By Khulile Thwala
Pastor Sihle Dlamini has claimed that the probable faceless commander who has been authorising the killing and shooting of emaSwati in the past few months could be the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) President Mlungisi Makhanya.
This he alleged during a live joint interview on Channel YemaSwati programme ‘People and Places’, where he engaged in a debate on the political unrest in the country with veteran political activist and PUDEMO Executive member Mphandlana Shongwe.
The bone of contention which brought about the live interview was a previous discussion on the same programme on the death of Human Rights Lawyer and Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) Chairperson Thulani Maseko.
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According to Dlamini, only one person was capable of killing and inflicting harm on unsuspecting civilians and that was Makhanya. He indicated that Makhanya’s previous remarks where he conveyed threatening messages and further instigated violence were evidence enough to prove that he was the rightful person to be pinpointed as someone capable of killing.
“The PUDEMO president is on record having said he will not only deal with people decisively but also encouraged the public to deliberately burn schools,” said the pastor.
Watch the debate
Countering his statements, veteran politician Shongwe disputed the pastor’s remarks as allegations, stating that he was accusing Makhanya simply because the PUDEMO president could not be in the country to defend himself.
He further stated that there were white men who were responsible for some of the killings witnessed in the country and further accused a REPS official, Sihlongonyane, of killings as well.
Dlamini further brought up statements made by the late human rights lawyer’s wife during the MSF leader’s funeral service in Gauteng, where she said Maseko had enemies who were present during the service.
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The pastor said Maseko’s wife further revealed that there was in-fighting between the pro-democracy factions and how the late human rights lawyer had been receiving death threats.
“No one is pursuing that matter of where the statements made by Maseko’s wife emanated from,” stated Dlamini. “Thulani was always advocating for a peaceful engagement yet there was another faction within the pro-democracy group which advocates for violence”.
The duo delved deeper into their debate on the political situation in the country by pointing out that there was a need for guns to be silenced, which they both agreed with, among other issues.
Some of the issues the pair touched on included the misappropriation of funds which were meant for the people of Eswatini. Shongwe alleged that a minority group and a certain family were misusing the money when instead the money should be used for the rehabilitation of roads and further development of infrastructure.
Dlamini, countering this argument, said Shongwe was speaking untruths as the country had a clear national budget which transparently demonstrated how funds belonging to the country are used and allocated.
He highlighted how Shongwe had benefitted from the Tinkhundla System of Governance which he is against, as he had received a scholarship to attend tertiary at William Pitcher College. The pair also debated the history of how the Tinkhundla system was formed and the reason behind proscribed entities.
EU should hear both sides
They further discussed the Swaziland National Association of Teachers’ (SNAT’s) involvement in politics. Dlamini also questioned the funding of the online publication Swaziland News, which they said constantly published untruths and defamatory content.
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Dlamini also urged the European Union to appeal to all parties involved when it comes to Maseko’s death. Dlamini said people should await the police’s investigation into the matter as there was a timeframe for such investigations.
He said the police needed to be given enough time to investigate the matter as they have done so in previous matters.
