Mario masuku a free man

MBABANE- After spending 340 days in prison, PUDEMO leader Mario Masuku was yesterday acquitted and discharged at the High Court.

Masuku had been arrested and charged with terrorism, alternatively sedition on November 15 last year for statements he allegedly made during the funeral of Musa ‘MJ’ Dlamini who died while allegedly trying to bomb the Lozitha bridge.

Yesterday’s events saw scenes and sounds of loud cheers, singing, chanting of slogans, hugging and even the shedding of tears of jubilation from Masuku’s supporters and symphatisers.
Masuku also burst out in song while joined by his jubilant comrades.

Judge Mbutfo Mamba acquitted Masuku after an application was made by Senior Advocate Kadis that Masuku be discharged because the evidence was too weak to link him to the charge and that none of the six witnesses had given any credible story linking Masuku with the crime. He quoted Section 174 (4) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 1938 and argued that Masuku did not even need to lead evidence and tell his side of the story.
The judge said he agreed that the evidence thus far was too weak and that Masuku must, therefore, go home. He said he would give reasons for his ruling later.

Immediately the presiding judge announced that Masuku was acquitted and discharged, the members of banned PUDEMO interrupted the court session, shouting and chanting Masuku’s name.
Judge Mamba then immediately adjourned the proceedings, leaving the over 70 members of PUDEMO singing.
Advocate Kadis did not wait to share the limelight of his achievement as he left quietly without anyone noticing, accompanied by his wife.

Masuku had also lined up senior lawyers Mandla Mkhwanazi, Paul Shilubane and Thulani Maseko, while the Director of Public Prosecutions Mumcy Dlamini appeared alone assisted by an unidentified police officer from the Lukhozi Serious Crimes Unit. During the course of the trial, Masuku appeared calm, composed and confident and even smiled and laughed at some of the comments made about him by the five state witnesses.

The High Court was turned into a battle field of a highly emotional and energy sapping political trial, which was the first since the dawn of the Terrorism Act.
The case was supposed to start at 9.30am but recorders at Court A developed mechanical faults and delayed the case. It eventually started at around 10.15am in another court.

...the struggle has just begun - Masuku

MBABANE - After the case, Mario Masuku told his comrades that the struggle for democracy and human rights had only but begun.

His wife and children appeared calm and there was no emotional reaction from them.
Perhaps, this owes to what his son, Mzwandile Masuku, told this newspaper afterwards that “We knew he was innocent but what pains us is that why wait for a whole year for the state to get this”.

 The Director of Public Prosecutions, Mumcy Dlamini, who cut a lone figure in court and had to endure unsavoury remarks from members of the gallery, disappeared immediately after the judgement.
Asked by this newspaper when he planned to go home, Masuku jokingly said Wednesday, but his family members insisted that he would be out by yesterday.

Notably, the High Court was swamped by a strong police presence, some of them in plain clothes, while others in full military gear.
There were about seven police cars, while over 15 officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) had stationed themselves next to the gate in full combat gear.

*PUDEMO is an acronym for the People’s United Democratic Movement.

Some ministers want Gelane’s position, says Robert Zwane 

LOBAMBA – Senator Robert Zwane has alleged that there are some Cabinet ministers who want the Presidency in Senate.

He was speaking yesterday in Senate where senators raised a concern over media reports about last Thursday’s stand-off between two ministers and the Senate President, Gelane Zwane.

Zwane (Robert) said he had noticed this behaviour, particularly from the ministers who had served many terms in Parliament as they liked showing off about their experience. He recommended that should they repeat this in future, the president should simply chuck them out.

Senator Zwane said the reports that were often written in the media giving the impression that Zwane (Gelane) was iron-handed were due to such ministers as, whenever she attempted to correct them, they disregarded her advice because they thought they knew more than the president. Zwane did not name the ministers.