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MP MABHANISI TO TESTIFY IN BACEDE, MTHANDENI TRIAL

02/03/2022 08:55:00 Mbongiseni Ndzimandze and Kwanele Dlamini

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MBABANE – Kwaluseni Member of Parliament Sibusiso Mabhanisi Dlamini is one of the witnesses who will testify in the criminal trial of Hosea MPs Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube of Ngwempisi.

However, in his statement which was recorded with the police, Dlamini did not make mention of the duo, save for the events that happened when a petition was to be delivered to his constituency. Dlamini (51) is one of the 50 witnesses who have been lined up by the Crown to testify against Mabuza and Dube. Despite that at this stage of Mabuza and Dube’s trial, the names of the witnesses are not known, a statement that was recorded by Dlamini at Matsapha Police Station on June 17, 2021 after 11am, has gone viral on social media. The Crown has provided the defence with the statements of witnesses who will testify in the matter.

Statement

Dlamini’s statement and others were provided to the defence legal team as per the procedure in criminal cases. The evidence that was presented by the Crown since late last year was in the form of videos which were played in court until last Thursday. The Crown will lead witnesses from today as it continues to present its case against Mabuza and Dube. The two MPs have been accused of committing acts which offend the Suppression of Terrorism Act, as well as murder and inciting members of the public to riot, among other charges. They were co-charged with former Siphofaneni MP Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane, who is still at large.

Scheduled

The MPs’ trial had been scheduled to proceed yesterday before Judge Mumcy Dlamini. However, the matter could not proceed since the interpreter was not feeling well and the representatives of the parties approached the judge in chambers and upon their return, they spent the better part of the day sorting the logistics of proceeding with the trial from today.
Mabuza and Dube remained in court until after 3pm when they left for Matsapha Maximum Correctional facility. Dlamini’s statement was recorded after the incident that happened at Kwaluseni where he was attacked by members of the youth who had gone there to deliver a petition in June last year. At the time, according to the statement, Dlamini informed the police that Wandile Dludlu allegedly threatened to bomb his house if he did not respond to their petition. He stated in the statement that he learnt through social media that the youth would deliver a petition to Kwaluseni Constituency on June 8, 2021. He said he and members of the constituency council were not happy to be informed through social media about the delivery of the petition. The Kwaluseni MP informed the police that he called the Manzini Regional Administrator, Chief Gija, about the planned delivery of the petition. Chief Gija, according to Dlamini, allegedly advised him to notify the station commander of Matsapha Police Station about the delivery of the petition. He said the youth did not come to deliver the petition on June 8.

Informed

Dlamini also stated that he was informed by the Constituency Councillor, Jabulani Nkambule, that there was a social media post to the effect that the youth of Kwaluseni would deliver the petition on June 15. He said he again notified the regional administrator and the station commander about the intended delivery of the petition. He alleged that about 25 police officers from Matsapha Police Station, who were not dressed in police uniform, were deployed at the inkhundla centre. According to Dlamini, during a meeting with the constituency council at 10:45am, the station commander, together with other offices, arrived and informed them that the youth had arrived to deliver the petition and he should avail himself at the gate to receive it so that the youth may leave afterwards. Dlamini said as they made their way to the gate at the inkhundla centre, a police officer was allegedly attacked and he was referred to as Mabhanisi. The officer, according to Dlamini, was also accused by the youth of closing the gate on them. “They thought I was the police officer as we are identical. This was a clear sign that the youth who came to deliver the petition were not from Kwaluseni,” Dlamini informed the police. He further told the police that: “While we were receiving the petition, I was subjected to abuse by the petitioners.

All insults were directed to me and they claimed that they voted me into Parliament and I was selling them to the King, King Mswati III.” He alleged that his assailants mentioned that they did not support the Tinkhundla System of Government and he was further advised to retract his statement that had appeared in the Eswatini Observer the previous weekend. Finally, he stated, after they had allegedly insulted him, the police, the King and everyone who is associated with the Tinkhundla System of Government, they pelted those who were at the inkhundla centre with stones. The petition, according to Dlamini, was not signed and did not bear any contact details. He said the police did not react when they were pelted with stones and praised them for that since there were young boys among those who had come to deliver the petition as they might have been injured.

Bombed

“There was a threat that my house would be bombed if I did not respond to their petition. All this was said by Wandile Dludlu,” he alleged. When the trial of the MPs commenced in court, police officers from the four regions of the country presented photographs they had taken from places where arsonists had burnt public and private property during the peak of the political unrest last year. The number of witnesses to testify in the matter, 50, was revealed by the Crown during the pre-trial conference that was held at the High Court before the start of the trial last year. The prosecution was, however, adamant that it would not disclose the names of the witnesses because of security reasons. The Crown served the MPs and their representatives with the statements of witnesses and the trial could not proceed at the time because, according to their former legal representative, Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko, they were not ready. Maseko said he still had to go through the statements with the accused persons and prepare their defence. “We have just been served with the statements of witnesses. That is why we couldn’t start today because we have just been served with the statements of witnesses. They (Crown) are saying that they will call about 50 witnesses for now.

Change

“We don’t know, maybe the number might change. We need to take that big file to these guys (Mabuza and Dube) at Matsapha and go through each and every statement and prepare our defence based on what the State has against us,” Maseko said. In the composite summary of evidence which the Crown presented to the defence, it is alleged that Mabuza and Dube, as well as Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane, held various meetings in different places where they allegedly incited members of the public to revolt against government. The Crown told the court that as a result of the alleged incitement by the three accused persons, different tinkhundla centres were burnt and these included Timphisini, Ndzingeni, Hosea, KuMethula, Mayiwane, Ngwempisi, Somntongo, Ntondozi, Sandleni, Engudzeni, Matsanjeni and Maseyisini (vandalised).

Incitement

“Further, as a result of the incitement of the public by all the accused persons, various properties around the country were destroyed and different items looted. “These include three OK supermarkets in Matsapha, Eswatini Breweries, Nhlangano Health Centre, Mbabane Embangweni Complex, and Buy Cash hardwares all over the country, Lewis Stores and different ATMs for various financial institutions around the country,” submitted the Crown. The case will proceed today.