Explosives in Eswatini

would provide an update as soon as there were developments regarding the matter.

She pleaded not to elaborate further on the matter as this may jeopardise ongoing investigations.

This is happening at a time when the country has been experiencing several arson attacks and shooting of members of the State security forces. The attacks were deemed as culminating from the calls for democratic reforms, however, government said they were not politically related but rather they were acts of terrorism.

About 19 tinkhundla centres have been torched since last year July. The recent ones to be affected were LaMgabhi and Zombodze Emuva

Our sister publication, Eswatini News, reported that the taxpayers would have to fork out about E100 million to fix those tinkhundla centres.

Killings

On the police killings, recently two traffic police officers were shot dead while on duty in Manzini last week. A member of His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) was assaulted and shot near Ngwenya Border Post after he was kidnapped from Sidwashini Correctional Services facility.

The warder was kidnapped by his colleague who was with three unknown men.

The calls for democracy have been escalating since last year.

Various organised groups have also advocated for a national dialogue which will be instrumental in charting a way forward in this political impasse.

Government has been committing that there would be a dialogue once the situation was calm.

Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo told our sister publication, the Times SUNDAY, that there were two big countries behind the unfolding random murders of members of the State security forces.

Nxumalo did not mention the countries that he alleged were sponsoring terrorist attacks on members of the security forces.

“There are specifically two big countries behind all the unfolding random murder of banfwabemaSwati (emaSwati) serving in the security cluster in the country,” said the spokesperson.

He urged emaSwati to unite against the second wave of imperialism and counter-independence.

He warned that these people were looking for natural resources that did not belong to them, but to emaSwati’s children and their future generations. “Our children will look at the graves and find a reason enough to stage another counter revolution,” he said. The government spokesperson advised emaSwati to remove the mask to clearly see the foreign agencies and actors for who they really were and their true agenda.

When sought for comment yesterday regarding the warning of the police, Nxumalo declined to comment. He said so far he had not received any reports on the said matter, hence he was not in a position to respond.

Dialogue

Chairman of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) Thulani Maseko said his organisation believed that the dialogue could be the answer to the violence.

In a previous interview, Maseko was responding to questions on the fact that taxpayers were now expected to foot the bill of renovating and rebuilding tinkhundla centres around the country that were burnt down by unknown arsonists.

“We said it time and time again that violence was not the solution to the political crisis we are facing as a nation. We need to focus on the root cause of the problem and those in the echelons of power must stop denying it. Yes, property has been destroyed, but this can never be compared to the continued loss of life. Life can never be replaced,” he had said.