Home | Feature | SICKENING MBAYIYANISM MENTALITY IN THULANI’S CASE

SICKENING MBAYIYANISM MENTALITY IN THULANI’S CASE

20/04/2024 08:28:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

Font size:

In a complex murder case, investigators would always explore avenues to interrogate theories before interrogating suspects.

It is easy for a man on the street to point fingers at people he suspects to have committed a crime. In Eswatini, the Mbayiyanism (mob justice) has always been viewed by some people as the ideal form of extra judicial punishment for people they have profiled as crime suspects.

In 1991, three people were charged with the ritual murder of a four-year old girl in Eswatini. Refer to High Court Case No. 82/1991 (Rex vs Betty Mangenendlini, Mbayiyane Mnisi and another unreported). They were acquitted even though an accomplice had given evidence in court on how they had planned and executed the murder.

Believing that the accused persons had used muti (black magic) to achieve their acquittal, members of Ngowane and surrounding communities declared war on them as well as the chief of the area for harbouring killers in his chiefdom. One of the accused was a traditional healer.

They burnt down the homesteads of the accused persons as well as that of the chief. Later they caught up with Mbayiyane Mnisi and stoned him to death. The killing of Mbayiyane hogged global headlines and influenced emaSwati to resort to mob justice as an extra judicial punishment for suspects they believed police deliberately did not arrest them or were unfairly acquitted by the courts.

Around 1997, I attended to a murder case of a Zionist pastor and his wife. For alleged witchcraft practices and without any evidence, the pastor and his wife, Busisiwe, were killed by members of a breakaway church.They were killed in front of their children.It is common for some of our people in Eswatini to link innocent people to crime. It is very unfortunate when they kill the suspects. That is the Mbhayiyanism mentality we have to discard as a nation.

Presently, I am not surprised that they point fingers at certain people they suspect to have killed Thulani Maseko, the slain human rights defender.Without evidence, it will always be difficult to know who killed Maseko. In a case of this nature, everyone remains a potential suspect. In a situation in which everyone is a suspect, it is important that all theories are examined to find the culprit. Some people are blaming the State for the murder of Maseko.

I can tell you now that others believe he was killed by a certain clique within the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) to set the State against the international community. For reasons unrelated to political activism, another theory is that his enemies capitalised on the vulnerability of active players in the MDM to end his life, after all, the public will hold the State accountable for his death.

This is because Maseko has oftentimes criticised the State and government for human rights violation. It is also possible that none of the mentioned theories will lead investigators to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed Maseko. Perhaps, a perpetual pleaser, not mandated by anyone but coming from either camp, capitalised on loopholes and murdered Thulani Maseko. For reasons best known to himself, he took upon himself to execute the plan alone, and that’s another theory, which must be explored.

In 1999, the late top detectives, Jomo Mavuso and Maphindane Sibandze came to the Times offices in Manzini to educate me about probabilities of opportunism in the commission of crime. That was a powerful lesson, I would never forget it, and may their souls rest in peace. Mavuso said X would threaten or understood to be threatening to kill Y and Z, listening, has an interest in the conversation. Z reports to some members of the community that X plans to kill Y. The community is now on high alert.

X changes his mind and decides not to kill Y. Unbeknown that Z holds a grudge against Y, Z decides to kill Y, after all, suspect number one is obviously X.Y is dead and the mob bays for X’s blood. I hope you get what I mean. Thorough evidence cannot be overemphasised in every criminal case. We have to learn to put assumption aside and utilise all available resources to get to the bottom of a complex case. Mob justice is illegal and entertaining thoughts about it is sinful and very dangerous to society.

Justice Centres Ghana says mob action takes place in the absence of any form of fair trial in which the accused is given a chance to defend him/herself. The mob simply takes the law into its own hands. Of course, it takes away the rights of an accused, mainly the presumption of innocence and right to be heard (all provided for in the Constitution).

There is no fair trial since the complainant and the mob in most cases are the witness, prosecutor, judge and executioner of the punishment. According to Justice Centres Ghana, in most cases, there are no prior independent and impartial investigations conducted and conclusions are always based on hearsay, motivated by jealousy, hatred and misconceived facts. Punishments are severe involving beatings, miming, destruction of property, sometimes undressing and killing of the offender and there is no limit since the punishment is determined according to the mood of the mob.

It does not promote reconciliation of parties involved or rehabilitation of the accused and pathetically so, the process does not observe human and children rights. That is happening in the case of Thulani Maseko, the mob justice mentality is at play. Fingers are being pointed at certain people without any evidence. It is possible that the rights of the innocent people are being violated, with the killer enjoying the show.

I have to point to the fact that police would have to acquire scientific technology to be able to search for facts related to crimes committed by unknown suspects. One recommended technology for the police to use in crime detection and investigation is the DNA phenotyping whose snapshot can create the face of an unknown criminal. Parabon, a corporation in Reston, Virginia, USA, received funding support from the US Department of Defence (DoD) to develop the snapshot forensic DNA Phenotyping system.

Americans say the system accurately predicts genetic ancestry, eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, freckling, and face shape in individuals from any ethnic background, even individuals with mixed ancestry. I hope the US Government can assist us in the investigation of Maseko. There is no need for imposing sanction on the State. Sanctions may be valid after the outcome of the investigation has shown that the State is responsible, not now.

Indeed, the US Department of State has called for the investigation into the killing of human rights defending lawyer, Thulani Maseko. His killer shot him and disappeared into thin air. He is still at large and remains unknown. Maseko was shot dead at KaLuhleko in Bhunya, his parental home.

Since the death of Maseko, accusations have been flying back and forth, with political factions, the conservatives and progressives, pointing fingers at each other. In Europe, the system began in 1999 with the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in the Netherlands.

Adam Janos says the USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been solving crimes with DNA evidence for more than two decades. It is said that everyone’s DNA is different, with the exception of identical twins. Therefore, Janos says there is near-irrefutability if the suspect’s nuclear acids are tied to the crime scene.

As such, DNA phenotyping, an exciting new field of forensics has emerged to help investigators interpret nuclear acids or RNA left behind at the scene to make predictions about what the person might look like. Ellen Greytak, the Director of Bioinformatics at Parabon NanoLabs—a company that specialises in constructing “Snapshots” (i.e. police sketches) said it took them four days to release a predictive models after they had sent the DNA sample to their genotyping laboratory.

Police in some countries are now using scientific technology to enhance their investigation. In those countries, security is a priority as it is linked to investment and economy. It is important that the Royal Eswatini Police Service is adequately resourced to be able to master the art of forensic investigation. For REPS to deliver, it is important that it sets up adequately equipped forensic laboratories.

Forensic laboratory equipment is used to detect, collect and process samples and evidence from crime scenes, suspects and victims.Crime laboratory analysts apply the principles of biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology in the search for results. I must mention that DNA phenotyping is being mostly used in USA, Europe and Canada. Slate USA states that forensic genealogy burst onto the scene in 2018 when investigators were able to identify the “golden state killer” through a distant relative.

A month after the arrest of the serial murderer and rapist from California, genetic genealogy would again help authorities catch a lower-profile killer in Washington. The resulting case, which is now the first-ever criminal trial involving genetic genealogy, concluded in June 2019 with a conviction.

A jury found William Talbott II guilty on two counts for the 1987 murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook, a young Canadian couple. Science and Biology writer Reginald Davey, assisted by Michael Greenwood (M.Sc), define DNA phenotyping as the science of predicting an organism’s observable physical or biochemical characteristics (phenotype) by using only genetic information from DNA sequencing or genotyping.

Another commonly used term for DNA phenotyping is molecular photofitting. The technique is primarily used to predict a person’s physical appearance and/or ancestry for forensic purposes. It is said that there are two methods to predict human phenotypes from DNA – direct and indirect. Direct methods involve using statistical methodologies to infer trait value and mechanistically linking genetic variants with the relevant phenotype’s variable expression.

In indirect methods, trait value is inferred by using variants that are associated with genetic component(s) of ancestry. Experts say direct methods are preferable. However, depending on the phenotype’s genetic architecture, this is not always possible. Thulani Maseko’s murder case is not a joke and we have to wake up from our slumber to real work. We must work. Work!