... death unfortunate - neighbour

MBABANE – EmaSwati seem to have now resolved to solve theft with a more serious crime of murder which doesn’t make sense. It is unfortunate that people have reached a level where they have lost trust in the police who are now reluctant to respond to emergencies for fear of their lives and the inhumane cycle goes on.

This was the observation of Philemon Hleta , a neighbour to the deceased who confirmed witnessing the unfortunate incident. Hleta is also the man whose goat was stolen.

Hleta said it was unfortunate that it ended in death as they tried everything to avoid the situation where unlawful acts could jeopardise their investigation on who the thief was.

He said they called one of the local community police members soon after the goat theft, but his phone was off the network. Hleta said they then got hold of Sigodzi Gwebu who responded to their call and at that time they decided to wait for him next to the home of the deceased.

Confronted

Hleta alleged that while they were waiting for Sigodzi, the deceased confronted them and told them to move away from his boundary.

“We told him that we were waiting for someone and it would be fair to wait for that person with them so he can be sure they were not doing anything suspicious,” said Hleta.

Meanwhile, Hleta said the deceased insisted that he did not want them next to his property and returned to his house. Hleta said the team of elders and neighbours of the deceased, who had assembled next to his home waiting for Sigodzi, had seen another group of young men who were organised after the discovery of the carcass coming their way.

“The group of young men did not wait for Sigodzi, but continued to confront the deceased and that is when all hell broke loose,” alleged Hleta.

Indvuna yeMcuba Longoma Dladla said there was nothing wrong with citizen’s arrest, but the assault of suspects which at times leads to their death had become a challenge.

He said while citizen’s arrest was allowed, people needed to be educated on how to go about it. He said it was unfortunate that the citizens were dealing with criminals in a violent manner. Dladla said the violence driven by this prevalent anger would result in more unnecessary deaths and perpetrators of so-called mob justice arrested for murder leaving them worse off.

Observed

Dladla said he has observed that anger, hunger and the current political disorder seemed to be the reason people were taking the law into their own hands.

However, he said as much as the deceased was said to have other pending cases of stock theft, there was no need to resort to assaulting him to death.

“We need to ensure that the value of life is upheld for the sake of peace and harmony in the community and let the justice system deal with those that contravene laws of the land,” said Dladla.

He further pleaded with the police to go for a massive campaign to deal with the current increase in mob killings. Dladla said it was concerning that the whole country was battling with people who were resorting to mob killings instead of resolving issues peacefully.