Home | News | STUDENTS BURN POLICE VAN CARRYING DEAD BODY

STUDENTS BURN POLICE VAN CARRYING DEAD BODY

01/10/2022 07:39:00 Thokozani Mazibuko

Font size:

MBABANE – Yesterday, there was chaos inside the Mbabane Government Hospital when students, donning colours of several political formations, set alight a police vehicle that had brought a corpse to the mortuary.

This happened after the students clashed with the police as they attempted to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. It seemed, the members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) had been successful in stopping the petition delivery in the morning when they dispersed groups of five students who had assembled next to the Engen Filling Station in Mbabane.

Suspected

The armed officers were seen moving around dispersing those they suspected were gathered there for the petition delivery, which was an event organised by the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS). At about 9am, a group of students suspected to be from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) were heard singing as they went past the Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Services (ENFES) Headquarters, however, the police officers successfully dispersed them.

One of the officers was heard telling the students that they must go back to class and learn and refrain from participating in marches. From 9am to 10:30am, the police continued to disperse groups of people whom they suspected were political activists. After 10am, the police had to engage another strategy as they heard the singing of political songs coming from the direction of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Mbabane Campus. Over 200 students donning colours of several political formations were singing and dancing next to the main gate of the campus, which is adjacent to the Mbabane Government Hospital. The police officers, realising that they had been outsmarted by the students, camped next to the main gate of the hospital.

Protesters

After an hour, a group of protesters arrived and they were reportedly from Manzini and this increased the numbers of the demonstrators. That is when the president of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), Sakhile ‘Aw’viva’ Nxumalo, ordered that the march should begin en-route to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and then to the Prime Minister’s Office. SNUS was to deliver the petition to government demanding scholarships and jobs for all; however, the marchers were seen arming themselves with huge stones.

One of the leaders who was addressing the marchers using a loud hailer, made it clear that they were not willing to back down from their plan, which was to deliver the petition to the said ministries. It was now about noon and the marchers under the banner of SNUS charged towards the gate of the hospital and as soon they reached the main road that leads to His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) Headquarters, it was clear that a confrontation was at hand. One of the leaders of SNUS was seen charging towards the armed police officers in an attempt to have a word with them; however, one of the cops told him to immediately back-off. The police gave the marchers a two-minute ultimatum to disperse, but this only prompted the students to respond by throwing stones in the direction of the officers. As the students threw the stones, the officers ran for cover behind their Casspir, which began pumping out tear gas, through a pipe, in the direction of the demonstrators who were seemingly not willing to stop throwing the stones.

Teargas

The officers regained their footing and began firing tear gas canisters at the protesters, even inside the hospital yard. After seeing that they were on the back foot, the students forced the hospital’s security guards to open the gate and ran helter skelter inside the premises. Most of the protesters were seen rushing to the hospital’s wards to seek shelter as the police continued to fire them with the tear gas. One of the protesters was seen grabbing a newborn from her mother and threw her into the hands of a nurse who was near the hospital gate. In an interview with Eswatini News, the nurse disclosed that the baby was checked by a doctor to ascertain if she had been injured and was later handed over back to her mother.

Most of the patients inside the hospital were seen perplexed at what was happening as the police and marchers continued to square-up. Some of the marchers then located the police van, which had no licence plates, that was parked inside the hospital’s premises next to the mortuary. They opened its bonnet as it was not locked. They were seen placing plastics inside the front seats of the vehicle and eventually set it alight while some of them were seen tampering with the car’s battery cable.

Burning

A burst was heard coming from the burning police vehicle while the marchers were shouting in excitement. After setting alight the police vehicle, which was carrying a corpse, some of the marchers disappeared inside the hospital’s wards while others escaped into the UNESWA Campus premises, where they continued challenging the officers by pelting them with stones. After a few minutes, senior police officers arrived to inspect the van that was damaged and it was discovered that the corpse had not been burnt in the process. They were seen removing the corpse from the burnt vehicle and loading it unto a Toyota Quantum.

The officers were then seen leaving the scene while the confrontation with the students on the side of the university campus gate. Other vehicles were damaged during the confrontation between the police officers and protesters while some of the demonstrators were reportedly treated after inhaling tear gas inside the hospital. The attempt to deliver the petition by SNUS failed. On another note, on Thursday, the police clashed with ratepayers in Pigg’s Peak, where one of the officers was reportedly disarmed of his service rifle by the protesters.

Blocked

Worth noting is that in most recent cases, petition delivery has been successfully blocked by the members of the police service. It is not the first time that students clashed with the police over scholarships demonstrations in the country. At the time of compiling this report, there were no arrests made in connection to the burning of the police vehicle. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said investigations were currently ongoing. Vilakati then advised those responsible for burning the motor vehicle to hand themselves over to the nearest police station.