I lost leg after warders assaulted me - SA inmate
MBABANE - A South African inmate claims he lost his leg and toe after being severely assaulted by warders.
The assault allegedly came after an attempted escape at Sidwashini Prison.
Gugulethu Ngwenya (42) told the court that he lost his leg, toe and suffered dislocation of joints when he was allegedly assaulted by warders, including a welfare officer, officer in charge and one of the commissioners.
Ngwenya stated that the warders mobilised and attacked him together with his colleagues Mpendulo Msibi (25) of Mkhondvo, Bonginkhosi ‘Sapari Dlamini (30) of Fonteyn and Bhekithemba Ndzinisa (deceased).
Hostage
This, he claimed, was after they were accused of holding a warder hostage and further assaulting some female officers while attempting to escape from Sidwashini Correctional Facility.
Ngwenya started by disputing the evidence of the warders who informed the court that he and his colleagues attacked them with garden tools.
The inmate told the court that he was saddened to hear the warders alleging before court that the garden tools were used to harm them (warders).
He claimed that the warders were the ones who used the garden tools against him. “We were walking freely when it all started; however, we were in leg irons after we were caught. The warders asked what were we trying to do. They then took us to solitary confinement. One of the officers insulted us, accusing me of influencing emaSwati to escape from prison,” he submitted.
Strange
He told the court that he noticed that most of the warders had strange names, which gave him the impression that they were initiated (kubutseka).
He showed the court a scar of a hand injury, claiming that he was assaulted by one of the officers with a pickaxe. He told the court that he suffered an injury in the veins resulting in his left hand not functioning properly.
He told the court that the officer of the law continued to hit him with the pickaxe even after he had fallen to the ground.
“The pickaxe cut off my toe before I lost my left leg. I am using an artificial leg as we speak,” Ngwenya told the court while showing his scar from the missing toe and the artificial leg.
He stated that one of the officers who had accused him of influencing emaSwati to escape from prison stabbed him with a fork in the knee cap.
He submitted that another officer removed the pickaxe from the handle and continued to assault him with the handle several times all over the body.