Times Of Swaziland: NURSES DEMAND APOLOGY, ARREST OF ‘BRUTAL’ COPS

NURSES DEMAND APOLOGY, ARREST OF ‘BRUTAL’ COPS
================================================================================
BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 27/10/2021 09:09:00


MANZINI – Nurses from some health institutions around Manzini have taken the
issue of the recent police brutality to another level as they demand answers
within 72 hours, including a public apology from the NATCOM.
This is contained in a petition which was delivered by nurses who are organised
under the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), Manzini Region, to the
National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police William Tsitsibala Dlamini, through the
office of the Manzini regional commissioner. The petition was handed over to the
police by the nurses union’s Acting Manzini Regional Secretary Calvin Dlamini
and it was titled; ‘Police brutality and bashing of unarmed nurses’.
Brutality
In the petition the nurses said following the recent alleged brutality which was
meted to against civil servants and nurses in particular, during what was
supposed to be a peaceful march to deliver a petition to the Ministry of Public
Service on Wednesday October 20, 2021; as medical practitioners from the Manzini
Region, they had some demands to present to the NATCOM. They demanded that the
office of the NATCOM should desist from issuing commands that the police should
shoot to kill as it was alleged by junior officers. The acting regional
secretary claimed that junior officers had allegedly told them that there were
orders that were issued and were to the effect that they should shoot to kill.
“We know that the police have underscored last Wednesday because according to
information we gathered, they had a target to shoot at least 1 000 people,”
the acting regional secretary alleged. When he was pressed further on how and
where they got the information that the police allegedly had a target to shoot
at least 1 000 people during the civil servants’ march which was stopped by
the law enforcers, the acting secretary claimed that they obtained such details
from the police, but indirectly. Again, the nurses demanded that the office of
the NATCOM should give a comprehensive explanation and issue a public apology to
nurses and the public at large and assurance that this would never happen again.
“We demand that the two police officers, who (allegedly) shot two nurses and
many other civil servants, be arrested and charged with murder and attempted
murder. Failure to implement the above may validate the allegations that your
office gave instructions to shoot to kill,” read part of the petition. They
also demanded that the NATCOM should stop the summons of nurses from Hlatikhulu
Government Hospital to report at the police station. The acting regional
secretary claimed that some of their members from Hlatikhulu, who went to
register their concerns to the police, were allegedly being intimidated with
summons, which invited them to the police station to assist the law enforcers
with some information on something they were working on.
Arrest
“We demand the arrest of the police officers who fired tear gas canisters into
a bus which was full of healthcare workers at Nkoyoyo last Wednesday. Their
conduct was heartless and inhumane,” the nurses said in the petition. On top
of that, they demanded professional and ethical reporting from the office of the
Police Information and Communications Officer, not the alleged lies and
protecting of the ills of the police. They also reminded the NATCOM that the
police officer, Sibusiso Bhubesi Shongwe, who was held for allegedly killing
their colleague, Dolly Mlangeni, had not been tried in court yet, instead he was
working in one of the police stations. Therefore, they  demanded justice for
Mlangeni.
Moreover, they reminded the NATCOM that the police force should be an
organisation for the nation. They added that in their motto, they (police)
referred to themselves as a shield for the King and nation, but according to
their analysis,  the police seemed to be a shield for the King against the
nation. They emphasised in the petition that they demanded a public apology and
responses to the above demands within 72 hours of receipt of this petition.