Times Of Swaziland: VIOLENCE WAS NEVER OUR PLAN - MP MTHANDENI

VIOLENCE WAS NEVER OUR PLAN - MP MTHANDENI
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Mhlonishwa Motsa on 04/07/2021 17:15:00


MBABANE – Ngwempisi Member of Parliament Mthandeni Dube has blamed the police
and government for the spate of violence that marred the protest marches across
the country.
Dube revealed that the violence that formed a greater part of the protest
marches was never a part of their initial plan when they started calling for
political change. He said the police and the military police were the cause of
the violence because they started beating people in an attempt to silence them.
The country has seen a spate of violence and arson attacks  which left others
seriously  injured and others rumoured to be shot dead during the protest
marches around the country. Dube said the government shouldn’t have deployed
the military police and soldiers to block the protesters. Dube mentioned that
when they started the calls for political change, the goal was clear but it all
got out of hand when government decided to fight those who wanted to deliver
petitions. He said the Acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, could have handled
the matter differently and engaged the people as compared to using intimidating
techniques.
“The approach taken by government was militant from the onset and it fuelled
the anger of the youth. The country is now in danger of a civil war because our
government failed to listen to the people but decided to provoke them by
deploying armed forces and stricter regulations,” he said. Dube said the youth
have already shown resilience which makes them even more dangerous now. He
encouraged government to engage the people through a formal political dialogue
that will deal direct with the issues raised by the people. He mentioned that
now is the time where the role of parliament must be made significance in the
discussions of the current political situation. “Right now, we should discuss
this thing matter at parliament level and we come up with sound proposal to
restore peace so that we can then open a political dialogue. I don’t believe
that the Sibaya will work this time around so we must get a neutral round table
to have this conversation. I must make it clear though that what will stop all
this is giving the people what they want,” he said.
Dube said the people will only stop rioting if government can engage them and
give them what they want. He highlighted that the country is at risk of creating
child soldiers because the youth has shown that it is willing to die for what it
wants. “We do not condone violence and we want to request the people to make
sure that they stay safe because it is now clear that the armed forces are ready
to use heavy handedness. We won’t stop the call for change until government
gives us what we want” said Dube.
Dube mentioned that government must also consider engaging the proscribed
political parties because they cannot be ignored anymore. “It can also be
proven that the youth forms a bigger part of the political parties and,
therefore, government cannot afford to ignore them anymore. I say government
must consider engaging the proscribed groups if it intends to find a lasting
solution to this,” he said.