Political violence: Has police intelligence failed?
MBABANE – It is now seven months since the first incident of violent attacks targeted at specific, sometimes high profile, individuals’ homes and other properties occurred.
However, there has been no major breakthrough in the form of arrests of those people responsible for these attacks.
Is this a failure on the part of the law enforcement agencies, specifically the police intelligence?
An online publication has attributed most of these attacks to the work of a faceless group called Swaziland International Solidarity Forces.
The commander of this group apparently communicates only with this online publication, as stated by its editor who has conducted and published a number of interviews with the group’s leader.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati has appealed to the public to assist in cracking these cases.
“Our work largely depends on cooperation we get with members of the public. If we are failing to crack these cases then the nation is part of that failure,” she said.
Vilakati said all the cases were under intensive investigations, and the police were working tirelessly to solve them.
Asked whether the intelligence unit of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), which is known as the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was failing in its duties, Vilakati said there was a lot of talk out there about the work of the intelligence unit but may be one day they would need to come out and talk about it because people made it look like a supernatural body.
“In any case, we do not talk about police matters and operation with members of the public, but people should continue to have trust in the police. We also still appeal for their cooperation because the public needs us and we need them,” she said.
In August last year, following the nationwide looting and burning of public and private structures and businesses, the National Commissioner of Police (NATCOM), William Dlamini, allayed fears by members of the public that the IB was not well-trained to intercept, before they happened, incidents that are a threat to national security.
VANDALISM
The NATCOM had been asked that following the unrest, was there any need to train the police intelligence officers.
He was further asked if the police service was ready to deal with potential threats of burning and vandalism by unknown people in the country in future.
In response, Dlamini said intelligence police officers were trained overseas and some experts would time and again come to the kingdom to share their expertise with the REPS.
He expressed that comparatively with other similar organisations in the SADC region, the Eswatini police intelligence was good.
He said Eswatini was at par with the intelligence of countries such as Mozambique and South Africa. Nonetheless, he pointed out that it was not perfect.
He said there were gaps in training and the major setback which the police service was behind on was equipment, particularly Information, Communication and Technology ( ICT).
This publication yesterday spoke to well-known private investigator, Hunter Shongwe, and asked him what he thought caused the police not to crack cases of violence related to the ongoing political unrest, particularly the burning of infrastructure.
He was also asked what he thought
the police needed to do to bring to book those responsible for such actions.
Additionally, he was asked if he would be willing to assist the police if they would want to engage his services in investigating these cases.
Shongwe said the main problem can be traced back to June and July last year when there was nationwide looting and arson cases.
He said there was no way the police could look to pinpoint certain individuals as being responsible for the looting and burning of structures, because these acts were carried out by nearly everyone.
“Even if you look at the videos that are available, you can see that there were many people almost everywhere in the country who were involved. If you want to arrest these people you would first have to build more jails because they were just too many. We were all participating so why would you want to pick and choose certain individuals,” Shongwe said.
VANDALISM
The private investigator said if anyone wanted to know who was causing vandalism in the country, they should look in the mirror and they would see that person.
He said the only solution that would arrest the situation was for the country’s leaders to call a national dialogue that would pave way for political reforms.
“The people should be listened to; they said they want to elect their own government and they should be given that. The vandalism and violence will continue until government and Parliament listen to what the people want. As the director of an investigation company, I believe what is happening is the cry from the powerless,” he said.
Shongwe said people were afraid to come out and choose a side, either for those calling for change or those in support of the status quo because either way one risked his life.
“If you choose to support government then your property will be burnt and if
you choose those calling for change then government will sanction you. I therefore cannot choose any side, which is why I can never agree to assist the police if they can approach me,” he said.
Shongwe said it was now clear that even within the State security agencies, there were individuals who were giving out information to the other side.
He said this extended to even members of the royal family, businesspeople and politicians.
He reiterated that even those who were targeted for being on the side of government did not receive any form of support from the very State they are siding with and seeking to protect.
“If you assist government then you risk dying and what will you leave your children with? Some have already died for the State and their families will not get any compensation.
ASSISTANCE
“Some have lost their homes and they will not get any assistance from government. So it is better to remain neutral and not take any side,” Shongwe added.
Meanwhile, in their website, the REPS state that there is also the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Mbabane, that is Eswatini’s lead agency for taking national criminal investigations beyond national borders when its law enforcement agencies need to work with police forces in other countries and continents.
The NCB reportedly sits at the heart of the Royal Eswatini Police at the police headquarters and by providing globally-sourced intelligence about regional crime trends, the NCB is said to help police officers across Eswatini detect and investigate the flow of illicit goods along trafficking routes in and around the country.
Through the Mbabane NCB, the Royal Eswatini Police is said to regularly take part in INTERPOL-led regional police operations, particularly when they focus on the illegal trade in protected species, violations of intellectual property rights or human trafficking.