CROWN: CHARGE NTUTHUKO’S WIFE WITH PERJURY

MBABANE - The Crown wants Nomthandazo Hlobisile Dlamini, the wife of former Minister Ntuthuko Dlamini, to be charged with perjury.

Perjury is the offence of willfully telling an untruth in a court of law after having taken an oath or affirmation. The call to have Nomthandazo charged with perjury comes after she deposed to an affidavit, where she claimed that there were no longer any police officers guarding their home and that they left two weeks after the incident. In her sworn statement, the wife stated that: “I further confirm that in December 2020, after the applicant (Ntuthuko) had moved his bail application, the police usually come by our home and this exercise is not done every day. When they are present, they sometimes stay in the guard house in our home for a couple of hours and leave.”

Deployed

The Crown yesterday filed copies of an Occurrence Book (OB), which reflected that police officers were still deployed to guard the former minister’s homestead. An OB is where all occurrences at a police station are recorded. The Crown argued that the facts and evidence presented in the OB had material evidence to charge Nomthandazo with perjury as she allegedly clearly lied under oath. Crown Counsel Sibusiso Gama also handed over a supplementary affidavit deposed to by Bhunya Police Station Desk Officer Simon Mduduzi Mavuso.

Mavuso informed the court that his duties as desk officer included, among others, deployment of manpower if there was a dispute or disputed issue likely to cause damage in a community, in an effort to maintain peace.  He confirmed to have deployed officers to guard Ntuthuko’s homestead.  According to Mavuso, the reason he deployed the police officers was due to the fact that communities affected by the shooting incident had threatened to revenge against the former minister and burn his properties.

“At first instance, I deployed OSSU to the complex owned by the applicant (Ntuthuko) to frighten the people. A tent was then pitched at the complex, Malkerns police also assisted. We then, around December 2020, because of COVID-19 operations and national duties, the operation was halted, but only at the complex and not at the homestead,” submitted the desk officer. He highlighted that they, however, liaised with the security guards situated at the complex now and then. “I wish to state, however, that the police have always been at the homestead of the applicant, immediately after arrest up to date. We have two guard duties or operations at the police station. One being at Luhleko Royal Kraal and at LaMgabhi,” submitted Mavuso.

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