Enough time to do crime
6 a woman, it will take me some time to get over the shock of hearing that three 8niversity of (swatini 81(6W$ stu dents were se[ually violated within the precincts of the troubled institution.
(ven as I write this, I am trying to process the details and make sense of it all.
This crime was not only heinous but very mysterious.
+owever, what remains a glaring fact is that ordinary ema6wati everywhere are not safe.
It is said that an unknown man invaded the Kwaluseni Campus of the institution at night last )riday, in the company of three other men.
The first part of the mystery is how the four unidentified men entered the premises without being identified as strangers.
6econdly, if they were strangers, how did they know where to go to fulfil their criminal mission?
The mystery deepens further, when one gets to hear that while the main perpetrator was raping the students, the others stood at the entrance to make sure that he would not be disturbed.
6tudent Representative Council 6RC , 3resi dent $ndile 3hakathi told a Mournalist from this newspaper the day after the incident, that only one student was actually raped while the other two were forced to watch.
The trauma of either being raped or forced to watch, while another female is se[ually violated in such a cruel manner is the same.
$ll three students will need the same kind of counselling to get over this.
+opefully, with time they will be able to con tinue with their studies and their lives in general.
The worrying part is that the university was a hive of activity in the days leading to this sad occurrence, as a result of the dramatic class boycott in the days leading to that fateful )riday.
I know many parents or guardians were of the belief that there would be no lack of security, as the place would probably be teeming with security personnel deployed to maintain order.
I am talking about both the police and security guards representing the private security company that provides or is meant to provide security at the institution.
1obody would have thought that at such a time when security should have been heightened there, such a crime could be committed.
That is why this matter needs to be vigorously investigated, with the university administration, the security company and the police providing the necessary answers to the many unanswered questions.
I was disappointed to learn that the police were called soon after this crime was committed at the university, but were unable to make it.
The violated students were only able to record statements with the police much later, when the parent of one of the students drove them to the 0atsapha 3olice 6tation.
Inspector 1osipho 0nguni, the 'eputy 3olice Information and Communication Officer left me even more bothered when she said they faced serious challenges that rendered them unable to reach some scenes of crime as and when required.
They neither have enough vehicles nor ade quate fuel.
When they were called for the 81(6W$ rape incident, all their squad cars were out attending to a case of arson.
)ormer 3rime 0inister, 6ibusiso %arnabas 'lamini, was now and again confronted with the question of why the (swatini *overnment was obsessed with security and spending a bulk of the national budget on it, at the e[pense of important aspects like education, health and agriculture.
+e always defended this position, saying a man had to fence and secure his household before looking at what the other needs of his family were.
We all know this position has not changed be cause year in and year out, the national budget shows that a large chunk of the funds goes to the army and police.
The Correctional 6ervices 'epartment, which is regularly roped in when security needs to be beefed up, also enMoys a healthy annual alloca tion. It boggles the mind then, that the police never have enough vehicles.
Their e[cuse of a lack of transport has been there for several years.
It was already in the news more than five years ago, that some police officers were hitchhiking to scenes of crime. Others boarded public transport.
This was during the time of Isaac 0agagula as 1ational Commissioner 1$TCO0 of police and today, with William Tsintsibala 'lamini at the helm, the challenge is still there. 6o, what is going on here? Where does all the money allo cated for security go to? Is it being diverted like the CO9I' funds (swatini 1ews reported about yesterday?
Well, 0r 1$TCO0 sir, the country¶s criminals are also aware of this situation and are taking full advantage of it.
They know the police are either slow to get to scenes of crime or Must never show up. 6ometimes a crime is reported in the evening but the police only show up in the morning.
The Royal (swatini 3olice 6ervice R(36 has a Crime 3revention wing, but as it is, the organisation is failing to even stop crimes that are already being committed, let alone prevent potential ones. Where are all the officers we have seen being recruited on an annual basis over the last few years? One would have e[pected that at a time like this in our country, when crimes like arson and hiMackings are a regular occurrence, police visibility would have been increased, espe cially at night. These attackers have not stopped because they know they will have ample time to commit the crime and disappear into the night.
That most of the incidents remain unsolved makes the attackers even bolder. On Thursday, there was a literal daylight robbery at 1gwane 3ark, where ( was taken, with the robbers terrorising police officers and civilians alike.
Car theft has also reared its ugly head and criminals are so daring that they steal a car and go on to commit other crimes with it for hours.
Yeyi wena…budget support may include settling arrears with suppliers who have patiently waited for pay ment until they got impatient.
6ome people go to banks to ask for loans to consolidate their other loans.
That one is a bit complicated but the long and short of it is that you ask for say, ( to pay of your smaller loans of amounts like ( or ( . $t the end of the day, you are still in debt.
In any case, whether you are a person or country, getting to a point where you need loans usually begins with bad spending habits, splashing money on fashionable but unimpor tant stuff.
There is also a difference between being broke and being poor.
%eing broke is temporary while poverty is eternal, at least according to finance guru Robert Kiyosaki.
$fter all has been said and done, you seek a loan because you are broke.