SOME PEOPLE WANT ME DEAD - PENUEL

MBEKELWENI - Penuel Malinga, the PUDEMO National Organiser, believes that there are people who want him dead.

Malinga said he is not shaken and only death will remove him from the struggle. The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) executive member said this after he suffered a second attack in a space of seven months at his home at Mbekelweni, Manzini. The incident took place on Tuesday at around 9:45pm, where a group of unknown people opened fire at his house (about 11 gunshots are believed to have been fired) and also set alight his car, a Ford Ranger 4x4 Double Cab 2.2 6 speed. The damage amounted to about E410 000 as the car was valued at around E365 000 and the damages in the house summed up to about E45 000.The first attack took place on April 1, 2022, at the same home and two arson weapons believed to be Molotov cocktails were thrown at the above mentioned car and in his bedroom, through the window.

Attack

When narrating what happened on Tuesday night, Malinga said they were three inside the house when the incident took place; himself, his wife and their 13-year-old son. He said following the first arson attack incident, they were now on high alert at night. He said they heard a gunshot and he jumped out of the bed with his wife and crawled to the passage. He said while crawling to the passage, they were joined by their son, who had come out of his room and more bullets were fired towards the house. While the gunshots reverberated in the air, with their son shivering in fear, they noticed that a person was walking on the roof of the house and they supposed that he was tempering with the daylight switch sensor so that the light outside the house could switch off. By so doing, he said they could not see the gunmen outside.Thereafter, he said when he tried to peep through the space of the curtain which covers the glass door and the wall, the gunmen hailed multiple bullets at the glass door and he had no other choice but to fall back. Again, he said moments later, the gunmen went to the left side of the house, to the window of the sitting room and fired more shots.

Gunshot

He said he heard another gunshot in front of the house and moments later, he saw a huge flame. At that moment, Malinga said he could not move because the last time he tried to make a movement, he was almost hit by a bullet as the gunmen were firing shots around the house. However, he said he then discovered that the last shot was directed at his car, supposedly at the right window of the backseat as it went through the right door. He said he supposed that they shot at the car so that they could sprinkle petrol inside it before they set it alight. “We eventually came out after hearing a familiar voice (neighbour) calling me. I found the car in flames and the gunmen had left,” the PUDEMO executive member said.

He said the neighbour informed them that he was walking to his home, which is located at the top of the hill, and he saw a group of men alighting from a white Toyota Hilux GD 6 LDV, which then went to park on the other side of the river. He said the neighbour did not notice which direction the men took after alighting from the car and this was because he did not suspect anything. However, the PUDEMO man said the neighbour told him that as he continued with his journey home, he heard gunshots and it clicked that it could be the men he saw alighting from the car as he could see the car parked on the other side of the river. Therefore, he said the neighbour decided to go back and check on him.

Thereafter, Malinga said they tried to put out the fire, but they discovered that the gunmen had also tempered with his water supply. He said he had a pipe which draws water from the river, but they found that it had no water, thus the damage ended up being extensive on the car. Furthermore, he said as they assessed the damage, they found an empty two litre container with little petrol which was supposedly left behind by the gunmen.After analysing the situation, he said the attack was well orchestrated by trained people because they tempered with the daylight switch sensor so that they (gunmen) could operate in the dark and also cut off the water supply to prevent them from putting out the fire. Again, he said when shooting, they targeted areas which were usually occupied by people; bedroom and sitting room.

“It is clear that they had come to kill me. However, if it is not my time to die, death is afar. I am not shaken and only death will take me away from the struggle for political reforms. As long as I am alive, I will always be on the streets calling for political reforms in the country,” Malinga said. He added that he was sorry for those who did not understand what was happening in the country. He said when joining the struggle, they were aware that they would go through such painful times and they knew that it was such pain that made the organisation and their fight stronger. “I will be part of the struggle until they take my soul,” the PUDEMO national organiser said. On another note, Malinga said he was planning to take his 13-year-old son for counselling because he was traumatised by the incident. Thereafter, he said since he was a schoolgoing boy, he would also find him a safer place to live.

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