Times Of Swaziland: ASPIRING SENATOR MABUZA FEELS HARASSED BY POLICE

ASPIRING SENATOR MABUZA FEELS HARASSED BY POLICE
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 BY MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE and SIBONGILE SUKATI on 30/07/2020 00:59:00


EZULWINI - Senate hopeful Sifiso Mabuza has learnt that securing a political
seat is not a stroll in the park.
This comes after Mabuza felt harassed by the police who descended on some of his
properties, as they allegedly carried out the vetting process for the position
of a senator, which was left vacant by the late Mike Temple.
At around 3pm yesterday, a contingent of police officers from Mbabane descended
the Malagwane Hill and proceeded to Ezulwini where Mabuza has 31 state-of-the
art flats at Mvutjini and 16 at Ebuka, respectively.
Mabuza is one of the three Senate hopefuls, who were supposed to be elected last
Monday by the House of Assembly, however, the elections failed to take off.
This was after the Senate Elections Returning Officer, Ndvuna Dlamini, said the
process could not continue as they had received communication from the national
commissioner of police that they were still vetting the candidates.
The other candidates are businessmen Bongani Matsebula and Jimmy Hlophe from
Mhlume and Manzini Region, respectively.
Harassed
According to Mabuza, he felt harassed because he went through all the required
processes as per the dictates of Section 96 of the Constitution which included,
getting a police clearance, paying his taxes and producing his voter
registration card.
Mabuza said he felt harassed as the police officers also questioned his wife
about him and they also went around calling pastors, his former teachers to the
extent of asking how far he had gone with his education.
Of note is that Mabuza is a brother to Hosea MP Bacede Mabuza, who has recently
been in the headlines after successfully moving a motion calling for the
suspension of raids and arrests conducted in terms of the Prevention of
Organised Crime Act (POCA), 2018.
Questions
Meanwhile, at Mvutjini the police are reported to have entered the flats where
they asked some of the tenants several questions.
According to Siboniso Simelane, who is the property supervisor, the cops first
claimed that they were looking for a certain Mamba individual who lived within
the complex.
“When informed that there was no one with that identity, they proceeded to
enter the premises, informing us that as police officers, they had every right
to enter any place and at anytime,” he said.
Simelane narrated that while some officers took pictures of the premises, others
knocked on the doors of the tenants and asked them where and whom they paid
their rentals to and at what date of the month.
He said there were six plain-clothes officers.
Simelane alleged that one of the tenants was asked if she paid her rentals
through the bank or in cash to a certain individual.
After their mission was completed at the Mvutjini flats, the officers are
reported to have moved on to Ebuka where a similar occurrence took place.
At Ebuka, the cops were met by the property groundsman, Mefika Dlamini, to whom
they introduced themselves.
According to Dlamini, the law enforces did not disclose the nature of their
investigation save to say they only came to conduct investigations.
He was asked to accompany them as they interviewed some of the tenants.
In one of the flats, the police allegedly found a minor who informed them that
one of her parents was at work.
In another flat, they reportedly found a woman whom they asked about the leasing
arrangements of the flats.
They proceeded to count the number of flats and further took photographs of the
compound.
Dlamini said the police then left, stating that they could return for further
investigations.