Times Of Swaziland: E1.5M DAMAGE AFTER PUDEMO PRESIDENT’S HOME TORCHED E1.5M DAMAGE AFTER PUDEMO PRESIDENT’S HOME TORCHED ================================================================================ Thokozani Mamba on 21/09/2022 09:30:00 NTANDWENI – On Monday night, two gunshots were fired at the home of PUDEMO President Mlungisi Makhanya, where a house was also bombed by unknown people. Makhanya’s home is situated at Ntandweni under Malindza Umphakatsi. The damage to the property is estimated at E1.5 million. A two-bedroom house, with a kitchen and dining area, was petrol-bombed at around 12:30am. According to a security guard at the homestead, Samson Simuka, who was in another house within the premises during the incident, he heard people talking after the gunshots had been fired. Simuka said he then heard the sound of an explosion at the main house and he jumped out through a window and fled. He said he found a hiding spot and was unable to ascertain the number of the arsonists since it was dark. Simuka’s colleague hid within the homestead. Explosions “I can’t be sure how many explosions happened, but I could tell that the people were using powerful explosives. After a few minutes, the voices of the people disappeared. The house was engulfed in flames,” he said. Simuka said his colleague, who had disappeared after the explosion, called the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) National Organising Secretary, Penuel Malinga, who arrived in about 20 minutes. Simuka stated that Malinga appeared shocked when he saw the burning house. He said they were able to remove some items from the sitting room and study areas. Simuka said they monitored the situation for a few hours. Damage This reporter arrived at Makhanya’s homestead at around 9:15am, with Malinga, who had returned to assess the damage. Malinga was in the company of PUDEMO Lubombo Branch Chairman Sifiso Mabuza, PUDEMO Head of International Relations Siboniso Mkhabela, Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) Lubombo Branch Chairman Felizwe Vilakati and former SWAYOCO Secretary General (SG) Maxwell Dlamini, among others. At around 10:20am, Makhanya’s wife, Khosie, also arrived and remained in her car for about 10 minutes. She was seen wiping tears. She failed to control her emotions and wept when Malinga led her to the burnt house and a female member of the party comforted her. After a couple of minutes, Khosie regained her composure and went inside the house to assess the damage and was seen picking up a bowl that was among the burnt items. Malinga left and instructed senior PUDEMO members to report the matter at Mpaka Police Post. About 30 minutes later, three vans and two sedans with about 20 police officers arrived. The police officers were armed and led by Siteki Police Station Commander, Edwin Dlamini. They recorded statements with the two security guards and Makhanya’s wife. In a statement posted on Facebook and WhatsApp yesterday, Makhanya said even if they burnt the entire place, they could not deter the movement from fighting for liberation. “We buried comrade Msimisi Mkhwanazi that you had facially disfigured, we buried comrade Lungelo Vilakati whose skull you shattered and took care of Make Mkhwanazi that you had thrown into a raging fire at Boxer in Nhlangano. What makes you think that burning brick and mortar will deter us? comrade Bacede sacrificed his business empire for this struggle. comrade Mthandeni Dube lost his emerging business and comrade ‘Gawuzela’ is exiled and the list is endless. I joined the struggle wilfully and voluntarily at a young age with absolutely no material possessions. You can never harm me by attacking material things,” he stated. The PUDEMO president reminded political activists that they were bound to the struggle by permanent glue that could never be dissolved. Struggle He said the value attached to material possessions was ephemeral, but the value attached to the noble struggle was permanent. Senior members of PUDEMO accused government of having a hand in the petrol bombing of Makhaya’s house. According to Malinga, this incident happened at a time when an audio was circulated on social media, stating that property belonging to leaders of progressive movements should also be burnt so that they could feel the pain. This audio was circulated on WhatsApp and Facebook. This follows that properties belonging to companies, government structures and private citizens were burnt. Malinga said the burning of property belonging to leaders of progressive groups would not deter them from fighting for freedom. He said the struggle left behind by the late former PUDEMO President Mario Masuku, the late Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA) President Jan Sithole and others, would continue until political reforms were achieved. “We are saying as PUDEMO, we will be tortured and killed but the idea will remain, which is that the people want freedom. The movement will not be shaken by these acts of cowardice. To our members, you must remain resolute and focused as we will meet as the leadership on this incident,” said Malinga. Bombing PUDEMO Lubombo Branch Chairman Sifiso Mabuza said the bombing of Makhanya’s house showed that the struggle had taken another twist. Mabuza said God protected Makhanya’s family as the incident happened a few hours after they had left the home. The chairman alleged that this could have been done by trained personnel. In a statement issued by Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) Spokesperson Thantaza Silolo, the movement said it was enraged at the acts of sabotage by State agents’ provocateurs on Makhanya’s family house. Silolo further mentioned that this was a clear sign of cowardice from those failing to address the people’s demands for democratic reforms and instead responded with fire to perpetrate violence in the country. Condemned He said SWALIMO condemned this act in the strongest terms and wished to assure the PUDEMO president that his immense contribution and footprint in the struggle was supported by the entire mass democratic movement and that no amount of intimidation could deter the vision of liberating the people or even dampen their spirit. Silolo strongly warned the regime to desist from promoting violence, but focus on remedial actions to address the security and political challenges facing the country. “This includes the lingering national dialogue that has not been prioritised to enable progressive engagements on addressing the social, economic and political challenges facing emaSwati. SWALIMO wishes to assure all the people that victory towards the ultimate goal is near and that unity is strength,” he concluded.