subject to sections 109 and 110, a trustee shall - (a) within a period of six months as from the date of his appointment, if the value of the assets in the estate in question amounts to five hundred emalangeni or more; or (b) within a period of three months as from the date of his appointment, if the value of the assets in the estate amounts to less than five hundred emalangeni; submit to the Master a liquidation account and a plan of distribution of the proceeds of the property in the estate available for payment of creditors, or, if all realisable property in the estate has been realised and brought to account and the proceeds are insufficient to cover the costs and charges mentioned in section 97 and 98, a plan of contribution apportioning the liability for the deficiency among the creditors who are liable to contribute. 93. Manner of framing liquidation account :- (1) A liquidation account shall contain an accurate record of all moneys received and of all moneys disbursed by the trustee otherwise than in the course of a business which he carried on for the insolvent estate in question. (2) The record of each such receipt and disbursement shall set forth the amount and date thereof and sufficient particulars to explain its nature. (3) The liquidation account shall be accompanied by the trustees bank pass book and by vouchers in support of the record of receipts and disbursements. (4) If a liquidation account is not the final liquidation account, the trustee shall further set forth therein - (a) all property still unrealised; (b) all outstanding debts due to the estate; (c) the reasons why that property has not been realised or those debts have not been collected. Provided that in such event the trustee shall, from time to time and as the Master may direct, but at least once in every six months, unless he has received an extension of time as provided in section 109, frame and submit to the Master periodical accounts in form and in all other respects similar to the account mentioned in sub-sections (1) and (2). (5) If the estate of a partnership is under sequesstration, separate trustees accounts shall be framed in the estate of the partnership and in the estate of each member of that partnership whose estate is under sequestration. 94. Trading account :- If the trustee has carried on any business on behalf of the estate, he shall submit to the Master, in addition to the liquidation account, a trading account containing the following data and no others, namely - (a) a record of the value of the stock on hand at the date of sequestration; (b) a record of the value of the stock on hand on the date up to which the account is made up; (c) the daily totals of receipts and payments in connection with the business; (d) the result of his conduct of the business. 95. Form of plan of distribution :- A plan of distribution shall show in parallel columns under separate headings - (a) every claim or the part of every claim against the estate in question which is secured or otherwise preferent; (b) every claim or the part of every claim against the estate which is unsecured and otherwise non-preferent; (c) the amount awarded under that plan and under any previous plan of distribution to every creditor of the estate; (d) the deficiency in respect of each claim, and shall make provision for the division of the proceeds of the property in the insolvent estate in the order of preference and in the manner set forth in sections 96 to 104 inclusive. 96. Application of proceeds of security :- (1) The proceeds of any property which was subject to a special mortgage, landlords legal hypothec, pledge or right of retention, after deduction therefrom of the costs mentioned in section 91(1), shall be applied in satisfying the claims secured by the said property, in their order of preference, with interest thereon calculated in the manner provided in section 103(2) from the date of sequestration to the date of payment, but subject to section 97(4). (2) If a creditor whose claim is secured by a mortgage over immovable property belonging to the insolvent estate has not proved his claim and the trustee is not satisfied that the debt in question has been discharged or abandoned, he shall deposit with the Master the proceeds of the sale of any such property to an amount not exceeding such capital amount of the said mortgage and such arrears of interest as the mortgagee would have had a preferent right to claim, after deduction of an amount equal to the costs which he would have had to pay if he had proved his claim and had stated in the affidavit submitted in support of his claim that he relied for the satisfaction of his claim solely on the proceeds of the sale of the said property. (3) The amount so deposited or the part thereof to which the former mortgagee may be entitled shall be paid to him if, within a period of one year after confirmation in terms of section 112 of the distribution account under which the money is distributed, he applies therefor to the Master and the Master is satisfied after proof of his claim, that he is entitled to the amount or part thereof. (4) Any amount deposited with the Master in terms of sub-section (2) which has not been paid out to the former mortgagee, as provided in sub-section (3) shall after the expiry of the year mentioned in that sub-section be distributed among the creditors who have proved claims against the insolvent estate prior to the confirmation of the said distribution account, as if the amount had, at the time of such confirmation, been available for distribution among them. (5) Any creditor claiming to be entitled to share in the said distribution shall make written application to the Master for payment of his share, and the Master may pay out to such creditor or may hand the money to the trustee, if any, for distribution among the creditors entitled thereto, or, if there is no trustee, may appoint a trustee on such conditions as he may think fit to impose for the purpose of making such distribution. (6) Any trustee charged with the duty of making such a distribution shall submit to the Master a supplementary plan of distribution in respect thereof, and the provisions of this Act relating to a plan of distribution shall apply in respect of such supplementary plan. 97. Funeral and death-bed expenses :- (1) Any free residue of an insolvent estate shall be applied in the first place in defraying the expenses of the funeral of the insolvent, if he died before the trustees first plan of distribution was submitted to the Master in terms of section 92, and the expenses of the funeral of the insolvents wife or minor child, if those expenses were incurred within the period of three months immediately preceding the sequestration of the insolvents estate, but the amount payable under this sub-section shall not exceed seventy emalangeni in all. (2) Thereafter any balance of the free residue shall be applied in defraying the deathbed expenses of the insolvent if they were incurred before the trustees first plan of distribution was submitted to the Master in terms of section 92 and the death-bed expenses of the debtors wife or minor child, if those expenses were incurred within the period of three months immediately proceding the sequestration of the insolvents estate, but the amount payable under this sub-section shall not exceed seventy emalangeni in all. (3) In sub-section (2) "death-bed expenses" means expenses incurred for medical attendance, nursing, medicines and medical necessaries, and claims for those expenses shall rank pari passu and abate in equal proportion, if necessary. (4) If the free residue of the estate is insufficient to defray the expenses mentioned in sub-sections (1) and (2), the deficiency shall be defrayed out of the proceeds of any other assets of the estate in proportion to their value. 98. Costs of sequestration :- (1) Thereafter any balance of the free residue shall be applied in defraying the costs of the sequestration of the estate in question with the exception of the costs mentioned in section 91(1). (2) The costs of the sequestration shall rank according to the following order of priority: (a) the sheriffs charges incurred since the sequestration; (b) fees payable to the Master in connection with the sequestration; (c) the following costs which shall rank pari passu and abate in equal propor-tions if necessary, that is to say: the taxed costs of sequestration (as defined in sub-section (3)), the fee mentioned in section 16(4), the remuneration of the curator bonis and of the trustee and all other costs of administration and liquidation including such costs incurred by the trustee in giving security for his proper administration of the estate as the Master considers reasonable, in so far as they are not payable by a particular creditor in terms of section 91(1), any expenses incurred by the Master or by a presiding officer in terms of section 153(2) and the salary or wages of any person who was engaged by the curator bonis or the trustee in connection with the administration of the insolvent estate. (3) In sub-section (2)(c) the expression "taxed costs of sequestration" means the costs (as taxed by the registrar of the court) incurred in connection with the petition of the debtor for acceptance of the surrender of his estate or of a creditor for the sequestration of the debtors estate, but it does not include the costs of opposition to such a petition, unless the court directs that they shall be included. 99. Costs of execution :- (1) Thereafter any balance of the free residue shall be applied in defraying - (a) the taxed fees of the sheriff or messenger in connection with any execution upon any property of the insolvent and in connection with any proceedings which result in that execution; and (b) any other taxed costs in those proceedings not exceeding a sum of ten emalangeni; to a total amount not exceeding the proceeds of that property if that property was still under attachment or if the proceeds of the sale in execution of that property were still in the hands of the sheriff or messenger at the time of the sequestration of the insolvents estate. (2) The attachment of any property in execution of any judgment shall, after the sequestration of the estate of the judgment debtor, not have the effect of conferring upon the judgment creditor any other preference than the preference provided for in sub-section (1). 100. Salary or wages of former employee of insolvent :- (1) Thereafter any balance of the free residue shall be applied in paying the salary or wages, for a period not exceeding two months prior to the date of sequestration of the estate, due to an employee who was engaged by the month by the insolvent and the salary or wages, for a period not exceeding two weeks prior to the date of sequestration of the estate, due to an employee who was engaged by the week by the insolvent: Provided that in either case no salary or wages shall be paid under this sub-section to any employee for service rendered by him more than three months before the sequestration of his employers estate; and Provided further that not more than four hundred emalangeni shall be paid out under this section to any one employee. (Amended K.O-I-C. 28/1975.) (2) If on the date of sequestration any leave is due to any such employee he shall also be entitled to salary or wages in respect of any period, not exceeding fourteen days, of leave due to him. (3) An employee shall be entitled to salary or wages in terms of sub-section (1) or (2) even though he has not proved his claim therefor in terms of section 44; but the trustee may require such employee to submit an affidavit in support of his claim for such salary or wages. 101. Preference in regard to taxes on income :- Thereafter any balance of the free residue shall be applied in paying - (a) any tax on the income of the insolvent levied under any Act relating to income tax or to any other tax upon income or profit or any part thereof, in respect of any period prior to the date of the sequestration of his estate, whether or not that tax has become payable after that date; (b) in the case of an insolvent partnership, so much of any tax due and payble by any partner as is referable to the taxable income derived by him from the partnership; the amount to be deemed to be so referable shall be a sum which bears to the total amount due by him as tax the same ratio that his taxable income derived from the partnership business bears to his total taxable income from all sources in Swaziland. 102. Preference under a general bond :- Thereafter any balance of the free residue shall be applied in the payment of any claims proved against the estate in question which were secured by a general mortgage bond, in their order of preference, with interest thereon calculated in manner provided in section 103(2). 103. Non-preferent claims :- (1) Any balance of the free residue after making provision for the expenditure mentioned in sections 97 to 102 inclusive, shall be applied - (a) in the payment of the unsecured or otherwise non-preferent claims proved against the estate in question in proportion to the amount of each such claim; (b) if the unsecured or otherwise non-preferent claims have been paid in full, in the payment, thereafter, of interest on such claims from the date of seques-tration to the date of payment, in proportion to the amount of each such claim. (2) The interest mentioned in sub-section (1) shall be calculated at the rate of six per cent per annum, unless the amount of any claim bears a higher rate of interest by virtue of a lawful stipulation in writing, when the interest on that amount shall be calculated at the stipulated rate of interest. 104. Late proof of claims :- (1) Subject to sections 92(2) and 100(3), a creditor of an insolvent estate who has not proved a claim against that estate before the date upon which the trustee of that estate submitted a plan of distribution in that estate to the Master shall not be entitled to share in the distribution of assets brought up for distribution in that plan: Provided that the Master may, at any time before the confirmation of the said plan, permit any such creditor who has proved his claim after the said date to share in the distri-bution of the said assets, if the Master is satisfied that the creditor has a reasonable excuse for the delay in proving his claim. (2) A creditor of an insolvent estate who proved a claim against that estate after the date upon which the trustee submitted a plan of distribution in that estate to the Master and who was not permitted to share in the distribution of assets under that plan, in terms of sub-section (1), shall be entitled to be awarded under any further plan of distribution submitted to the Master after the proof of his claim, the amount which would have been awarded to him under the previous plan of distribution, if he had proved his claim prior to the submission of that plan to the Master: Provided that the Master shall first be satisfied that the creditor had a reasonable excuse for the delay in proving his claim; and Provided further that any creditor who was aware that proceedings had been instituted under sections 26, 29, 30 or 31 and who delayed proving his claim until the Court had given judgment in those proceedings, shall not be entitled to share in the distribution of any money or the proceeds of any property recovered as a result of such proceedings. (3) If any creditor has, under section 32(1), taken proceedings to set aside any disposition of or dealing with property under sections 26, 29, 30 or 31 or for the recovery of damages or a penalty under section 31, no creditor who was not a party to the proceedings shall derive any benefit from any moneys or from the proceedings of any property recovered as a result of such proceedings before the claim and costs of every creditor who was a party to such proceedings have been paid in full. 105. Form of plan of contribution :- A plan of contribution shall show in parallel columns - (a) each claim in respect of which the claiming creditor is liable to contribute; and (b) the amount which he is liable to contribute, and shall make provision for all such contributions in accordance with section 106. 106. Contributions by creditors towards cost of sequestration :- Where there is no free residue in an insolvent estate or when the free residue is insufficient to meet all the expenses, costs and charges mentioned in sections 97 and 98, all creditors who have proved claims against the estate shall be liable to make good any deficiency, the non-prefent creditors each in proportion to the amount of his claim and the secured creditors each in proportion to the amount for which he would have ranked upon the surplus of the free residue, if there had been any: Provided that - (a) if all the creditors who have proved claims against the estate are secured creditors who would not have ranked upon the surplus of the free residue, if there had been any, such creditors shall be liable to make good the whole of the deficiency, each in proportion to the amount of his claim; (b) if a creditor has withdrawn his claim, he shall be liable to contribute in respect of any deficiency only so far as is provided in section 51, and if a creditor has withdrawn his claim within five days after the date of any resolution of creditors he shall be deemed to have withdrawn the claim before anything was done in pursuance of that resolution; (c) if all the creditors who would have ranked upon the surplus of the free residue, if there had been any, have withdrawn their claims and, after payment of their contribution in terms of paragraph (b) there is still a deficiency, the remaining creditors whose claims have been proved against the estate shall, notwithstanding the fact that they would not have ranked upon the surplus of the free residue, if there had been any, be liable to make good such deficiency, each in proportion to the amount of his claim. 107. Trustees account to be signed and verified :- A trustee shall sign every account which he submits to the Master and he shall verify by his affidavit (which shall be free from stamp duty) that the account is a full and true account of the administration of the estate in question up to the date of the account and that, so far as he is aware, all the assets of the estate have been disclosed in the account. 108. Inspection of accounts by creditors :- (1) If an insolvent resided or carried on business before the sequestration of his estate in a region other than the Hhohho region, the trustee shall transmit to the Regional Administrator of that region a duplicate of every account which he has submitted to the Master as hereinafter provided. (2) When a trustee has submitted an account to the Master he shall give notice of that fact in the Gazette and shall state in that notice the place or places where and the period during which the account will lie open for inspection by the creditors of the estate in question, and he shall also post or deliver a similar notice to every creditor who has proved a claim against the estate. (3) Every such account and every duplicate thereof transmitted to a Regional Administrator shall be open for the inspection by creditors of the estate in question at the office of the Master and of such Regional Administrator during a period of fourteen days as from the date of publication of the said notice in the Gazette. (4) A Regional Administrator who has received a trustees account shall cause to be affixed in a public place in or about his office a notice that he has received the account and that it will lie open for inspection on his office during a period stated in that notice. (5) After the expiration of the said period the Regional Administrator shall endorse upon the account a certificate (which shall be free from stamp duty) that the account was open in his office for inspection as hereinbefore provided, and shall transmit the account to the Master. 109. Extension of time for submitting trustees account :- (1) If a trustee is unable to submit an account to the Master within the period prescribed therefor by section 92, he may give notice in the Gazette of his intention to apply to the Master for an extension of that period. (2) After the expiration of a period of fourteen days as from the publication of the said notice he may apply to the Master in writing for an extention of the first-mentioned period, and if he adduces reasons which are in the Masters opinion sufficient to justify such an extension, the Master may grant him such an extension as the Master thinks reasonable in the circumstances of the case. (3) If the Master refuses the application, the trustee may apply by motion to the court (after having given the Master notice of his intention to make the application) for an order extending the said period and the court may thereupon make such order as it thinks fit. 110. Compelling trustee to submit accounts :- (1) If a trustee has funds in hand which, in the opinion of the Master, ought to be distributed among the creditors of the estate in question and the trustee has not submitted to the Master a plan for the distribution of those funds, the Master may direct him in writing to submit to him a plan for the distribution of those funds, although the period prescribed in section 92 may not have elapsed. (2) If a trustee has failed to submit an account to the Master within the period and in the manner hereinbefore prescribed, the Master may direct the trustee in writing to submit his account. (3) If, after the expiration of a period of fourteen days as from the receipt of a direction issued under sub-section (1) or (2) the trustee has failed to comply satisfactorily with that direction, the Master may apply by motion to the court (after having given the trustee notice of his intention to make the application) for an order compelling the trustee to submit the account in question to the Master, and the court may thereupon make such order as it thinks fit. 111. Objection to trustees account :- (1) The insolvent or any person interested in the estate may, at any time before the confirmation of the trustees account, in terms of section 112, lay before the Master in writing any objection, with the reasons therefor, to that account. (2) If the Master is of the opinion that any such objection is well founded or if, apart from any objection, he is of the opinion that the account is in any respect incorrect or contains any improper charge and should be amended, he may direct the trustee to amend the account or may give such other direction in connection therewith as he may think fit: Provided that - (a) any person aggrieved by any such direction of the Master or by the refusal of the Master to sustain an objection so lodged, may apply by motion to the court within fourteen days as from the date of the Masters direction, or as from the date of intimation to the objector of the Masters refusal to sustain his objection after notice to the trustee, for an order to set aside the Masters decision and the court may thereupon confirm the account or make such order as it thinks fit; and (b) when any such direction affects the interests of a person who has not lodged an objection with the Master, the account so amended shall again lie open for inspection by the creditors in the manner and with the notice hereinbefore prescribed, unless the person affected as aforesaid consents in writing to the immediate confirmation of the account. 112. Confirmation of accounts :- When a trustees account has been open to inspection by creditors as hereinbefore prescribed and - (a) no objection has been lodged; or (b) an objection has been lodged and the account has been amended in accordance with the direction of the Master and has again been open for inspection if necessary as in section 111(2)(b) prescribed and no application has been made to the court in terms of section 111(2)(a) to set aside the Masters decision; or (c) an objection has been lodged but withdrawn or has not been sustained and the objector has not applied to the court in terms of the said paragraph (a), the Master shall confirm the account and his confirmation shall be final save as against a person who may have been permitted by the court before any dividend has been paid under the account, to reopen it. 113. Distribution of estate and collection of contributions :- (1) Immediately after the confirmation of a trustees account, the trustee shall give notice of the confirmation in the Gazette and shall state in that notice, according to the circumstances, that a dividend to creditors is in course of payment or that a contribution is in course of collection from the creditors and that every creditor liable to contribute is required to pay to the trustee the amount for which he is so liable. (2) If any contribution is payable, the trustee shall specify fully in that notice the address at which the payment of the contribution is to be made, and shall deliver or post a copy of the notice to every creditor liable to contribute. (3) Immediately after the confirmation of a trustees account the trustee shall in accordance therewith distribute the estate or collect from each creditor liable to contribute the amount for which he is liable. 114. Trustee to produce acquittance or to pay over unpaid dividends to Master :- (1) The trustee shall without delay lodge with the Master the receipts for dividends paid to creditors and if there is a contribution account the vouchers necessary to complete the account. (2) If any such dividend has at the expiration of a period of three months after the confirmation of the account not been paid out to the creditor entitled thereto, the trustee shall immediately pay the dividend to the Master for account of the creditor. (3) If, at the expiration of the said period of three months, the trustee has failed to furnish the Master with a proper receipt for any dividend which has not been paid in to the Master as aforesaid, the trustee shall prima facie be presumed to have retained such dividend and the Master may in that case apply to the court by motion for an order compelling the trustee to produce proof that he paid the dividend in question to the creditor entitled thereto or to pay that dividend to the Master as aforesaid. 115. Application to Court for an order to pay dividend :- If a trustee has delayed payment of any dividend, the creditor entitled thereto may apply to the court for an order compelling the trustee to pay him that dividend. 116. Surplus to be paid to Master until rehabilitation :- (1) Immediately after the confirmation of the final account the trustee shall pay over to the Master any surplus moneys not required for payment of claims, costs and charges or interest, which moneys shall be held by the Master to the credit of the estate and paid to the insolvent at his request after his rehabilitation. (2) If the trustees has failed so to pay over the said surplus, the Master or the insolvent may apply to the court for an order to compel the trustee to comply with sub-section (1). 117. Enforcement of order of Court :- (1) If a trustee has failed to comply with any order of court made under section 114, 115, or 116 the court may direct that any sum of money which that trustee was ordered to pay be recovered by attachment and sale of the goods of the trustee and may further commit him to prison for contempt of court. (2) If the court has ordered a trustee to pay out of his own means the costs of any proceedings instituted under any provision of this Act, and the person in whose favour the order was made is unable to recover those costs from the trustee, those costs shall be paid as part of the costs of the sequestration out of any assets of the estate in question, which have not yet been distributed among the creditors. 118. Enforcing of payment of contributions :- (1) After the expiration of a period of sixty days as from the delivery or posting in a registered letter to any creditor of the notice mentioned in section 113(2), the trustee may take out a writ of execution in the magistrates court in which the creditor could be sued for the contribution in question against any such creditor who, being liable to contribute under the plan of contribution, has failed to pay the amount of his liability. (2) Whenever a creditor liable to contribute under a plan of contribution is in the opinion of the Master and of the trustee unable to pay the contribution for which he is liable or whenever the trustee has incurred in connection with the recovery of any contribution any expenses which are in the opinion of the Master and of the trustee irrecoverable, the trustee shall as soon as practicable and in any event within such period as the Master may prescribe therefor, frame and submit to the Master a supplementary plan of contribution wherein he shall apportion the share of the creditor who is unable to pay or the expenses in question among the other creditors who are in the opinion of the Master and of the trustee able to pay. (3) Sub-section (2) shall mutatis mutandis apply whenever a creditor liable to contribute under a first or further supplementary plan of distribution is, in the opinion of the Master and of the trustee, unable to pay the contribution for which he is liable, or whenever the trustee has incurred expenses in connection with the recovery of a contribution under a first or further supplementary plan of distribution which are, in the opinion of the Master and the trustee, irrecoverable by the trustee. (4) A trustee may, in lieu of complying with the requirements of section 108 in connection with any supplementary plan of contribution, furnish a copy of that plan to every creditor liable to contribute thereunder and thereupon sub- section (1) shall mutatis mutandis apply. 119. Composition :- (1) At any time after the first meeting of the creditors of an insolvent estate, the insolvent may submit to the trustee of his estate a written offer of composition. (2) If the trustee is of the opinion that the creditors will probably accept the offer of composition, he shall as soon as possible after receipt of the offer post in a registered letter or deliver to every creditor who has proved his claim, a copy of the offer with his report thereon. (3) If the trustee is of the opinion that there is no likelihood that the creditors will accept the offer of composition, he shall inform the insolvent that the offer is unacceptable and that he does not propose to send a copy thereof to the creditors. (4) The insolvent may thereupon appeal to the Master who, after having considered a report from the trustee, may, if he considers the offer of composition sufficient for submission to the creditors, direct the trustee to post or deliver a copy of the offer to every creditor who has proved his claim. (5) Whenever the trustee posts or delivers to the creditors a copy of an offer of composition in terms of the preceding provisions of this section, he shall simultaneously convene and give notice to the creditors of a meeting for the purpose of considering the said offer and any other matter mentioned in the notice. (6) The said meeting shall be convened for a date not earlier than fourteen days and not later than twenty-eight days after the date upon which the said notice is posted or delivered to any creditor. (7) If the offer of composition has been accepted by creditors whose votes amount to not less than three-fourths in value and three-fourths in number (calculated in accordance with section 52) of the votes of all the creditors who proved claims against the estate, and payment under the composition has been made or security for such payment has been given as specified in the composition, the insolvent shall be entitled to a certificate under the hand of the Master of the acceptance of the offer: Provided that no offer may be so accepted if it contains any condition whereby any creditor would obtain as against another creditor any benefit to which he would not have been entitled upon the distribution of the estate in the ordinary way; and provided further that any condition which makes the offer of composition or the fulfilment thereof or of any part thereof subject to the rehabilitation or to the consent of the creditors to the rehabilitation of the insolvent shall be of no effect, and provided also that if the composition provides for the giving of any security the nature of that security shall be fully specified, and if it is to consist of a surety bond or guarantee, every surety shall be named. (8) In sub-section (7) the word "creditor" includes a creditor who has not proved a claim against the insolvent estate in question. 120. Effect of composition :- (1) An offer of composition which has been accepted shall be binding upon the insolvent and upon all the creditors of the insolvent estate in so far as their claims are not secured or otherwise preferent but the right of any preferent creditor shall not be prejudiced thereby, except, in so far as he has expressly and, in writing, waived his preference. (2) If it be a condition of the composition that any property in the insolvent estate shall be restored to the insolvent, the acceptance of the composition shall divest the trustee of such property and re-invest the insolvent therewith as from the date upon which such property is in pursuance of the composition to be restored to the insolvent, but subject to any condition provided for in the composition. (3) A composition shall not affect the liability of a surety for the insolvent. 121. On composition by insolvent partner, trustee of partnership estate may take over his estate :- (1) When the estate of a partnership and the estate of a partner in that partnership are simultaneously under sequestration, the acceptance of an offer of composition by the separate creditors of the partner shall not take effect until the expiration of a period of six weeks as from the date of a notice, in writing, of that acceptance given by the trustee of the partners separate estate to the trustee of the partnership estate, or if the trustee of the partners estate is also the trustee of the partnership estate, as from the date of the acceptance which notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the deed embodying the composition. (2) At any time during the said period of six weeks the trustee of the partnership estate may take over the assets of the estate of the insolvent partner if he fulfils the obligations of the insolvent partner in terms of the composition except obligations to render any service or obligations which only the insolvent partner can fulfil: Provided that if the composition provides for the giving of any specific security, the Master shall determine what other security the trustee of the partnership estate may give in lieu thereof. 122. Effect of composition on spouse of the insolvent :- A composition shall not be binding on the separate creditors of the spouse of the insolvent concerned; but upon the acceptance of the offer of composition the property or, if it has been realised, the proceeds of the property of that spouse shall be restored to her of him without prejudice to the claims of the creditors of that spouse or to any right of preference of any of them at the time when the property was vested in the trustee: Provided that any movable property held as security by any such creditor when the property was vested in the trustee shall be restored to that creditor; and Provided further that the proceeds of any security whatsoever which has been realised shall be paid to the person or persons entitled thereto, according to their rights. 123. Functions of trustee under composition :- (1) Any moneys to be paid and anything to be done for the benefit of creditors in pursuance of a composition shall be paid and shall be done, as far as practicable, through the trustee: Provided that any creditor who has failed to prove his claim before the trustee has made a final distribution among those creditors who have proved their claims, shall be entitled to recover direct from the insolvent within six months as from the confirmation by the Master, of the account under which the distribution was made, any payments to which he may be entitled under the composition and the trustee shall have no duty in regard thereto and after the said distribution the creditor shall have no claim against the insolvent estate. (2) When a composition has been entered into between an insolvent and the creditors of his estate, the trustee of that estate shall frame a liquidation account and plan of distribution of the assets which are or will become available for distribution among the creditors under the composition and all the provisions of this Act which relate to a liquidation account and plan of distribution and to the distribution of assets among creditors shall apply in connection with the first-mentioned liquidation account and plan of distribution, and with the first-mentioned assets. 124. Application for rehabilitation :- (1) An insolvent who has obtained from the Master the certificate mentioned in section 119(7) may apply to the court for an order for his rehabilitation: Provided that he has not less than three weeks before making the application, given, by advertisement in the Gazette, notice of his intention to make the application and delivered or posted in a registered letter to the trustee of his estate a copy of that notice; and Provided further that the said certificate shows that payment has been made or the security prescribed by section 119(7) has been given for the payment of not less than seventy-five cents for each two emalangeni of every claim proved or to be proved against the estate of the insolvent. (2) An insolvent who is not entitled under sub-section (1) to apply to the court for his rehabilitation and who has previously given to the Master and to the trustee of his estate in writing and by advertisement in the Gazette not less than six weeks notice of his intention to apply to the court for his rehabilitation may so apply - (a) after twelve months have elapsed from the confirmation by the Master, of the first trustees account in his estate, unless he falls within the provisions of paragraph (b) or (c); or (b) after three years have elapsed from such confirmation if his estate has either under this Act on a prior law been sequestrated prior to the sequestration to which he desires to put an end if he does not fall within the provisions of paragraph (c); or (c) after five years have elapsed from the date of his conviction of any fraudulent act in relation to his existing or any previous insolvency or of any offence under sections 132, 133 or 134: Provided that no application for rehabilitation under this sub-section shall be granted before the expiry of a period of four years from the date of sequestration of the estate of the applicant, except upon the recommendation of the Master. (3) After the expiry of a period of six months as from the sequestration of an estate, the insolvent concerned may apply to the court for his rehabilitation - (a) if he has, not less than six weeks before making the application, given to the Master and to the trustee, if any, of his estate notice in writing, and published in the Gazette a notice of his intention to make the application; and (b) if, at the time of making the application, no claim has been proved against his estate; and (c) if he has not been convicted of an offence mentioned in sub-section (2)(c); and (d) if his estate was not sequestrated under any law prior to the sequestration which he desires to end. (4) A trustee who has received a notice mentioned in sub-section (1), (2) or (3) shall report to the Master any facts which in his opinion would justify the court in refusing, postponing, or qualifying the insolvents rehabilitation. (5) At any time after the confirmation by the Master, of a plan of distribution providing for the payment in full of all claims proved against an insolvent estate, with interest thereon from the date of sequestration, calculated in terms o f section 103(2) and of all the costs of sequestration, the insolvent concerned may apply to the court for his rehabilitation: Provided that he has not less than three weeks before making the application given notice in writing to the Master and to the trustee of his estate of his intention to make the application. 125. Security to be furnished prior to application for rehabilitation :- Not less than three weeks before applying to the court for his rehabilitation an insolvent shall furnish to the registrar of the court security, to the amount or value of fifty emalangeni, for the payment of the costs of any person who may oppose the rehabilitation and be awarded costs by the court. 126. Facts to be averred on application for rehabilitation :- (1) In support of an application for his rehabilitation, an insolvent shall submit his affidavit that he has made a complete surrender of his estate and has not granted or promised any benefit whatever to any person or entered into any secret agreement with intent to induce his trustee or any creditor not to oppose the rehabilitation. (2) Such affidavit shall include a statement of his assets and liabilities and of his earnings at the date of the application. (3) Information shall also be laid before the court as to what dividend was paid to his creditors, what further assets in his estate are available for realisation and the estimated value thereof, the total amount of all claims proved against his estate, and the total amount of his liabilities at the date of the sequestration of his estate. (4) If application for rehabilitation is made pursuant to section 124(1) the insolvent shall set out the particulars of the composition and shall state whether there are or are not creditors whose claims against his estate have not been proved, and if there are such creditors, he shall state their names and addresses and particulars of their claims. 127. Opposition to or refusal by Court of rehabilitation :- (1) Upon the day fixed for the hearing of an application for rehabilitation, the Master shall report thereon to the court; and the Master, the trustee or any creditor or other person interested in the estate of the insolvent may appear in person or by counsel to oppose the grant of the application. (2) Whether the application be opposed or not, the court may refuse an application for rehabilitation, or may postpone the hearing of the application, or may rehabilitate the insolvent upon such conditions as it may think fit to impose, and may order the applicant to pay the costs of any opposition to the application if it is satisfied that the opposition was not vexatious. (3) Among the conditions referred to in sub-section (2), the court may require the insolvent to consent to judgment being entered against him for the payment of any unsatisfied balance of any debt which was or could have been proved against his estate, or of such lesser sum as the court may determine, but in such case execution shall not be issued on the judgment except with leave of the court and on proof that the insolvent has since the date of sequestration of his estate acquired property or income available for the payment of his debts; or apart from any such judgment the court may impose any other condition with respect to any property, or income which may accrue to the insolvent in the future. (4) In granting an application for rehabilitation made under section 124(1) the court may order that any obligation incurred by the applicant before the sequestration of his estate which, but for that order, would be discharged as a result of the applicants rehabilitation, shall remain of full force and effect, notwithstanding the rehabilitation. (5) The registrar of the court shall forthwith give notice to the Master of every rehabilitation of an insolvent granted by the court. 128. Partnership cannot be rehabilitated :- A partnership whose estate has been sequestrated shall not be rehabilitated. 129. Effect of rehabilitation :- (1) Subject to sub-section (3) and subject to such conditions as the court may have imposed in granting a rehabilitation, the rehabilitation of an insolvent shall have the effect - (a) of putting an end to the sequestration; (b) of discharging all debts of the insolvent, which were due, or the cause of which had arisen, before the sequestration, and which did not arise out of any fraud on his part; (c) or relieving the insolvent of every disability resulting from the sequestration. (2) A rehabilitation granted on an application made in circumstances described in section 124(3) shall have the effect of reinvesting the insolvent with his estate. (3) A rehabilitation shall not affect - (a) the right of the trustee or creditors under a composition; (b) the powers or duties of the Master or the duties of the trustee in connection with a composition; (c) the right of the trustee or creditors to any part of the insolvents estate which is vested in but has not yet been distributed by the trustee, but subject to sub-section (2); (d) the liability of any person to pay any penalty or suffer any punishment under any provision of this Act. 130. Illegal inducement to vote for composition or not to oppose rehabilitation :- Any undertaking to grant any benefit to any person in order to induce him or any other person to accept an offer of composition or to agree to, or refrain from opposing the rehabilitation of an insolvent, or as a consideration for the acceptance of an offer of composition or for the agreement to or non-opposition of the rehabilitation of an insolvent (whether by the person for whom the benefit is intended or by any other person), shall be void and any person who has accepted any such benefit or who has stipulated for any such benefit, whether for himself or any other person shall be liable to pay by way of penalty for the benefit of the creditors of the insolvent estate in question - (a) a sum equal to the amount of the claim (if any) which he originally proved against the estate; and (b) the amount or value of any benefit given or promised; and (c) in case of a composition, the amount paid to him under the composition. 131. Recovery of penalty :- The trustee may enforce and recover any penalty mentioned in section 130 and if he fails to do so any creditor may do so in the name of the trustee upon his indemnifying the trustee against all costs in connection with such action. 132. Concealing or destroying books or assets :- An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding six hundred emalangeni or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment if at any time before or after the sequestration of his estate he does any of the following acts, unless it is proved that he had no intention to defraud; that is to say, if he - (a) conceals, parts with, destroys, mutilates, falsifies or makes any false entry or erasure in any book or document relating to his business, property or affairs or permits any other person to commit any such act in regard to any book or document; or (b) conceals or permits the concealment of any assets which ought to be placed at the disposal of the trustee; or (c) otherwise than in the ordinary course of business makes, or permits the making of a disposition of any property which he has obtained on credit and has not paid for; or (d) otherwise than in the ordinary course of business destroys, damages, removes or makes a disposition of, or permits the destruction, damage, removal or the making of a disposition of any assets in his estate if such destruction, damage, removal or disposition has prejudiced or is calculated to prejudice his creditors: Provided that - (i) whenever in any proceedings for a contravention of paragraph (a) any act described in that paragraph is proved to have been committed in regard to any book or other document relating to the business, property or affairs of the insolvent, he shall be deemed to have committed or permitted such act unless it is proved that he neither committed it nor could have prevented the commission; (ii) in any proceedings for a contravention of paragraph (c) or (d) any disposition, destruction, damage or removal of assets proved to have been committed shall unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been otherwise than in the ordinary course of business; (iii) if it appears from any book or document relating to the business, property or affairs of the insolvent or if it is proved in any other manner whatsoever that there ought to be available to the trustee at least ten per cent more assets of the estate than the assets actually available to him, such insolvent shall be deemed to have removed or made a disposition of assets of a value equal to the difference between the value of the assets which ought to be available, in contravention of paragraph (b), unless he fully and accurately accounts for or explains the deficiency and proves that the deficiency was not caused by his action and that he could not have prevented it. 133. Concealment of liabilities or representation as to existence of assets :- An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding six hundred emalangeni or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment, if within two years immediately preceding the sequestration of his estate, when making any statement either verbally or in writing in regard to his business, property or affairs to any person who was then his creditor or to any person who became his creditor on the faith of such a statement, he concealed any liability, present or future, certain or contingent, which he may then have contracted, or failed to disclose the full extent of his liability or mentioned, as if it were an asset, any right or property which at the time was not an asset, or represented that he had more assets than he in fact had or made any false statement in regard to the amount, quality or value of his assets, or in any way concealed or disguised or attempted to conceal or disguise any loss which he had sustained, or gave any incorrect amount thereof, unless it is proved that he had good reason to believe that the said statement was correct in every respect and that he was not concealing or failing to disclose or disguising any relevant fact. 134. Failure to keep proper records :- (1) An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding one year, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment, if his estate were such that he might reasonably be expected to keep a record of his transactions and he failed to keep a record of his transactions in the English language, and to preserve that record during a period of not less than three years. (2) For the purpose of this section a proper record of transactions includes all such books, wherein is set forth clearly the nature of all such persons transactions, as (regard being had to his occupation) he can reasonably be expected to have kept. (3) A trader shall be deemed not to have kept a proper record of his transactions unless he kept a record which includes - (a) detailed stock sheets (which shall disclose the cost price of every article on hand at the date of stocktaking which has been purchased by the trader for purpose of his business) and balance sheets completed for each of his three financial or business years immediately preceding the sequestration of his estate, or if he commenced business less than three years before the sequestration, completed at commencement of his business and thereafter for each financial or business year preceding the sequestration; (b) books exhibiting for the period since the commencement of his business or since the commencement of his financial or business year next but one before the financial or business year in which his estate was sequestrated (whichever period is the less) the following particulars: (i) All property purchased in the course of the business, duly supported by the original invoices; (ii) all cash receipts and disbursements and the dates thereof; (iii) a daily record of all property sold on credit, and such a continuous record of all transactions as a trader may be expected to keep in the ordinary course of his business; (iv) the name of every person indebted to the trader and of every person to whom the trader is indebted and the address of every such person at the time when the indebtness arose or at any time thereafter; (c) a record of all cheques drawn during the period mentioned in paragraph (b) and the counterfoils of such cheques, showing clearly, in the case of each cheque and on each counterfoil, the name of the payee, the amount of the cheque, and the date of the cheque: (4) Where a trader proves that his turnover for the two years immediately preceding the sequestration of his estate or since the commencement of the business (whichever period is the less), was at the rate of less than two thousand emalangeni per annum he shall be deemed to have kept a proper record, if the court dealing with the matter in question, having regard to the nature and circumstances of the business, is satisfied that he has kept a sufficient record of his transactions and that the record complies with the requirements of sub-section (3)(b)(iv). 135. Undue preferences, contracting debts without expectation of ability to pay, etc :- (1) An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding one year, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment, if, prior to the sequestration of his estate, he made a disposition of any part of his property with the intention of preferring one or more of his creditors above the others or any other if at the time when he made that disposition his liabilities exceeded the value of his assets: Provided that any such disposition which had the effect of preferring, or was calculated to prefer, one or more creditors above the others or any other shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been made with the intention of preferring such creditor or creditors above the others or any other; and Provided further that if the insolvents estate was sequestrated within a period of six months as from the date of making such a disposition, his liabilities shall be deemed to have exceeded the value of his assets at that date, unless the contrary is proved. (2) In sub-section (1) the expression "creditor" includes a surety for the insolvent as well as a person who in law is in a position analogous to that of a surety. (3) An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding four hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding two years, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment, if prior to the sequestration of his estate - (a) he contracted any debt of thirty emalangeni or more or debts to the aggregate of thirty emalangeni or more, without any reasonable expectation of being able to discharge such debt or debts; or (b) at a time when his liabilities exceeded his assets or during the period of six months immediately preceding the sequestration of his estate, he diminished his assets by gambling, betting, hazardous speculations or expenditure, not reasonably necessary in connection with his business or vocation or for the maintenance of himself and his dependants: Provided that in any proceedings for a contravention of paragraph (a) the insolvent shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have contracted the debt or debts without having had a reasonable expectation of discharging it or them, if the debt was or the debts were contracted - (i) at a time when his liabilities exceeded his assets; or (ii) within the period of six months immediately preceding the seques-tration of his estate. 136. Failure to give information or to deliver assets, books, etc :- An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding six hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding three years or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment - (a) if at any time during the sequestration of his estate he, knowing or suspecting that any person has proved or intends to prove a false claim against his estate, fails to inform the Master and the trustee of his estate in writing of that knowledge or suspicion, within seven days as from the date upon which he acquired that knowledge or upon which his suspicion was aroused; (b) if he fails within fourteen days as from the appointment of the trustee of his estate - (i) to deliver to the trustee or as the trustee may in writing direct, any property of whatever nature belonging to the estate which may be in his possession or custody or under his control; or (ii) to inform the trustee of the existence and whereabouts of any property belonging to the estate (other than property mentioned in sub-paragraph (i)) which is not fully disclosed in the statement of his affairs mentioned in section 4 or 16 or which is not already in the possession of the trustee; or (iii) to deliver to the trustee or sheriff or messenger of the court, or as any of them may direct all books and documents in his possession or custody or under his control, relating to his affairs; or (iv) to inform the trustee of the existence or whereabouts of any such book or document not in his possession or custody or under his control, if it is not already in the possession of the trustee; unless in any such case, he proves that he had a reasonable excuse for such failure; (c) if, at any time after the sequestration of his estate, he fails to furnish at the request of the trustee complete and truthful information regarding any property which was at any time in his possession or custody or under his control, or regarding the time when or the manner or circumstances in which he disposed of such property or ceased to be in possession, custody or control thereof, unless he proves that he had a reasonable excuse for such failure. 137. Obtaining credit during insolvency, offering inducements, etc :- Any person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding one year, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment - (a) if, during the sequestration of his estate, he obtains credit to an amount exceeding twenty emalangeni without previously informing the person from whom he obtains credit that he is an insolvent, unless he proves that such person had knowledge of that fact; or (b) if he grants, promises, or offers any consideration whatever in order to procure the acceptance by any creditor of an offer of composition or to prevent opposition to a rehabilitation or, during the sequestration of any estate, to induce any person to refrain from investigating any matter relating to that estate or from disclosing any information in regard thereto; or (c) if he contravenes or fails to comply with section 16, or of section 23(3), (5) or (13) unless he proves that he had a reasonable excuse for such contravention or failure; or (d) if he makes any false statement in the statement of his affairs mentioned in section 4 or 16, or in the statement mentioned in section 23(5). 138. Failure to attend meetings of creditors or give certain information :- An insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding six months, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment - (a) if he fails to comply with the requirements of section 64(1); or (b) if he fails, when thereto required in writing by the trustee of his estate, to give a true, clear and detailed explanation of his insolvency or fails to account correctly and in detail for the excess of his liabilities over his assets; or (c) if, at a meeting of the creditors of his estate, when thereto required by the trustee or the officer presiding or any creditor or by the agent of any of them, he fails to account for or to disclose what has become of any property which was in his possession so recently that in the ordinary course he ought to be able to account therefor; or (d) if he fails to comply with the requirements of section 23(14). 139. Failure to appear or to give evidence or giving false evidence :- (1) Any person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred emalangeni or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine if he is guilty of an act or omission for which he has been or might have been lawfully committed to prison in terms of section 23(2) or (3). (2) Any person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the punishment provided by law for the crime of perjury, if, when being interrogated on oath under this Act, he wilfully makes, relative to the subject in connection wherewith he is interrogated, any statement whatever which he knows to be false or which he does not know or believe to be true. 140. Failure of insolvent or spouse to appear to give evidence :- A n insolvent or the spouse of an insolvent shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding six months if, when summoned to give evidence in any proceedings instituted by or against the trustee of the insolvents estate he or she conceals himself or herself or quits Swaziland or without reasonable excuse fails to attend those proceedings or refuses to answer any questions which may be lawfully put to him or her in the course of those proceedings. 141. Acceptance of consideration for certain illegal acts or omissions :- Any person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred emalangeni or i n default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine if he accepts any benefit or the promise or offer of any benefit as a consideration for having refrained from or discontinued, or for his undertaking to refrain from or to discontinue any proceedings for the sequestration of an estate or for having agreed to, or not opposed, or for his undertaking to agree to or not to oppose a composition in an insolvent estate or the rehabilitation of an insolvent, or for having refrained or undertaken to refrain from investigating any matter relating to an insolvent or an insolvent estate or from disclosing any information in regard to an insolvent or an insolvent estate. 142. Removing or concealing property to defeat an attachment or failure to disclose property :- (1) Any person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding six hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof imprisonment not exceeding three years, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine, or to both such fine and imprisonment if, either before or after the sequestration of an estate, he removes, conceals, disposes of, deals with or receives any assets belonging to that estate with intent to defeat an attachment by virtue of a sequestration order, or with intent to prejudice the creditors in that estate: Provided that in any proceedings for an offence under this sub-section, any such removal, concealment, disposal of, dealing with or receipt of assets which had the effect of defeating or was calculated to defeat such attachment or which prejudiced or was calculated to prejudice the creditors of that estate, shall unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been committed with intent to defeat the attachment or (as the case may be) to prejudice those creditors. (2) Any person who has in his possession or custody or under his control and property belonging to an insolvent estate and who knows of the sequestration of the estate and that the property belongs to it, shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding six hundred emalangeni or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine if he fails to inform the trustee of the estate as soon as possible of the existence and whereabouts of the property and (subject to section 84) to deliver it to, or place it at the disposal of the trustee. (3) Sub-sections (1) and (2) shall not apply to an insolvent in respect of any property belonging to his own insolvent estate. (4) A secured creditor of an insolvent estate who has realised his security in terms of section 84 and who has failed after written demand to pay over the proceeds of the realisation in accordance with sub-section (10) of that section, shall, apart from any other offence which he may have committed in connection with those proceeds, be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalties mentioned in sub-section (2). 143. Criminal liability of partners, administrators, servants or agents :- (1) A person who - (a) is or was a member of a partnership and who does or omits to do in relation to any property or to the affairs of that partnership or of the insolvent estate of that partnership; or (b) is or was charged with the administration of an estate and who does or omits to do in relation to any property or to the affairs of that estate; or (c) as a servant or agent has or had the sole or practical control of any property or of the affairs of his employer or principal and who does or omits to do in relation to that property or to the affairs of his employer or principal or of the insolvent estate of his former employer or principal, any act which, if done or omitted by him in the like circumstances in relation to his own property or affairs or to any property belonging to, or the affairs of his insolvent estate, would have constituted in offence under this Act, shall be deemed to have committed that offence. (2) The liability under sub-section (1) of a partner, servant or agent shall not affect the liability under that sub- section or under any other provision of this Act, of another partner or of a servant or agent of the same partnership, or of the employer or principal of the employee or agent who is so liable. 144. Criminal liability of trustee for neglect of certain duties :- If it was the duty of a trustee to submit an account to the Master or to pay a sum of money to the Master or to a creditor, and he failed to submit that account or to pay that sum of money within a period of two months as from the time when that duty arose, he shall (apart from any other offence which he may have committed in connection with such sum of money) be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred emalangeni or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding six months. 145. Obstructing trustee :- A person who obstructs or hinders a curator bonis appointed under this Act or a trustee or a representative of either in the performance of his functions as such shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred emalangeni, or in default of payment thereof to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or to such imprisonment without the option of a fine. 146. Offences may be tried in region of place of business or residence :- (1) A magistrates court which has jurisdiction to try an insolvent in respect of an offence under this Act committed at the place where the insolvent mainly carried on business or resided at the time of the commission of the offence, shall have jurisdiction to try the insolvent in respect of such an offence committed anywhere in Swaziland. (2) In sub-section (1) "insolvent" includes a person who is liable under section 143(1). 147. Penal jurisdiction of Magistrates Courts :- Notwithstanding anything contained in the Magistrates Courts Act, No. 66 of 1938,or in any other law, a magistrates court of the First Class shall have jurisdiction to impose up to the maximum penalty prescribed in sections 132, 133, 135, 136 and 142. 148. Evidence of liability incurred by insolvent :- Whenever in any criminal proceedings under this Act any liability incurred by an insolvent or the date or time when the liability was incurred, is in issue or relevant to the issue, proof that a claim in respect of that liability has been admitted against the estate of the insolvent in accordance with this Act shall be sufficient evidence of the existence of the liability and any such liability shall be deemed to have been incurred upon the date or at the time alleged in any document submitted in accordance with any provision of this Act in support of that claim: Provided that the accused or the prosecutor in those proceedings may prove that no such liability or that a lesser or a greater liability was incurred or that it was incurred on a date or at a time other than the date or time so alleged. 149. Deportation of certain persons for certain offences :- If a person born elsewhere than in Swaziland has been convicted of an offence under this Act, and in view of the circumstances of the offence, the Deputy Prime Minister deems him to be an undesirable inhabitant of Swaziland, the Deputy Prime Minister may by warrant under his hand cause him to be removed from Swaziland, and, pending his removal, to be arrested and detained in custody. 150. Jurisdiction of the Court :- (1) The court shall have jurisdiction under this Act over every debtor and in regard to the estate of every debtor who - (a) on the date on which a petition for the acceptance of the surrender or for the sequestration of his estate is lodged with the registrar of the court, is domiciled or owns or is entitled to property situate within the jurisdiction of the court; or (b) at any time within twelve months immediately preceding the lodging of the petition ordinarily resided or carried on business within the jurisdiction of the court: Provided that when it appears to the court equitable or convenient that the estate of a person not domiciled in Swaziland should be sequestrated elsewhere, the court may refuse or postpone the acceptance of the surrender or the sequestration. 151. Review :- Any person aggrieved by any decision, ruling, order, appointment or taxation of the Master or by a decision, ruling or order of an officer presiding at a meeting of creditors may bring it under review by the court and to that end may apply to the court by motion, after notice to the master or to the presiding officer, as the case may be, and to any person whose interests are affected: Provided that if all or most of the creditors are affected, notice to the trustee shall be deemed to be notice to all such creditors; and Provided further that the court shall not re-open any duly confirmed trustees account otherwise than as provided in section 112. 152. Master may direct trustee to deliver documents or property or call upon any person to furnish information :- (1) The Master may at any time direct a trustee to deliver to him any book or document relating or any property belonging to the insolvent estate of which he is trustee. (2) If at any time after the sequestration of the estate of a debtor and before his rehabilitation, the Master is of the opinion that the insolvent or the trustee of that estate or any other person is able to give any information which the Master considers desirable to obtain, concerning the insolvent, or concerning his estate or the administration of the estate or concerning any claim or demand made against the estate, he may by notice in writing delivered to the insolvent or the trustee or such other person summon him to appear before the Master or a Regional Administrator mentioned in such notice, at the place and on the date and hour stated in such notice, and to furnish the Master or Regional Administrator before whom he is summoned to appear with all the information within his knowledge concerning the insolvent or concerning the insolvents estate or the administration of the estate. (3) After having interrogated the person summoned as aforesaid the Master or Regional Administrator concerned may deliver to him a written notice to appear again before the Master or Regional Administrator at a place and upon a date and hour stated in such notice and to submit to the Master or Regional Administrator any further information or any book or document specified in such notice. (4) When any person summoned as aforesaid appears before the Master or Regional Administrator in question in compliance with a notice issued under sub-section (2) or (3) the Master or Regional Administrator may administer the oath to him and the Master or Regional Administrator and if a person other than the trustee was summoned, also the trustee (or his agent) may interrogate the person summoned in regard to any matter relating to the insolvent or his estate or the administration of the estate. (5) Section 65(2) shall mutatis mutandis apply in connection with the production of any book or document or with the interrogation of any person under the preceding provisions of this section. (6) Section 66 shall mutatis mutandis apply in connection with a person summoned, and with his interrogation, under this section and the Master or Regional Administrator shall, with reference to a person so summoned or with reference to such interrogation, have the powers and immunity conferred upon an officer mentioned in section 66. (7) Section 65(7) shall mutatis mutandis apply in connection with any person (other than a trustee) who has been summoned under this section for the purpose of furnishing any information: Provided that if there are no assets in the estate in question sufficient to pay the witness fees in question, those fees shall be paid by the Government. 153. Fees of office and certain costs :- (1) The Master shall recover in respect of the several matters mentioned in the Third Schedule the fees therein specified. (2) Any expenses incurred by the Master or by an officer who is to preside or presides or has presided at a meeting of the creditors of an insolvent estate in the protection of the assets of an insolvent estate or in carrying out any provision of this Act shall, unless the court otherwise orders, be regarded as part of the costs of the sequestration of that estate. 154. Custody of documents and admissibility of copies or certificate :- (1) The Master shall have the custody of all documents relating to insolvent estates. (2) If there is endorsed upon or attached to any document or record a certificate purporting to have been signed by a person describing himself as Master, wherein he describes the nature of the document or record and states that it relates to a specified insolvent or insolvent estate, that document or record shall on its mere production by any person prima facie be deemed to be what the certificate describes it to be. (3) Any document or record upon which there is endorsed or to which there is attached a statement purporting to have been signed by a person describing himself as Master, wherein he certifies that the document or record is a true copy of or extract from a document or record relating to a specified insolvent or insolvent estate, and wherein he describes the nature of the original document or record, shall on its mere production by any person be as admissible in evidence in any court of law and be of the same force and effect as the original document or record would be if it bore or had attached to it the certificate mentioned in sub-section (2). (4) A certificate, purporting to have been signed by a person describing himself as Master, stating that the estate of a person or partnership mentioned therein was sequestrated on a date therein specified, or that an insolvent named therein has or has not been rehabilitated, or that any person named therein has or has not complied with any particular requirement of this Act, shall upon its mere production by any person be received as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 155. Destruction of documents :- (1) After six months have elapsed as from the confirmation by the Master of the final trustees account in any insolvent estate, the trustee may, with the consent in writing of the Master, destroy all books and documents in his possession relating to the estate. (2) After five years have elapsed as from the rehabilitation of an insolvent the Master may destroy all records in his office relating to the estate of that insolvent. (3) This section shall apply to all insolvent estates which have been finally liquidated or are in course of liquidation at the commencement of this Act. 156. Formal defects :- (1) Nothing done under this Act shall be invalid by reason of a formal defect or irregularity, unless a substantial injustice has been thereby done, which in the opinion of the court cannot be remedied by any order of the court. (2) No defect or irregularity in the election or appointment of a trustee shall vitiate anything done by him in good faith. 157. Saving of law as to Government grants :- Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, every trustee of an estate in which there appears as an asset any right under a lease, licence, purchase or allotment of land from the Government shall, in his administration of the estate, act in accordance with those provisions (if any) which by the law under which the rights were acquired, are expressed to apply in the event of the insolvency of the person who acquired those rights. 158. Power of the Deputy Prime Minister to make regulations :- Deputy Prime Minister may from time to time make regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act - (a) for the management and good conduct of the business of and of the practice and procedure to be observed in any Masters office; (b) prescribing the form and manner of proceedings under this Act; (c) prescribing the manner in which fees payable under this Act shall be brought to account. 159. Repeal of laws and saving :- The Insolvency Law, No. 13 of 1895, of the South African Republic as in force in Swaziland is hereby repealed; Provided that if an estate was sequestrated or assigned before the commencement of this Act, the sequestration or assignment and all proceedings in connection therewith shall be completed, and a person whose estate was sequestrated or assigned before such commence-ment, and any matter relating to such sequestration, assignment or person shall be dealt with as if this Act had not been promulgated; And provided further that if, before the said commencement, any action was taken under the said Law No. 13 of 1895 with a view to the surrender or sequestration of an estate but the surrender or sequestration was not effected before the said commencement, such action shall, after such commencement, be deemed to have been taken under this Act, in so far as this Act makes provision therefor. SCHEDULE 1 FIRST SCHEDULE FORMS FORM A NOTICE OF SURRENDER OF A DEBTOR S ESTATE (Section 4(1)) Notice is hereby given that application will be made to the High Court of Swaziland on ....................................................................... the ................................................................. day of .......................................... 20 ........................................... at .......................................... o clock in the forenoon or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard, for the acceptance of the surrender of the estate of * .................................... of ..................................................... and that a statement of his affairs will lie for inspection at the office of the Master of the High Court at Mbabane (and at the office of .......................................................................... ) for a period of fourteen days as from the ............................. day of ........................... 20.......... .................................................................... Attorney for ..................... ...................................................................... ...................................................... 20 ........... * Here insert the name in full of the debtor and his occupation and address, and if the debtor is a partnership, its style or firm and the name in full and address of every partner, other than a partner en commandite. If the statement of the debtor s affairs is to lie for inspection only in a Master s Office, delete the words in brackets. FORM B STATEMENT OF DEBTOR S AFFAIRS (Sections 4(3) and 16) Balance Sheet of ............................................................................. LIABILITIES ASSETS E. c. E. c. Debts due as per Immovable property as per Annexure IV ........................... Annexure I............................ Movable property, furniture, stock-in-trade, etc., as per Annexure II .......................... Outstanding claims, etc., per Annexure III ......................... Deficiency .............................. TOTAL ..................... TOTAL .................................. *Here insert the name in full of the debtor. ANNEXURE I IMMOVABLE PROPERTY Description of Property Situation and Extent Mortgages thereon Estimated Values Property situate in Swaziland ....................... ............. ............. ............. ............. Property situate elsewhere ........................ ............. ............. ............. ............. TOTAL ............. ANNEXURE II ANY MOVABLE PROPERTY WHATSOEVER WHICH IS NOT IN III OR ANNEXURE V Description of Prope Property situate in Swaziland ............... ................. Property situate elsewhere ................ ................. Total NOTE Any merchandise mentioned in the foregoing statement sh price or at its market value at the time of the making of the affidav whichever is the lower, and the statement shall be supported by de relating to such merchandise. ANNEXURE III OUTSTANDING CLAIMS, BILLS, BONDS AND OTHE Name and Residential and Postal Address of the debtor Particulars of Claim Esti Am G E In Swaziland ................. .............. .............. ...... Elsewhere ..................... .............. .............. ...... TOTA ANNEXURE IV LIST OF CREDITORS Name and Address of Creditor Nature and Value of Security for Claim N ................ ................ .... ................ ................ .... TOT ANNEXURE V MOVABLE ASSETS PLEDGED, HYPOTHECATED, SUBJECT TO OR UNDER ATTACHMENT IN EXECUTION OF A J Description of Asset Estimated Value of Asset Nature of Charge on Asset Amount of Debt to which Charge Relates .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ANNEXURE VI ENUMERATION AND DESCRIPTION OF EVERY BOOK IN US TIME OF NOTICE OF SURRENDER OR SEQUESTRATION, OR CEASED CARRYING ON BUSINESS ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ANNEXURE VII DETAILED STATEMENT OF CAUSES OF DEBTOR S .......................................................................................... .......................................................................................... .......................................................................................... ANNEXURE VIII PERSONAL INFORMATION State whether the debtor is married, widowed or divorced .......................................................... If the debtor is or was married, state (a) name or names of spouse or spouses .................................. ............................................................................................ (b) whether the debtor is or was married in or without community ............................................................................................ State the debtor s race and nationality ........................................................................................ State the debtor s place of birth ............................................................................................ Was the debtor s estate or the estate of a partnership in which the previously sequestrated or placed in bankruptcy, whether in Swazi ............................................................................................ If the preceding answer is in the affirmative, state (a) whether debtor s own estate or his partnership s estate was: (i) sequestrated; or (ii) placed in bankruptcy ............................. (b) the place where and the date when that estate was sequestrate bankruptcy ............................................................................ (c) whether the debtor has been rehabilitated or his estate released ............................................................................................ ........................................................................................... The foregoing balance sheet and statements shall be verified by an form, made by the debtor or by the person who on behalf of the de petition tendering the surrender of the debtor s estate, or who is th debtor or his estate. AFFIDAVIT I, ......................................................................................... declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief the statements foregoing balance sheet and the Annexures thereto are true and co estimated amount therein contained is fairly and correctly estimate ........................... before me on the ................................................................... Solemnly declared day of ................................................................... at ................................................ ........................... * Delete inappropriate words. FORM C AFFIDAVIT FOR THE PROOF OF ANY CLAIM OTHER THAN PROMISSORY NOTE OR OTHER BILL OF EXC (Section 44(4)) In the insolvent estate of ........................................................ Name in full or creditor ........................................................... Address in full ................................................................. Total amount of claim ........................................... sole (1) that ................................................................................ whose estate has been sequestrated, was at the date of sequestrat indebted to ................................................................. in the sum of .............................................. for ..................... (2) that the said debt arose in the manner and at the time set forth annexed; (3) that no other person besides the said .................................. is liable (otherwise than as surety) for the said debt on any part th I have not nor has any (4) that _____________ ................................................. ____ the said has other person, to my knowledge on _MY______ * behalf received a His said debt or any part thereof, save and except ......................... ............................................................................................ ........................... Sworn ______________________ * before me on the .......................... day Solemnly declared of .......................................................................... at ................................................................. ........................... * Strike out inappropriate words, according to the facts of the case Here insert nature, particulars and value of mortgage, pledge or FORM D AFFIDAVIT FOR THE PROOF OF A CLAIM BASED ON A PR OTHER BILL OF EXCHANGE (Section 44(4)) In the insolvent estate of ............................................................................................ Name in full or creditor ............................................................................................ Address in full ............................................................................................ Total amount of claim ............................................................................................ I, ......................................................................................... ___ * sole (1) that ............................................................................................ whose estate has been sequestrated, was at the date of sequestrat indebted to ........................................................................... in the sum of ........................................................................ promissory note the following ___________________ * bill of exchange Date of Note or Bill Name of Maker or Drawer Name of Acceptor Name of Person to whom Payable Dat whe Paya ............ ............ ............ ............ ......... ............ ............ ............ ............ ......... ............ ............ ............ ............ ......... (2) that the said debt arose in the manner and at the time set forth annexed. I have not, nor has any (3) that _____________ ................................................. ____ the said has person to my knowledge on __________ * behalf received any sec his said debt or any part thereof, save and except ......................... ............................................................................................ * Strike out inappropriate words, according to the facts of the case Here insert nature, particulars and value of mortgage, pledge or (4) that besides the said .............................................. one .......................................... to me mentioned above, is liable ________ * ................. as ............... the said note of the said __________ * as aforesaid. bill note (5) that the said __________* is in all respects genuine and valid. bill ........................... Sworn ______________________ * before me on the .......................... Solemnly declared day of .................................................................... at ................................................................. * Strike out inappropriate words, according to the facts of the case SCHEDULE 2 SECOND SCHEDULE SECOND SCHEDULE TARIFF A SHERIFFS AND DEPUTY-SHERIFFS FEES (Section 19(5) E. c. For the attachment of movable property on one set of premises, from E1,05 to ............ 2 33 For the attachment of movable property on each further set of premises beyond the first 50 cents to .................................................................................................... 1 15 For making of an inventory, per 100 words, or portion thereof ...................................... 0 50 For every copy thereof, if necessary, per 100 words or portion thereof ......................... 0 15 For assistance (if necessary) in making inventory (a) if within three miles from the deputy-sheriff s office per day (inclusive) ........ 1 15 (b) if beyond that distance per day (inclusive) ....................................................... 2 30 For notice of attachment of movable property, if necessary ........................................... 1 15 For each separate possession (as defined in the rules for the construction of this tariff) per day or portion thereof: a reasonable inclusive fee not exceeding ............. 1 15 For removal and storage: the necessary costs thereof ..................................................... - - For herding and tending of livestock: the necessary costs thereof, and in addition thereof, a commission of 1 per cent of the value of the livestock ............ - - Travelling allowance per mile or fraction thereof ........................................................... 0 15 If the deputy-sheriff is necessarily accompanied by an officer or assistant, additional travelling allowance may be charged at half the above rate ..................... - - For any work necessarily done by or on behalf of the deputy-sheriff in performing his duties under section 19 of the Act, for which no provision is made in this tariff: an amount to be determined by the Master ............................. - - RULES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TARIFF AND THE GUIDANCE OF THE DEPUTY-SHERIFF (1) In the tariff possession means the continuous and necessary presence on the premises in question for the period in respect of which possession is charged of a person employed and paid by the deputy-sheriff for the sole purpose of retaining possession. (2) When a charge is made for possession of any property, no charge shall be allowed for herding and tending of livestock if one and the same person could render both services. (3) If there are more ways than one of doing any particular act, the least expensive way shall be adopted unless there is some reasonable objection thereto. (4) No travelling allowance shall be charged unless it was necessary for the deputy-sheriff to go beyond a distance of three miles from his office: but when any such allowance is payable, it shall be paid for the actual distance travelled in going from and returning to the office. (5) No charge shall be made for the cost of any transport, railway fare, etc., in addition to a charge for travelling allowance. (6) If more services than one can be performed on the same journey, the distance to the first place of service may be brought into account only once, and shall be appointed equally to the respective services; and the distance from the first place of service to the next place of service shall similarly be apportoined equally to the respective services; and the distance from the first place of service to the next place of service shall similarly be apportioned equally to the remaining services, and so forth. (7) The deputy-sheriff may not charge for an inventory for his own use. (8) If the execution of a judgment has been stayed by publication of notice of surrender or by sequestration after an inventory has been made, for the purpose of the execution, no charge shall be made for a second inventory of the same goods. The deputy- sheriff s fees for making the inventory shall be charged to the insolvent estate in question, according to the tariff, and not to the execution creditor, unless the estate is unable to pay those fees. (9) The deputy-sheriff may pay rent, if necessary for premises required for the storage of goods attached, for a period of one month or such longer period as the Master shall authorise. (10) Every question arising under or relative to the tariff shall be determined by the Master. TARIFF B REMUNERATION OF TRUSTEE (Section 63) Upon the proceeds of movable property (other than shares of similar securities) sold, or upon the amount collected under promissory notes or book debts, or as rent, or other income .......................................... 5 per cent Upon the proceeds of immovable property, shares and similar securities sold, life insurance policies and mortgage bonds recovered: Upon the first E10,000 ........................................................................... 2 per cent Upon any amount in excess of the first E10,00 ...................................... 1 per cent Upon cash in the estate .......................................................................... 1 per cent If the total remuneration of a trustee under this tariff is less than E80 in all, he shall be entitled, up to that amount, to remuneration at the rate of 5 per cent on the value of all the assets of the estate, with a minimum of E10,50. REMUNERATION OF CURATOR BONIS AND PROVISIONAL TRUSTEE A reasonable remuneration to be determined by the Master, not to exceed the rates of remuneration of a trustee under this tariff SCHEDULE 3 THIRD SCHEDULE THIRD SCHEDULE MASTER S FEES OF OFFICE (Section 153) E C For every certificate under the hand of the Master .............. 0 50 For every report submitted by the Master, an amount in the discretion of the Master, but subject to taxation by the court, and not less than ...... 1 00 For inspection of documents in any one estate, excepting by or on behalf of a trustee or his surety ................... 0 20 For binding documents in each estate according to the size of the estate, in the discretion of the Master from 70 cents to .......... 1 10 For taxing a trustee s remuneration or a bill of costs (but not a deputy-sheriff s account) on every one pound or fraction of a pound of the amount taxed ... 0 10 Upon the assets in an insolvent estate available for distribution among creditors: Upon the first E10,000 ................................... per cent with a minimum of E2 Upon any amount in excess of the first E10,000 ........................... 1/8 per cent For extracts or copies of documents made or certified in the office of a Master: (a) If the document has been certified by the Master, in addition to the fee mentioned in the first item of his Schedule: For each one hundred words (or part thereof) exceeding the first one hundred word ................. 0 10 (b) If the document has not been certified by the Master: For the first hundred words.......................... 0 20 For each hundred words (or part thereof) exceeding the first hundred words .............................................. 0 10 On any amount paid by the trustee to the Master for account of creditors..... 5 per cent