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ANOTHER WARDER KIDNAPPED, TORTURED, SHOT DEAD

05/11/2022 07:32:00 Thokozani Mazibuko

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MBABANE – “We are planning to resign if dialogue is not called soon.”

These were the words of over 20 warders at His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) who contacted this publication after the murder of their colleague on Thursday evening. The warders said their lives were in danger and they were being targeted and killed by unknown people. They said the killings were obviously politically motivated and there were issues that needed to be addressed through a dialogue process. The warders, who preferred to remain anonymous for now, disclosed that they were greatly affected by the assassination of their colleague, Mbongiseni Mthayi Dlamini who was executed after being kidnapped, tortured and forced to record a video with a political message on Thursday evening by unknown gunmen.

He was discovered in the early hours yesterday morning with a gunshot wound on the head in a forest at Lwandle. They said they were now scared to even wear uniforms of the department as they were being hunted down by the unknown group of people. “Our only hope now is for the national dialogue to be called. Mthayi’s death was a clear sign that we are being hunted down for political reasons and we believe that the national dialogue is the only thing that will help solve the problem.

Commitment

“The King made a commitment and gave an instruction that the dialogue should be held; he even approved a budget of E22 million for it. We have reached a point where we even want to resign because the government is putting our lives in danger. By delaying the dialogue, we think government is sacrificing our lives,” they said. The warders were reacting after social media got flooded with the news of the death of their colleague. According to well placed sources, the deceased, Dlamini (36), who hails from Herefords in the Hhohho Region, was based at the Royal Guard section in Sidvokodvo and he had just returned from duty from one of the royal palaces after work.

The sources said upon his return from work, he went inside his government flat and left his coat in the sitting room before he left the house and went to the nearest shop to buy his favourite cigarette. Dlamini, who was still clad in his uniform, went back after buying the cigarette but unfortunately, unknown men who were armed with guns kidnapped him. The sources revealed that he was then forced into a car which sped off on the road towards Gundvwini area in the Manzini Region. His assailants passed the late Chief Prince Logcogco’s umphakatsi and a few kilometres just before Ngwane Park took a left direction towards Chief Nkamane’s chiefdom, in Lwandle.

Less than 300 metres after the turn, the men pulled Dlamini out of the car and pushed him towards a guava tree where he was made to record a video before being shot in the head. In an online 25 seconds video that began trending on Thursday night, Mthayi is seen seated down and making a declaration that he has been kidnapped by members of a group called The Triple S (SSS).

Investigations

It was later gathered that the SSS was an acronym for a new group called Sikhali Sesive SemaSwati. When this reporter arrived at the scene at about 9am, the body of the deceased had been removed from the scene by the Forensic Department of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) for further investigations. Members of the REPS who were found at the scene could not give information on the death, but instead indicated that the matter was under investigation and no one had been arrested at the time of compiling this report. Well placed sources disclosed that the deceased might not have been the target as his assailants allegedly ransacked one of his colleague’s rented flat in Makholokholo in Mbabane before going to Sidvokodvo to carry out the act.

“Two unknown men invaded a house belonging to Dlamini’s colleague in Makholokholo but they did not find him. Realising that her husband was in danger, his wife called and alerted him of the latest development. The targeted warder then instructed his wife to immediately escape from the house and meet him in a location that cannot be disclosed. He then contacted the officer in charge at Sidvokodvo and informed him of the threats on his life before switching off his phone and immediately going into hiding. We believe the unknown men proceeded to Sidvokodvo in pursuit of the warder who was their target. However, the deceased appeared and was seen enjoying his smoke from the nearby spaza shop and they opted to kidnap and kill him instead,” said the source.

It was revealed that the deceased was a son of the late senior officer at HMCS, Masomalenhle Dlamini. Eswatini Correctional Services Staff Association (ECOSSA) President Simiso Ginindza said they do not blame officers who were contemplating resigning from the department. Ginindza was reacting to the news of Dlamini’s assassination after his colleagues indicated that they were ready to resign if government continued to delay the dialogue.

“As an organisation, we do not blame those officers who are contemplating resigning from work considering the ongoing killing of junior officers. Every person has got a constitutional right to change professions. It is also disheartening that the employer seems not to care about the welfare of our members. First and foremost as ECOSSA, we would like to pass our heartfelt and sincere condolences to the families of our colleagues who have passed on,” Ginindza said.

Painful

He said the employer was not showing any means towards resolving the ongoing national crisis. He stated that the painful thing was that officers were dying on an empty stomach while senior warders enjoyed lucrative salaries as they benefitted from the 2014 Phase 1 salary restructuring of terms of service for security forces. “Junior officers are struggling despite diligently serving the country and the employer who doesn’t care about their welfare. Despite the obvious risk that comes with working for the Correctional services, the employer fails to provide junior officers with risk allowances and personal protective equipment,” pointed out Ginindza.

Furthermore, Ginindza said they would convene an urgent mass meeting wherein the issue of junior officers who were either injured or died in the line of duty would be seriously deliberated. “We remain resolute in demanding a meaningful percentage and fair back-pay in respect of our much awaited Phase 2,” affirmed Ginindza. ECOSSA is a newly-registered association looking after the welfare of all warders in the country.