UMBUTFO SHOOTING: SFDF MEMBER ARRESTED, 2 OTHERS DETAINED

MANZINI - SFDF’s Sibusiso Nxumalo has been arrested for being found with a gun, which is allegedly linked to the shooting of an umbutfo, during the march to cut lusekwane.

Nxumalo, who is a member of the Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF), is the man who was reported to have been taken by armed police officers, at Fairview yesterday morning at around 6am.

Investigations

A source close to the matter said the police, who were travelling with Nxumalo, also rounded up two other men at Mahlabatsini, Matsapha and were taken to assist the law enfocers in their ongoing investigations. The source said a team of armed police officers from the Serious Crimes Unit (Lukhozi), who were accompanied by their colleagues from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU), crammed Nxumalo’s place of abode at Fairview in Manzini and told him that they only wanted him to show them the gun.

Shoot

The source said the gun was the one which was allegedly used to shoot Umbutfo Madliwangumbutfo (Fanafana Bhembe) on Saturday January 7, 2023 at Mahlabatsini, while he was on his way to join Ingatja in the march to cut the sacred shrub at Nhlambeni (Esikhaleni Selusekwane). The umbutfo was reportedly shot by Mlandvo Khumalo, about four times in the stomach and by the thigh. Khumalo was later gunned down by members of the State security organs, who were chasing after him.

“When talking to Nxumalo at Fairview, the police sounded as people who were sure that he knew where the gun they were looking for was,” the source said. Thereafter, the source said they took him and he allegedly promised his family members, who were present, that he would just show the police the gun and return home.

Suspected

The source said the police suspected that Nxumalo was one of the two men who were allegedly with Khumalo during the shooting incident. It was reported that after the shooting incident, two other men ran away. According to the source, some of the people who witnessed the shooting incident claimed that when running away, Khumalo threw the gun into nearby bushes and a man, who the police suspect was Nxumalo, took it (the gun) before he fled the scene.

When unpacking how the police linked Nxumalo to the matter, the source said, at the scene, the law enforcers found Khumalo’s cellphone and during their investigation, they managed to unlock it. In the phone, the source alleged that the police found pictures of Khumalo with Nxumalo and in some of them (pictures), they were carrying guns. “The law enforcers also found Nxumalo’s cellphone number and WhatsApp conversations between him and Khumalo,” the source said.

Assist

On the other hand, the source said while they were driving around Matsapha with Nxumalo and asking him to assist them regarding their investigations, the police rounded up two men, whom they believed might have information which could help them in their ongoing probe. The source added that one of the two men was a member of the SFDF and held a senior position in the youth league of the newly-formed political party.

By the time of compiling this report yesterday afternoon, the source said the police had already informed Nxumalo that he was being arrested. Meanwhile, he said it was not clear if the other two men would be arrested or not as the law enforcers were still interviewing them. In that regard, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that a 29-year-old man of Elulakeni, in the Shiselweni Region, had been arrested after being found with a firearm while at Fairview, Manzini.

However, the source alleged that Nxumalo could be slapped with more charges, apart from the obvious one of being found in possession of a firearm without a licence. He said this was because of the information which the police found in his cellphone and that of Khumalo. “Some of the information is incriminating him. However, it will depend on the police investigations and evidence,” the source said. It is worth noting that the late Khumalo was reportedly wanted by the police in connection with a number of violent acts.

Gunshots

He was said to have been under investigation for the discharging of fatal gunshots at a pair of police officers at Mathangeni and Sigodvweni, Matsapha, on different dates. It was claimed that he was also being investigated for injuring a police officer shooting and while the law enforcer was attending to a traffic accident at New Village. The source claimed that he was also reportedly wanted by the police in connection with the shooting of a law enforcer around KaPhunga, who was rushed to hospital sometime last year.

The sources purported that Khumalo was also fingered to have shot a warrior who was walking to his homestead after attending the Incwala Ceremony at Mbekelweni. Furthermore, the sources claimed that he was suspected to have been the one who shot at a REPS escort vehicle assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister (PM), Cleopas Sipho Dlamini.

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