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COMMUNITY POLICE DISOWN HUNTER AS ‘COMMISSIONER’

16/01/2023 09:17:00 Sibusiso Shange

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MBABANE - Community police members have disowned well-known Private Investigator Hunter Shongwe as their proposed national commissioner.

The disowning of Shongwe was confirmed by the interim National Chairman of Community Police Members, Jabulani Dlamini, in an interview yesterday. Dlamini was interviewed for clarity after he disowned Shongwe on People in Places, a programme aired on Channel Yemaswati. Dlamini disputed having nominated Shongwe for the position of national commissioner of community police in the country. Instead, he claimed that Shongwe was only invited to a meeting after he had registered his desire to meet the community police members concerning the prevailing situation in the country, in particular Matsapha. The Matsapha corridor has been a hot spot for the shooting of members of State security personnel by unknown people.

Issues

“I think you know that security issues are governed by ethics and they cannot be discussed in public. I was shocked when I was called by journalists enquiring about the meeting and the venue shortly after I had spoken to Shongwe. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss logistics, not to nominate anyone as our national commissioner. National commissioners are appointed by the King, not us. As community police members of Mbhuleni, we have no authority to nominate, elect or appoint a national commissioner because that would mean we are now deciding for the whole country,” Dlamini said. He added that community police members were elected at chiefdom level, which meant any process leading to the appointment of the national commissioner should start at the chiefdom level.

Dlamini also mentioned that as far as his office was concerned; there was a Bill that sought to address issues of community police members in Parliament. He stated that community police members could not, therefore, bypass Parliament and work with Shongwe. “Shongwe should stop poking his nose in community police affairs before the issue gets out of hand. He must know that some community police might personalise the issue and deal with him outside the perimeters of the law if provoked. He must stop confusing community police by exalting himself as a messiah. We know Shongwe as an independent private investigator, who rents in Matsapha. I wonder what his private investigation has to do with community policing,” said Dlamini.

Option

He added that as community police members, they had an option to take legal action against Shongwe if he kept provoking them and further spreading false information about their work. Other community police members who attended the meeting also denied having nominated Shongwe as their national commissioner. They shared that Shongwe was invited to the secret meeting concerning security issues as they felt unsafe following the shooting of the police officers. This comes after Shongwe claimed to have been nominated as the first national commissioner of community police members in the country. He claimed that his nomination took place at a certain church situated at Mbhuleni in Matsapha, a fortnight ago. He stated that present during his nomination were 17 heads of community police members from various places across the cocuntry. He also mentioned that he was expected to officially take over as the national commissioner of community police members on January 21, 2023.

In an interview yesterday, Shongwe registered his displeasure over the latest development. He said to the best of his knowledge, he never nominated himself as the national commissioner of community police in the country. Shongwe claimed that he showed his commitment to lead the community police members after they requested to have him as their national commissioner. He stated that the community police members had confidence in him after he had sold his ideas concerning their welfare. “I think Dlamini has been influenced by certain people to disown and speak vile about me.

Nomination

“He has been so good and cooperative but I do not know what has become of him. I wonder how Dlamini arrived at disputing my nomination, which took place at a meeting that was convened by him. I had dedicated myself to lead the community police members and make sure their welfare is considered by government. I was committed to using my own money and sacrifice my time to ensure that the welfare of community police was realised,” he said. Shongwe said he was expecting a communiqué from the whole executive as opposed to Dlamini taking his own decision about his nomination. He said the fact that he was nominated in a meeting; he was also expecting any development to take place in a meeting. “As far as I know, there has never been a community police head quarters at Mbhuleni and I do not recall Dlamini appointed nation chairman of community police. This means that he has no authority to dictate on what should be done,” he said.

Asked what the latest development meant to his proposed official takeover, which was scheduled for January 21, 2023, Shongwe said he was no longer interested in the position. “It was just a commitment after seeing the hardships that community police members are going through in the country. I wanted to make sure they are recognised and well catered for. However, having said that, I am still available if community police still have confidence in me at chiefdom level. I can only work with them as they cannot be allowed to be dictated by Dlamini, who is busy pulling them by their nose. The problem is Dlamini and his faceless allies,” he alleged.

It should be noted that community police members submit to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), which is currently headed by William Tsitsibala Dlamini as the National Commissioner. When sought for comment regarding the ongoing squabble between Shongwe and the community police members, the national commissioner of police said to the best of his knowledge, community police members were elected at community level before the names of the elected candidates were taken to chiefs for approval.

Commanders

He said the chiefs then liaised with station commanders to have the elected community police members on their lists. This, he said, was done to ensure that community police members benefitted from the police service. He made an example that community police received handcuffs, torches among other items, from the police service. “We know Shongwe as a private investigator, whom we work well with. We will request him to come forth and explain about his aspirations before causing confusion. We will request him this week,” the police chief said. Interviewed Memebrs of parliament (MPs) said there was a Bill that sought to address the welfare of the police officers. The legislators stated that it was common cause that community police members would not be left out in the Bill as they worked hand-in-hand with the police service. They said by extension, the national commissioner of police was also national commissioner of community police members across the country.