I WANT MY E50 000 BACK – EXPELLED ARMY RECRUIT

stanley@times.co.sz

MBABANE – “Greed and desperation tossed me into huge debts as I sought employment in the army.”

Choking from tears, *Sandile (27) spoke in a muffled voice, as he narrated how he was duped into believing that he would beat the system and join the army without going through all the necessary stages.

And indeed, Christmas for him was in February as he was guaranteed a spot in the army.
However, access to the Mbuluzi Infantry School where aspiring soldiers are trained to be fully-fledged defence force members was attained deceitfully.

Just five weeks into training at the infantry school, his ‘early Christmas present’ turned out to be a source of misery as he was turned back following investigations that he and about 59 other army hopefuls had bribed their way in.

Through his own admission, he had lost during the recruitment exercise at his constituency and had resorted to ‘buy’ a spot at E50 000. Per chiefdom, three army hopefuls were chosen – one male, one female and one more candidate forwarded by the royal kraal.

Fiddling with his hands, the busted aspirant soldier relayed that the will to enrol at the army infantry school and subsequently gain employment coerced him to abandon his principles and seek alternative means to make it.

Through a relative, Sandile said he learnt that there were unscrupulous means that could be adopted to assist him cement his chances of making it into the army. He said the relative informed him that he could secure a spot at Mbuluzi by ‘greasing’ a few palms.
“That is when I went home to relay this to my family. They enquired how reliable this man was and how much would be needed?”

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