‘STATE EMBARRASSING PM’

MBABANE – Following a submission by the State that the PPA leaders cited the prime minister in their court papers to embarrass him, the political party leaders said this was in fact the other way round.

The PPA leaders accused the State of allegedly going out of its way to embarrass the head of government.
Assistant Attorney General Mbuso Simelane on Wednesday told the court that the Political Party Assembly (PPA) leaders, who were investigated by the police, cited the prime minister as the second respondent in their application before court in order to embarrass him.

The quartet is Sibongile Mazibuko, Jan Sithole, Musa Nkambule and Wandile Dludlu.
Mazibuko is the President of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) while Nkambule is the Chairman of Sibahle Sinje National Movement.
Dludlu is the Secretary General of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and Sithole is the President of the Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA).

Warrants

Simelane made the submission when the court heard the quartet’s application in which they seek an order setting aside the search and seizure warrants which were issued against them at the magistrates court.

Judge Nkosinathi Maseko only heard arguments on points of law and he reserved his judgment. The matter will proceed on the merits in due course. The court extended the interim order preventing the police from doing anything on the applicants while the matter is pending in court. Following Simelane’s submissions, the PPA leaders’ attorney, human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, submitted that it was in fact the State that went out of its way to embarrass the prime minister.

Thulani said citing the prime minister had nothing to do with the office of the prime minister but him as the minister of police.
He submitted that it was wrong for Simelane to say they intended to embarrass the PM. He also pointed out that even PUDEMO in 2008 was declared a proscribed organisation by the former prime minister. Thulani also informed the court that they had since become aware that his clients were being investigated for sedition and terrorism.

According to the police, the quartet is suspected to have been the architects of the banner with an inscription calling for the fall of the country’s authorities and introduction of multiparty democracy in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Banner

This is the banner which was displayed during a recent march by members of the PPA in Mbabane. The exact wording of the banner cannot be repeated as it is suspected to be of seditious nature.

According to the law enforcers, they received information from their (police) Intelligence Department that the homesteads or residences of the four were places where suspected explosives, seditious documents and information were kept.

“Now we know that the type of crime they are investigated for relates to sedition and terrorism. So the organisation responsible for safety and security in the country must be cited,” said Thulani. Simelane told the court that the prime minister oversees issues of hiring and promotions.

“What has the prime minister got to do with the search warrants? They want to make the whole thing appear to be politically motivated,” said Simelane. He submitted that the prime minister was cited in order to embarrass him and the national commissioner of police should have been cited instead.

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