‘COPS DID THIS TO ME’

MBABANE - Was he assaulted or the police were doing their job?

That was the question that arose when a local well-known artist, Liyanda ‘Popzin’ Mkhonta ,  narrated to the publication how he was allegedly assaulted by police this past weekend. He said they came to his homestead situated in Manzini, Fairview, where they allegedly searched his refrigerators looking for alcohol.  “Yes they did come to my home, they searched all refrigerators. I think they thought we were selling alcohol at home as we have more than one refrigerator,” he alleged.

Searching

While they were searching the main house he was allegedly taken by the police because he questioned them on why they were searching his homestead. “I only asked why they were searching the main house. They asked me where I was from and I told them. They said I was disrespecting them, ‘batsi ngiyabhodla’   and they manhandled me,” he alleged.  While they were allegedly manhandling him, his mother was said to have pleaded for mercy as they were dragging him out of the homestead.  “They told me that they wanted to make an example out of me of what they did to people who disrespect police officers as they put me into back of a van  calling me a  ‘mama’s boy’, ” he alleged.  Popzin shared that he was pleading for mercy during the encounter.

He alleged that they drove around with him searching different homesteads. “I thought they were taking me to the nearest police station but they were driving around New Village knocking at different homesteads. When we arrived at one of the known bottle stores at Moyamunye, they dropped me off and assaulted me for alleged disrespect,” he said. He alleged that when he asked the officers to call his lawyer, they said,  “Sifuna kukukhombisa kutsi kute ummeli la’  loosely translated to “we want to show you that there is no lawyer.”  He was allegedly dropped off and left stranded in the middle of the night. “I did not have any airtime, but thanks to one owner of a bottle store who came to my rescue and took me home,” said Popzin. He said he reported the matter at the police station and was thereafter rushed to hospital.

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