Pastor assaults bogus Ezulwini Inner Council members
EZULWINI _ A pastor tied and forced bogus members of Ezulwini Inner Council into a forest, where he assaulted and later handed them over to the police.
0londi Sikhondze, who was acting in his capacity as a community police member, was consumed by anger after receiving information that three residents of the area impersonated the chief, elder (umsumpe) and a member with intent to con another pastor, known to him, money amounting to E .
,nformation gathered was to the effect that the trio was caught unaware a few days after receiving payment from the unsuspecting 0an of *od, who paid for a piece of land said to be situated on Eswatini 1ation Land (E1L) at 0vutshini. ,t is said that the trio acted Mointly with a certain man, who is still at large.
The man is known to this newspaper, but will not be revealed as he has not been charged for this crime though he once made headlines when he appeared in court accused of unlawfully selling a piece of land to many people in Ezulwini.
Eswatini custom forbids sale of land on E1L. The custom provides that land is acTuired through kukhonta, a process which takes place at the royal kraal. 1ormally, the chief assigns indvuna and the inner council, which consist of elders (imisumpe) to tie the knot after the finalisation of kukhonta process. People pay kukhonta price in the form of a cow or money amounting to the cow. 1o sale of land on E1L is concluded on the streets or at an individual homestead.
The Community Police 0ember,
Sikhondze, confirmed the incident in an interview yesterday. Sikhondze, who also serves as a pastor and secretary of the community police members under Lobamba Constituency, said he acted on the matter after receiving the tip-off from the clergyman.
Identities
“The pastor shared that he had been conned of E by the Ezulwini ,nner Council. , wanted to know the identities of the members of the inner council in Tuestion so that , can investigate the matter as a person who works closely with them. The pastor shared a recorded conversation through which , positively recognised the voices,´ Sikhondze said.
He shared that acting on the information and the voices he embarked on a search for the people whose voices featured in the recorded conversation. Sikhondze stated that he invited the pastor so that he could positively identify the suspects during the course of the search.
He said they proceeded to the first suspect whom they tied and took him to his colleagues, who were found together in a rented flat.
“:e tied them all and took them to the forest ne[t to a tunnel where we assaulted them. They gave out all the information during the heat of the assault. They claimed that they were used by the certain man to play the role of the chief, chairman,
and the member so that they can successfully lure the unsuspecting people, including the pastor into paying for the non-e[istent piece of land. They also told us that the pastor, was not the only victim as many people have been conned of their monies,´ Sikhondze said.
He added that the trio informed them that the man on the run rewarded them with alcohol and went way with the money after the payment.
He stated that the Lobamba police were called after which the trio was handed over to them.
Sikhondze stated that the trio was later released after it appeared they were Must used in the commission of the offence.
Suspects
Ezulwini 5oyal .raal ,nner Council member 1dlavela 0avimbela, when informed of the incident, lauded the community police member for handing over the suspects to the police.
0avimbela said it was important that the law took its course on people implicated in conning land seekers. He said it was high time that con artists were e[posed to get redress for the unsuspecting land seekers.
:orth noting is that the man who allegedly played the role of the chief and the said man on the run had a history of conning unsuspecting people of their monies under the prete[t that that they would sell them pieces of land around Ezulwini. They target mostly monied women.
Chief Police ,nformation and Communications Officer Superintended Phindile Vilakati said police had no record of the incident. Vilakati stated that it might happen that the officers who attended to the matter did not record it.