Third suspect arrested for allegedly burning Ngudzeni Inkhundla

MBABANE – On Thursday, Hlatikhulu police arrested a third suspect for allegedly burning the Ngud]eni Inkhundla building.

The inkhundla centre was set alight on -une , and all the property in it was reduced to ashes. The damage was estimated at ( .

6ibongiseni Hoshoba 6hongwe, according to the investigating officer, was arrested while trying to flee to the 5epublic of 6outh Africa.

He Moins two others, %ongani *oodman Mamba and %ongumusa .enneth .unene, who were arrested in April

. They said it intended to consolidate 6hongwe¶s matter with his co-accused.

Mamba, who was a final year student at William 3itcher Training &ollege, was granted bail on May , . Mthembu¶s bail application was opposed.

Others, %eketele 6habangu, 3hatho 9ilakati and Mbongeni Methula, according to the investigating officer, are still at large. The accused persons have been charged for allegedly contravening the 6uppression of Terrorism Act of , as amended.

TERRORISM

The &rown was yesterday granted an order that 6hongwe¶s cellphone, a Nokia 3A , be detained in terms of 6ection

of the 6uppression of Terrorism Act pending finalisation of the trial.

According to the &rown, there was evidence that the cellphone was used by 6hongwe in communicating with others when planning and coordinating the commission of the offence they are currently charged with.

“It is, therefore, imperative that the cellphone be detained for purposes of further investigations. )or the purpose of prevention of commission of an offence under the said Act, such exhibit will be used in court during the trial of the respondent 6hongwe ,´ submitted the &rown.

In the composite summary of evidence attached to 6hongwe¶s indictment, the &rown informed the court that evidence showed that on -une , , the people of Ngud]eni had gathered at .aMavimbela %us 6top and they wanted to see one Mampondo Msibi to raise grievances over a water proMect, which they complained that it benefitted some of the homesteads in the area.

Msibi is said to have addressed the people and informed them that he was not the one who had stopped the water from reaching all the homesteads.

He is alleged to have led the community to the valves controlling the water and upon arrival thereat, they tampered with the valves to stop the flow of water. One of the accused persons, .unene, allegedly damaged the valves with a pickaxe.

PROBLEM

6hongwe is alleged to have, at that time, been addressing the crowd that since they were done with what he referred to as the water problem, they were supposed to proceed to Maloma &olliery Mine to Moin others as their leaders had promised to organise transport for them.

The &rown stated that the people waited for transport at .aMavimbela %us 6top. While waiting at the bus station, according to the &rown, a black motor vehicle approached and 6hongwe was on board, together with 9ilakati and two men from .uMethula area.

The &rown submitted that after the arrival of the motor vehicle, a short meeting was held and it was resolved that Maloma was too far and some of the people were already hungry.

“It was during the meeting that %ongumusa informed the crowd that they should go to the inkhundla and he was going to burn it. %omgumusa was seconded by %eketele 6habangu, who is a fugitive from Mustice and the accused 6hongwe .

“The accused said they must burn the Ngud]eni Inkhundla as .uMethula Inkhundla had already been burnt. The whole crowd abandoned the Mourney to Maloma and headed to the inkhudla,´ submitted the &rown.

To gain entry at the inkhundla, %ongumusa allegedly hit the padlock and door. He allegedly then kicked the door open and they all entered.

VANDALISED

“The crowd gained entry into the inkhundla premises and some of the people vandalised the guardhouse. Once the crowd had entered, others took some items such as a pickaxe and spade. One person among the crowd was in possession of a pickaxe and used it to dig on the road.

“%ongumusa was seen opening a tool room and taking a brush cutter and doused the room with petrol. The inkhundla building was burnt together with all the inkhundla property that was inside,´ the &rown submitted.

6hongwe allegedly doused the petrol using a five-litre container and destroyed a Wi)i router. He is alleged to have instructed all the people to exit the inkhundla centre and it was set alight. The &rown omitted names of witnesses from the indictment.

6hongwe yesterday told the court that the police had sei]ed his cellphone and wondered why they wanted to keep it. He said if they intended to do anything with it, they should have done so the previous day Wednesday .

-udge Nkosinathi Maseko explained that when police officers arrested a suspect, they sometimes sei]ed items for the purpose of carrying out further investigations and collecting more evidence.

The law, according to the Mudge, allows the police to do that. When there is suspicion of communication between a suspect and others, using a cellphone, the police have a right to sei]e the gadget and conduct further investigations.

6hongwe said he understood. He was also informed that he had a right to apply for bail. He was remanded in custody at 6idwashini &orrectional 6ervices )acility until next Thursday.

WATERTIGHT DEFENCE

When Mamba applied for bail in May

, he told the court that he had a watertight defence against the charge. He submitted that on the date the offence was committed, he was nowhere near the inkhundla centre and he had an alibi.

“I submit that I was at home and I only learnt about the incident the following morning when the community was talking about it,´ he alleged.

Mamba said his incarceration was preMudicial to his academic goal since, µcurrently, I am in the critical last stages¶.

“I have a week to finish my practice and these marks will determine my final results. I also believe my remand could be unlawful since it goes beyond at least eight days,´ he submitted.

“I cannot afford to fail since that would many influential individuals who also run their own charity foundations.

“It has led me to broaden my scope, and I have benefitted from those experiences,´ he said.

6iband]e also mentioned that he has forged ties with N3= )oundation from 6outh Africa. The senator said some people might ask µWhat¶s the point we do this" Isn¶t it the role of the government to address these issues"¶ He explained that they supported charity for various reasons, which included their moral values, religious faith, belief in a specific cause, personal experiences, or that of someone close, leave a positive legacy and the Moys and blessings of giving without expecting anything in return.

“We all have a role to play in supporting the elderly and less privileged in our society. At this time, &O9ID- has left us feeling somewhat helpless, but this is the time to rebuild,´ he said.

He advised ema6wati to make a pledge to, at least, give something to a stranger in need once-a-year. In future, the foundation endeavours to build

houses per year and to assist even much more families. 6enator 6iband]e revealed that they wanted to have global partners through vigorous resource mobilisation strategies.

INCENTIVES

“We also aspire to have volunteer incentives for our membership. )urthermore, the foundation wishes to have its own T9 production house and a media team to draft newsletters, maga]ines, Mournals and produce documentaries. We will try to invest more into procuring media eTuipment so that we can outsource it in order to generate revenue,´ 6iband]e said.

He said they would also partner with local universities. He thanked all the country¶s structures for providing a pathway for 6calisa )oundation to realise its mission.

“To date, we have a successful partnership with NDMA under the Office of the Deputy 3rime Minister,´ he said.

The senator stated that they were celebrating the signed agreement with (swatini%ank to build houses for a period of three years.

mean the end of my career, thus ruining my life since I am from an impoverished family and it would be a challenge to pay my tuition fee to repeat the academic year.´

Mamba also told the court that he was not a flight risk and would not evade trial. He said his parents were well-known in his community since he came from the Mamba clan.

He stated that he would not abscond trial when granted bail. The student said he would neither endanger the safety of the public nor influence any witnesses or destroy or conceal any evidence.

Mamba¶s co-accused, Mthembu, told the court that he was employed by a construction company in 3igg¶s 3eak. He also denied being anywhere near the inkhundla centre on the day of the incident. He submitted that he had a bona fide defence against the charge.

ASLEEP

“I was peacefully asleep at my aunt¶s place. I was at home and only learnt about the incident the following morning,´ he alleged.

Mthembu told the court that his continued incarceration, he might lose his Mob and would not be able to take care of his unemployed wife and six children, who are all of school-going age.

The investigating officer disputed that Mthembu had a bona fide defence against the charge. He informed the court that Mthembu was charged for contravening 6ection of the 6uppression of Terrorism Act. He said the charge attracted a lengthy sentence which may induce him to abscond trial.

“We have sufficient evidence against second applicant Mthembu . He was one of the leaders who forced entry to the inkhundla gate by breaking the padlock using a pickaxe for the crowd to gain entry into the inkhundla centre.