19 SUSPECTED LOOTERS ARRESTED

MANZINI – Dozens of people have been arrested in connection with the looting that took place during the ongoing protest actions and they are being charged for contravening the Public Order Act No.12 of 2017.

This follows a crackdown exercise, which is carried out by law enforcement agencies, mainly the police and army, around Manzini and Matsapha. According to well-placed sources, the exercise started on Tuesday. In the exercise, the sources claimed that the law enforcers raided homes around and identified some of the items which were looted from the various businesses in Manzini and Matsapha. The sources claimed that some of those who were suspected looters, were forced to load the looted items into police vans as exhibits. Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said government would issue a statement about events that took place during and after the protest actions.

However, as a result of the crackdown exercise, a total of 19 people appeared before Manzini Acting Principal Magistrate Sindisile Zwane yesterday. They were charged for contravening Section 15 (3) (f) of the Public Order Act No.12 of 2017. Three of the people, who are accused of looting, were arrested at Malkerns and they are Mancoba Dlamini (20) of Mseleni, Mkhuleko Mabuza (20) of Malkerns and Christopher Dlamini (48) of Magomini. According to their charge sheet, on Wednesday, while they were at Malkerns, they were allegedly found looting items from a shop belonging to Muhammed Fawvar. Mancoba and Mabuza are said to have allegedly looted items valued at E134, E50 and E127 respectively, while Christopher allegedly burgled goods amounting to about E222.

Meanwhile, other suspects who were arrested for looting are said to have looted stores in Manzini, Ngwane Park and Moneni, among others. Among them is a teenage boy (17) of KaKhoza. According to the charge sheet, he was allegedly found looting various items from shops in Manzini on Tuesday. During their appearance before the acting principal magistrate, the accused persons were remanded back into custody until July 15, 2021, pending the setting of their trial dates. Some of them applied for bail, but the Crown opposed their application. It was said that they also needed to go for quarantine before they could make their second appearance before the court.

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On top of that, the acting principal magistrate told them that the court had noted the surge in violent protest actions in the country, which led to a volatile situation, where people vandalise and looted from properties. She said the police had raised concerns over the safety of lives and property. As a result, she said the court should be seen trying to control the situation and it would do that by opposing their bail applications. However, the acting principal magistrate mentioned that their bail applications could be considered during their next appearance in court. It is worth noting that other businesses which were looted during the protest actions include Eswatini Beverages, six Ok Foods Supermarkets and Liquor Shops, automated teller machines (ATMs), shops selling accessories and electronics, among others. Again other properties, including cars and trucks were burnt.

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