Times Of Swaziland: NATCOM DENIES DECLARING WAR, CALLS FOR CALM

NATCOM DENIES DECLARING WAR, CALLS FOR CALM
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Stanley Khumalo and Sibusiso Zwane  on 28/06/2021 09:12:00


SIPHOFANENI – “I never declared war,” says the National Commissioner of
Police (NatCom) William Dlamini.
Dlamini was responding to a question that sought to establish if what he was
quoted as having said by the local weekend publications had not been the cause
of the violent clashes between police officers and the protesters. He was quoted
as having said: “This is war!”  It was reported that he had said the above
when stating that police officers would use force to disperse crowds that would
defy government orders suspending the delivery of petitions to constituency
centres. In the aftermath of the violent clashes of the police and protesters,
social media commentators claimed that such utterances had fuelled the fire as
people were bound to be defiant.
When sought to elaborate what he meant by his statement, Dlamini said he had not
declared a war but had responded to a question by a journalist who sought to
establish if police officers were not scared of a confrontation with the
protesters. He said: “A Dlamini journalist asked me if police officers were
not scared of a confrontation and I said this was like a war. This meant that
whenever a situation like this happened, a person did not have an alternative
but had to confront it head on.”
Protect
The NatCom said should he have responded by saying that they were afraid as
police officers, it would have meant that he was telling his troops to run for
cover and not protect the citizenry during the protests. He emphasised that
‘war’ was quoted out of context as the police could not declare war on the
citizenry they were meant to protect. Dlamini said the police were not
discriminatory in rendering their services as they protected even the
protesters. “It aches my heart that this has degenerated to confrontations.
People should understand that when I say we shall not be alone, I am not saying
we shall be there with other people or other intentions but I meant that we
would be with other security forces we usually partner with.”
Worth noting, is that in most instances, the police partner with officers from
His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS). The NatCom appealed to the public
to be patient as government had suspended the delivery of petitions due to
certain reasons.