MBONDZELA PETITION DELIVERY: COPS, PROTESTERS CLASH

MBABANE – The plan to deliver a petition to the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development by Mbondzela farm dwellers and political formations was foiled by the police.

The police are said to have assaulted the protesters, who had gathered at the Mbabane Bus Rank, with batons. The crowd was waiting for a permit to march to the ministry to be issued by the Municipal Council of Mbabane. Mbondzela is a farm situated along the Nhlangano and Gege route. The farm is under Mahamba Gorge, Farm 19.  A couple of minutes after the marchers had assembled at the bus rank, where they sang political songs, police officers allegedly assaulted them. These were the farm dwellers and political formation members who were led by the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO). The farm dwellers and members of the political formations gathered at the far end of the bus rank, near the automated teller machines (ATMs) at around 11:30am and started singing political songs.

Represented

Apart from PUDEMO, members of the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), the Economic Freedom Fighters of Swaziland (EFFSWA), and the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) were represented. When Mbondzela senior citizen Mciniseli Nhleko was on the podium addressing the gathering, including commuters, police grabbed the megaphone and hit him with a baton. The gathering dispersed as they ran in different directions. Others tripped and fell. Among those who were beaten was Futhi Magagula, a PUDEMO member, who came from Lomahasha to support the farm dwellers.

Magagula was struck across her right cheek, and her face got swollen. She was treated and discharged at the Mbabane Government Hospital. There was a man who was assaulted while lying on the ground. He, however, managed to get up and run away. This attracted the attention of public transport workers, who accused the police of causing chaos at the bus rank and interrupting their operations. Some vendors murmured when they saw the senior citizen being assaulted. They said there was no justification for assaulting an elderly man; even if they felt he had broken the law. They surmised that the police should have at least addressed him well without manhandling him.

Shortly after the crowd had been dispersed by the police, PUDEMO Secretary General (SG) Panuell Malinga told this publication that they were still trying to ascertain whether there were any people who were hurt. Malinga said they would be going back to Gege to engage with the community that had sent them to deliver the petition. “We have been tasked by the community, as there were no people who were elected there, to present their grievances to the minister,” Malinga said. He said following the experience, they had an obligation to return to deliver a report on what happened and also plan the next move. Malinga said they had not come on their own accord, but on behalf of the people of Mbondzela, whose houses were demolished.

He said they were disappointed with what had taken place, especially in a case where there were some civilians who had been mistreated and the State, instead of listening to them, opted to beat them up.  This, he said, was a sign that government was not interested in seeing emaSwati living in peace and harmony. When asked if they had applied to the ministry to march, the SG said they had done so. He said they arrived at the bus rank individually by public transport and regrouped while they waited for a communiqué from the Municipal Council of Mbabane. “As we speak, we do not know what happened, as the person we had sent to fetch the permit was beaten by the police and had to run for cover. We are still looking for him.”

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