Times Of Swaziland: BUCOPHO, FAMILY POISONED BUCOPHO, FAMILY POISONED ================================================================================ BY JABULISA DLAMINI on 14/09/2018 03:34:00 MANZINI – A chiefdom councillor (Bucopho), together with his family members, were left critically ill after being exposed to an unknown poisonous substance. Mduduzi Mndzebele, who contested and won as Bucopho under Mafutseni Constituency during the Primary Elections held over two weeks ago, was rushed to Mkhiwa Clinic after he collapsed in town last week Tuesday. He said he had left his home in Mafutseni on the same morning as he had to drop off some documents at the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office. “Before I left, I drank some water from the outside tank, which the whole family utilises. When I got to town, I felt weak and decided to go to a pharmacy to get some medication. I was given a few tablets and before I knew it, the situation became worse. I was vomiting, shaking and sweating at the same time. I was told that I collapsed, however, I found myself admitted to hospital. Before I knew it, my whole family, being my wife, brother, grandmother and three-year-old child, were all admitted in hospital with the same symptoms,” Mndzebele said. It was gathered that medical doctors confirmed that Mndzebele and the other family members had ingested a poisonous substance. It is suspected that the poisonous substance was put in the water tank. When asked if he had any suspects in mind, Mndzebele said he had no idea and did not want to speculate. “My whole family uses the water, we could not have been poisoned through food. I suspect that the culprits opened the water tank from above and poured whatever substance inside,” he said One of Mndzebele’s relatives, who was found at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where his grandmother, Carolina Tfwala is still admitted, revealed that some people were not comfortable with the fact that her niece had once again won as the area’s Bucopho. This will be his second term as Bucopho of the area. The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) was not informed about the incident.