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FRIENDS ATTACK COPS OVER ‘BEBE’S DEATH

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MANZINI – Clouds of smoke and tear gas covered Mankayane town on Saturday night as Sebenele ‘Bebe’ Mbuyisa’s friends clashed with police officers.


‘Bebe’ is the 29-year-old who was heavily assaulted allegedly by police officers and died after about two months while undergoing treatment at the Mbabane Government Hospital, where he had been admitted.


He died last Sunday after he was allegedly assaulted on June 9, 2019.
The violent clash between the deceased’s friends and the police took place on Saturday at around 11:30pm until about 4am yesterday.


Vigil


This took place while mourners were at a vigil at ‘Bebe’s parental homestead, situated at Mhlatane under Ngwempisi Inkhundla.
A source close to the matter said the bone of contention was that one of the police officers who is allegedly implicated in ‘Bebe’s assault incident, which is believed to have led to his death, was deployed to close  bars around the town on the night, yet the deceased’s friends were there.


The source said ‘Bebe’s friends had been enjoying alcoholic beverages in the bars in Mankayane Town the whole day and intended to attend the vigil and funeral thereafter.


He said when they saw the officer approaching one of the bars, hell broke loose.
He said the fuming friends of the deceased allegedly pelted the police officer, who was with a colleague, with stones.  “They were left with no other choice except to jump into the police van and drive off,” the source said.


Thereafter, he said the friends were joined by others and the angry mob turned rubbish bins upside down and burnt them together with old car tyres.
He said they also threw all sorts of rubbish onto the public road and burnt it.


Stones


“The road was blocked in the process and cars which attempted to pass  ended up having to turn back and use an alternative road as the mob was throwing stones at them,” the source said.


On the other hand, he said police called for back-up and in the twinkling of an eye, police cars came with officers who were armed to the teeth.
Upon seeing the armed police, the source said the angry mob attacked the law enforcers by pelting them with stones.
He said at first, the officers retreated.


“However, later on the police officers decided to meet fire with fire as they fired warning shots in the air and tear gas canisters,” the source said.
He said the crowd ran helter-skelter but later regrouped and continued to attack, the police who ‘returned the favour’ by firing tear gas canisters at them. He said the clash lasted until dawn, around 4am.


Furthermore, the source said as they attacked the police, the mob made it clear that they did not want to see a law enforcer at ‘Bebe’s funeral.
“Luckily, no one was injured during the violent clash,” the source said.


Following ‘Bebe’s death, his friends marched to the Mankayane Police Station last Friday and delivered a petition demanding answers and justice regarding their companion’s demise.


It is worth noting that his family and friends believe that he died due to the alleged police beating.


Assaulting


However, the police on the other hand claim that they only gave ‘Bebe’ a lift and dropped him off without assaulting him.


On the other hand, post-mortem results which were issued by Police Pathologist Dr Komma Reddy last Wednesday, reflected that the cause of ‘Bebe’s death was septicaemia (blood poisoning, especially one which is caused by bacteria or their toxins).

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