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COPS, ARMY, HELP CORPSE CROSS BORDER ILLEGALLY

12/02/2021 23:30:00 BY TIMOTHY SIMELANE

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MBABANE – The legality of taking a corpse through an informal crossing point faces a litmus test.

This is after the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) allowed the exit of the body of a South African dagga smuggler they had shot dead, to cross the informal border on Wednesday. This has raised suspicion of possible flouting of international protocols.

The protocols, according to a source whose work involves fetching corpses from neighbouring States, requires medical and health certification that is produced at the border before a corpse is allowed entry or exit.

“This certificate is also used to control the spread of diseases, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic” the official stated.

However, in the latest incident, the body of alleged dagga dealer Mfundo Nyawo, who was shot dead allegedly by a soldier at Khalamfene on February 3 ,2021, while ferrying bags of dagga across the border with South Africa has been returned to his parental home through the informal crossing point. Nyawo, according to his relatives was to enrol for matric this year.

His family said police advised them to merely make an affidavit and produce it to whomsoever would confront them as they take the informal crossing route.

The affidavit was also accompanied by a post-mortem report of the corpse. They then asked for a Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) van to transport the body from the Good Shepherd Hospital morgue to the foot of the mountain at Mahlabaneni.

Assisted

The family had organised a contingent of men who assisted in carrying the coffin shoulder-high through the steep mountain that is part of the Lubombo Mountain range.

The family said they proceeded to pass through the very spot on which the deceased was slain. There they prayed briefly and continued to climb the mountain with the coffin. Along the way the family said they met UEDF members who took the affidavit and post-mortem reports after which they allowed them to proceed into South Africa. Worth noting is that there is no border fence on the mountain separating the two countries.

The party reached the summit of the mountain and proceeded to Emanyiseni, a rural village where the deceased was buried in his parental home.

The deceased’s cousin, Nkosikhona Matsebula, said the family was satisfied with the assistance received from the police in as far as granting them permission to remove the corpse from Eswatini to South Africa.

Application

“But, personally, I had requested that they assist in transporting the body to the border, after which we would make the necessary application to have him exit the right way. However, close family members opted for the informal crossing because they wanted the burial to be done and dusted,” Matsebula said.

He also decried that the family was made to shoulder the costs of transportation of the deceased despite that he had been ‘murdered’. He said the police made them pay E600 for fuel to transport the body .

He said the family was consulting with lawyers on both sides of the border.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Communications Officer Sikhumbuzo Bhembe said it was wrong to take human remains over informal crossings.

“As a ministry we have assisted in getting remains of emaSwati back home on several occasions even if they did not have the necessary permits to stay in other countries. The truck driver that was killed in SA recently is one example. We do not in any way suggest that informal crossing points be used as an alternative,” he said.

Bhembe said a corpse should be treated with dignity and should not be taken through mountains, yet there are designated ports.

Legality

He said the Ministry of Home Affairs, as the one in charge of ports, could share further clarity on the legality of taking a corpse across an informal crossing point.

The Ministry of Home Affairs Information and Communication Officer Mlandvo Dlamini said the army, which is in charge of borders, was best positioned to comment on the issue. However, he added that with the advent of diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic human remains should be commuted through the designated border posts.

He said even if the deceased had landed in the country illegally, it was incumbent upon the South African State to assist in having his remains repatriated back to South Africa.

“The COVID-19 regulations were meant to protect people from contracting the virus, but if they continue to use informal crossing points, they are putting their lives at risk,” he said.

UEDF Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo said: “We can only affirm that the family in question adhered to all the requisite protocols, which is why our troops did not intercept them.”

Authenticity

She did not respond to further questions on the authenticity of the authority that was used to take the deceased’s remains out of the country.

Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni said the family was allowed access on account of the bilateral agreement that exists between Eswatini and South Africa by which people residing along the border use informal crossing points.

“They just need to register with the soldiers manning the border line, and emaSwati also do the same if they want to go to South Africa,” she said.

Mnguni said though there is an ongoing court case on the death of Nyawo, the police did not need the corpse anymore which is why they allowed the family to proceed with the burial process.

Mnguni insisted that Nyawo’s family had ‘all the documents that would allow the body to exit the country.’

Nyawo was climbing the mountain with a colleague, Sakhile Dlamini and three other men, while carrying bags of dagga when they were confronted by border patrols.

Dlamini, who survived the incident, said Nyawo had already left his load of dagga at the summit of the mountain and was returning to assist him when two soldiers emerged. He said he was searched of his belongings and robbed of E4 700 as well as other personal belongings.