NOISY MANZINI DEAD QUIET

MANZINI – One could hear one’s voice echo in the streets of the hub of the country yesterday - Manzini – as it was characterised by empty streets.
 The city, which is ordinarily characterised by over 100 000 visitors, had not more than five people per street yesterday. This was at about 7am, which is the rush hour.

At this hour, on a normal working day, engines of vehicles passing through the city’s streets reverberate while motorists honk their horns at others for driving recklessly. Pedestrians hastily move about rushing to their various places of employment or to the bus rank to board public transport that would get them to work on time. 

Slumber

However, this organised symphony of the city was in slumber as security forces had locked entry points into the town. Motorists and pedestrians alike had to advance valid reasons for their journey into town.

This was witnessed from as early as 6:45am. A trip from Ngwane Park, a township situated about seven kilometres south of the city centre, which is usually about a seven-minute drive, lasted over 20 minutes yesterday.

This follows that at Zakhele Remand Centre Four Way Stop, there was a roadblock. This led to a traffic jam as over 30 vehicles were at a snail’s pace making their way to the roadblock.

At this barricade, security personnel were demanding that motorists state where they were headed.
This was one of many barricades that were mounted on the roads leading into the city. The roadblock was mounted by the police, His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) and Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF).

When the motorists or pedestrians were stating their destination, they had to be wearing a mask and also have proof or a convincing reason for their journey. To substantiate that the bearer of the letter was authentic, it had to have his/ her personal identity number (PIN), which was cross-checked with the national identity document by the law enforcers before being permitted to proceed.

For motorists without the letters, they were ordered to return to their point of departure.  The same applied to pedestrians. They had to present a letter to the security personnel or give a valid reason that coerced them to travel to the city.

On the other hand, pedestrians who thought pursuing back routes would assist them in getting into the city centre without being exposed to the security forces, were in for it as the roads from Zakhele were littered with security personnel at least every two-kilometres.
In town, every street corner had security personnel demanding proof of where the pedestrian was headed to. In fact, the town was littered with more security personnel than pedestrians in its alleys and streets.

This was at around 7am. However, from the Ngwane Park direction, the security personnel were not screening the pedestrians and motorists.

Blockades

Meanwhile, there were other roadblocks at different intervals on routes leading to Manzini. Those approaching Manzini from the eastern direction of Mafutseni or Ngculwini, there was a sentry post at Gum Tree, which is about four kilometers east of the city centre.

For those headed to the CBD from the northern part of the town, from townships like Fairview, SterkStroom and Njunja, the roadblock was along Central Distributor Road, popularly known as Central. Another barricade was next to the William Pitcher Teachers College.
For those seeking entry from townships in the west of the city, from the Matsapha direction, there was a checkpoint at Mhlaleni, which is about five kilometres from the city centre.

Leading to Mhlaleni, from the Manzini direction, there were police at the Nazarene Traffic Lights intersection. The police were from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU).
There, they were ordering people to disperse at the station and those who had no valid reason to travel were ordered to return to where they came from.
At the next bus stop, which is KaKhoza, the officers from OSSU were engaged in the same task while also checking letters from those seeking to gain entry into the city centre.

Meanwhile, at the Mhlaleni roadbloack, at about 7:25am, there was a long traffic jam starting at the Logoba overhead bridge.
There, the security personnel, who also included officers from the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), were ordering commuters to descend from public transport and submit their proof for travel letters.

Those without were turned back and the same went for public service vehicles. The roadblocks were held at these points until just after 3pm. For motorists and pedestrians, trickery to gain entry into town was not an option as the police were at the entry points into the city until 6pm.

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