BY LUNGA MASUKU
SIYALU MEDIA
SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
Mabane – Trouble erupted only a few weeks after the widely circulated audio by acting Ludzidzini Indvuna Themba Ginindza on how traditional structures were plotting to start attacking properties and structures belonging to leaders of groups calling for political reforms.
Just a few days later, a spine-chilling incident took place at the homestead of the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Mlungisi Makhanya situated in the eastern part of the country a few kilometers from the country’s borderline with Mozambique.
In reaction to the incident, Mandla Hlatshwayo, chair and convener of Letfu Sonkhe Think Tank Institute has lamented the deteriorating security situation in the country and the escalation of State sponsored violence against activists and their families such that there was a need for urgent steps to be taken.
The Letfu Sonkhe chair said the mass democratic movement should formally lay charges against Ginindza for his utterances contained in the widely circulated audio, where he threatened that they were training their own group on how to go about acts of arson and that they would not be prosecuted for their acts.
“The mass democratic movement should embark on a national protest action to expose and highlight this act of injustice to the broader Swazi nation and the international community using the words of Ginindza.
“Letters of protest should be sent to all the Heads of State in the SADC region, the AU, UN and the Commonwealth countries rebuking and protesting against the mafia style activities of the Swaziland government and call for immediate intervention,” reads Hlatshwayo’s statement in part.
A number of Swazis have expressed their dismay on how such gadgets were in the hands of ordinary citizens or it was what the indvuna Themba Ginindza was reported to have said that is said to have intercepted the conversation that Swaziland News reported about only a few days ago.
In reaction to the incident, Makhanya said they could burn the entire place, but they would never prevent them from fighting for their liberation.
“What makes you think that burning brick and mortar will deter us, comrade Bacede Mabuza sacrificed his business empire for this struggle, comrade Mthandeni Dube lost his emerging business, comrade Gawuzela is in exile, I joined the struggle at a young age with no material possessions, you can never harm me by attacking material things.
“To my comrades, remember that we are bound to the struggle by a permanent glue that cannot be dissolved. The value we attach to material possessions is ephemeral, but the value we attach to the struggle is permanent,” wrote Makhanya on his Facebook page.
Swazis woke up to shocking news when they heard of the bombing of the PUDEMO president’s residential home at Ntandweni within the Malindza area in the Lubombo region.
Meanwhile, the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) has described the act as a clear sign of cowardice from a stubborn regime that is failing to address the people’s demands for democratic reforms but instead responded with fire to perpetrate violence in the country.
“SWALIMO condemns this act in the strongest terms and wishes to assure president Makhanya that his immense contribution and footprint in the struggle is supported by the entire mass democratic movement, and that no amount of intimidation can deter the vision of liberating the Swazi people or even dampen our spirits,” reads the SWALIMO statement in part.
South African struggle partners, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called on people of eSwatini, formerly Swaziland to intensify the pressure against the regime and leave no stone unturned in pursuit of a democratic dispensation by all necessary means.
