MY ENEMIES MIGHT’VE KILLED WIFE - MASHUMI

MBABANE – Mashumi Shongwe suspects that his enemies killed his wife, Tigezile Shongwe nee Magongo.

His wife was a police officer in Nhlangano. She was killed on Wednesday by unknown gunmen, who fired shots at her while she was trying to open a gate to her house. It is understood that she was shot seven times. In an interview, Shongwe said he was assisting police in their investigations into circumstances surrounding the killing of Sergeant Tigezile. They haven’t been living together since 2016. However, he said he still regarded her as his wife. Shongwe is also a former police officer.

Burning

He said the recent burning of SEIWU’s vehicle and derogatory remarks by members of certain political parties against him in person, raised suspicion that his adversaries could be responsible for his wife’s gruesome murder. The co-founder of the Federation of Swaziland Trade Union (FESWATU) and chairperson of Nhlangano Town Council said his wife conceived and birthed his children. He said some of these children were aged above 20 years. The Swaziland Economic Improvement Workers Union, otherwise known as SEIWU, is an affiliate of FESWATU. He recalled how a certain union staged a protest against Montigny and SEIWU.

He said there was absolutely no reason for him to end the life of the mother of his children, even if they had differences in marital opinion. As a result, Shongwe said he was saddened by her death. He said he was aware that he had enemies due to him subscribing to political ideologies detested by some partisans. He said he was also cognisant of the fact that he was detested for having a firm hand in the establishing of SEIWU. Shongwe said he had taken note of social media comments wherein his wife’s death was subjected to ridicule and mockery, with some people blaming him for her demise. He lamented that he was called by all sorts of names, unpalatable as they were, he derived strength from his conscience that he was an innocent man.He was positive that God would vindicate him.

Untrue

The soccer administrator and businessman said reports that he wanted to sell his house to Asians were untrue and intended to diminish his good character. He did not understand why some people belittled him at a critical moment of his bereavement. “I have no reason to kill my wife and I also have no reason to fight over the house as it is owned by me and my late wife,” said Shongwe in an exclusive interview. He added: “I even do not have an intention to sell this house.”

He mentioned that even though his wife has passed away, he still has no plans to put the house in the market. “I cannot sell it because I have children who are above 20 years with my late wife,” he said. The FESWATU president said he would always engage his children in talks over any decision that needed to be taken about their home. “Social media is all about character assassination,” he said. Shongwe said social media bullying has destroyed the lives of many people.  He was adamant that social media bullying would not intimidate him.

Confirmed

The football administrator confirmed that they had been in separation with his wife since 2016 and were both staying in separate places in the same town, Nhlangano. “Thank you for touching base with me after the death of my wife,” he said. "I can only say that I am deeply saddened by her demise because the way her life was taken was very painful and I do not wish that something like this can happen again in my family in this lifetime.”
Shongwe said it was very unfortunate that he had been labelled a mafia, someone who was selling plots for some people to Asians. He revealed that he was also accused of sidelining other councillors in municipal matters.

He said he wanted to put the record straight that he was not a mafia and he would never be one for that matter. He said those close to him could bear testimony that he lived a clean life that was disconnected from people who could be suspected to be mafias. “A mafia doesn’t live the life that I live here,” he said. Furthermore, Shongwe explained that he had never taken any life with his hands in his lifetime. “I have never been involved in killing people. It can’t be me, I mean the mafia that they are talking about in the social media platforms.”

Challenged

He said social media users enjoyed monopoly as a right to freedom of expression, as they were not being challenged or subjected to litigation for defamation of character. “Today I would like to clarify this to everyone. I have no qualms with anyone and I haven’t provoked anyone,” he said.
“What I know is that my life has not been okay as I had attacks at my work place at Montigny. These attacks emanated from my formation of  SEIWU. This union is non-partisan and will never be politically connected as long as I am the leader.” Shongwe said SEIWU’s mandate was to handle issues pertaining to working conditions of employees and protection of employers. He said they exercised their right to freedom of association not to align the union with politics.

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