Times Of Swaziland: ‘POLICE SHOT US AT CLOSE RANGE’

‘POLICE SHOT US AT CLOSE RANGE’
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By SIBUSISO ZWANE on 04/10/2019 00:54:00


MANZINI - A union leader, who was a marshal during the PSAs #Operation
‘shutdown’ Manzini, and an ordinary citizen, are among the 10 people who
were injured during clashes with the police.
In fact, the marshal, Dumisani Nkuna, who is also the Secretary of the Manzini
Branch of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), was
allegedly shot twice at close range with rubber bullets during the clash between
the marchers and the police on Wednesday afternoon.
On the same note, Fikile Nhlabatsi, who works for an insurance company in the
hub of the country, where the march took place, claimed that she was also shot
four times at close range. However, she said luckily she was hit by two rubber
bullets in the right hand. As a result, she said two of her fingers were
fractured.
Nkuna, who was speaking from his hospital bed at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial
(RFM) Hospital, where he is currently admitted, alleged that he worked well with
the police officers who were deployed in Manzini during the march on Wednesday.
However, he said he did not understand how the law enforcers decided to shot him
at close range when they clashed with the marchers.
Working
He alleged that when the incident took place, he was busy working with the
police to control the marchers who were somehow getting unruly. During the
clash, he said he decided to run away with some of the marchers who ran down
towards the Manzini Magistrates Court because he was starting to suffocate from
the tear gas.
“As we were running, I made sure that the marchers were in front of me so that
I could control them,” he said. However, he narrated that when they reached a
slight slope near Build It Hardware, he stopped so that the workers could not
injure themselves as they ran down the slope which was filled with overgrown
vegetation. He said when he looked back, he noticed armed police officers
approaching in full sprint and he decided to turn towards them so that they
could recognise him since he was wearing a marshal’s vest.
“I raised my hands and shouted; ‘Please do not shoot. I am a marshal’,”
he alleged.
He said by then the officers were very close to him and he saw one of them
aiming to shoot towards him, and he decided to take it to his heels.
“It was then that they shot me in the back. I fell down the slight slope and
crawled towards the main road near Mzimnene River where I was assisted to get
into a car and was rushed to hospital,” he alleged. Upon arrival at RFM
Hospital, he alleged that he had to be taken to the theatre where two pieces of
the rubber bullets were removed.
Decision
“I thank God for making a quick decision to run again because if I had delayed
for a few minutes, maybe the rubber bullets would have pierced through my
stomach and I do not know what would have happened,” he said.
On the same note, Nhlabatsi, who works for an insurance company in Manzini, said
she was walking past Dups Holdings, going back to her workstation at Summer
Place Complex when she came across people who were running away.
She said while she was thinking on her next move, because she could sense that
things were not normal, she saw a police Casspir turning the corner towards them
by the traffic lights. She said she heard gunshots and screams by the marchers
who were running helter-skelter.
“I decided to hide in the hedge by Dups Holding’s main gate and as the sound
of the gunshots continued, I was gripped by fear and faced down while covering
my face with my hands.
“I heard two shots hitting the hedge right next to me and thereafter, two
rubber bullets hit my right hand,” she alleged. Later on, she said she came
out of the hedge and was taken by an ambulance from Dr Jonathan Dlamini of
Lulama Health Centre which rushed her to RFM Hospital.  At the hospital, she
said she was taken to the theatre where the rubber bullets were removed from his
hand.
“The doctors told me that my first and fourth fingers (pinky and index finger
respectively) were fractured,” she said.
Nhlabatsi is also currently admitted to RFM Hospital as she is awaiting to put
plaster on her hand. On the other hand, a Swaziland National Association of
Teachers (SNAT) member, Londiwe Mdlovu, who was part of the #Operation ‘shut
down’ Manzini, was shot with a rubber bullet in her left arm.
When narrating her story, she said she found herself running with two other
marchers when they fled from the police who were shooting rubber bullets and
tear gas canisters at them.
She said when they were passing Dups Holdings, they agreed that they should walk
to KFC to relax and eat since the march had turned violent.
As they walked towards the traffic lights near Estel House, a group of armed
police officers alighted from a speeding police Casspir and fired rubber bullets
at them.
“I and one of the other marchers were shot in the arm and we decided to sit
down.
“The officers jumped back to their Casspir which was waiting for them before
Dups Holding main gate and they drove off,” she said.
Medical
She said they received medical attention from Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross
Society, who cleaned their wounds and bandaged them.
The PSAs secretariat, which spoke with the voice of SNAT Secretary General
Sikelela Dlamini and NAPSAWU Secretary General Thulani Hlatshwako, said they
were still working on compiling a post-mortem report of the march. However, they
mentioned that they had seen the aforementioned injured workers and the ordinary
citizen.