IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIl
DWALILE - A 50-year-old man died gruesomely in the hands of a mob. The man was allegedly fetched from home by a mob, dragged over the borderline into South Africa’s territory where he was assaulted until he lost consciousness, while cops and soldiers allegedly watched from the Eswatini side of the border.
He was later confirmed dead by the police after his body was retrieved.
According to a family member, Mciniseli Zwane, who works as a self-taught car mechanic, was awoken first by four men at around 3am on that fateful Sunday morning.
It is worth noting that in most African countries, people are now taking the law unto their own hands, as statistics indicate a rise in the number of people killed by mobs.
Livestock has been regarded as a bank where most people keep their money safe and when livestock is tampered with, the inevitable happens.
Relating the incident to Eswatini News was the deceased’s sister, Sonto Zwane, who alleged that four men, including a soldier known to them, came in the early hours of that Sunday morning and knocked on the door of the house in which the deceased was sleeping with his children.
“It was first four men who came into our home around 3am and knocked on the door, claiming that they needed help as their car had developed mechanical problems and was stuck just a stone’s throw away from the homestead,” said the deceased’s sister.
Sonto said her late brother came out of the house, only wearing a pair of boxer shorts to greet the men and was told by one of them to quickly return to the house and get dressed.
Headed
“My brother then went back into the house and put on a pair of trousers and a warm jacket before he headed back outside.
“His 13-year-old son followed him, enquiring as to where he was going as it was still dark, but he simply assured him he would back soon” said Sonto.
Furthermore, the sister alleged that once they were a few meters away from the house, the four men, including the soldier, immediately grabbed the deceased and took turns assaulting him, allegedly in front of Mciniseli’s nephew, who decided to follow them out of courtesy.
“They had all sorts of weapons such as slashers, knives and thick sticks, which they used to assault him all over the body, while they dragged him further outside of the family compound.
“During the beatings, they shouted that they would kill him if he didn’t return the four cattle he stole in 2019, at a homestead in South Africa, which is located near the borderline of where we live here in Dwalile,” alleged Sonto, in between sobs.
She further alleged that the young boy, who was the deceased’s son’s brother, was not spared as he also received insults and threats, as the group of men instructed him to go back home.
“One of my older nephews quietly followed from a distance and saw them taking him to a nearby bridge, where the assault continued and more men joined the group of four.
“According to my nephew, it looked like the rest of the mob stayed hidden in the nearby forest when my brother was called out from his house,”she added
The eyewitness claimed to have seen more than 30 people dragging Mciniseli to the bridge and further assaulting him.
“He was pushed into a concrete pipe, while the beatings continued and the mob demanded that he confess to being the one responsible for the theft of cattle in the area,” alleged the eyewitness.
The assault is said to have lasted for more than four hours from around 3am to 6am and that is when the nephew then decided to call the Mankayane police and informed them of what was happening to his uncle.
dragged
“Police didn’t immediately come and the mob’s number grew and they took him from the bridge, dragged him to a sports ground near Dwalile Primary and High School, which is about a kilometre away from the bridge.
“The mob consisted of people from as far as Mponono, which is the neighbouring community under the Velezizweni Constituency, whose leader is the late Chief Ndwandwe II,” alleged Sonto.
The deceased’s sister went on to disclose that the son of the late Mciniseli then went to the sports ground, where the assault was still going on.
“We couldn’t stop him since he was fond of his father, but he told us that he was further disturbed when he found one of his female teachers at Dwalile High School also hitting his father with stones, while he was tied with ropes.
“They continued taking turns assaulting and spitting on my brother, as they said they were waiting for another mob from the SA side, which was bringing the deceased’s accomplice.
“They finally arrived with another man and tied him next to Mciniseli, and he too was subjected to the same beatings,” alleged Sonto. According to the deceased’s sister, the mob’s number had grown to more than 50 people by the time police arrived at the scene.
“It was the Mankayane Police Station commander in the company of three cops, who came and tried to negotiate with the angry mob, but they were insulted as the mob refused to surrender the two men to them,” said Sonto.
She said one of the mob ring leaders then suggested that since the police had arrived, they
“He was pushed into a concrete pipe, while the beatings continued, and the mob demanded that he confess to being the one responsible for the theft of cattle in the area”