BOMB DISPOSAL UNIT AT SIPHO MURDER TRIAL

MBABANE – The security detail at the High Court was yesterday different from the other days as police officers from the Bomb Disposal Unit were on standby.

The contingent of the police, who were also armed, came in a white panel van, which was pulling a trailer which is used to carry equipment for detecting explosives.  In the morning, before the arrival of murder accused Sipho Shongwe, accomplice witness Siphiwe ‘Tata’ Ngubane and members of the public, some of the police officers from the Bomb Disposal Unit were seen entering Court B of the High Court which is utilised to hear the matter.

The officers conducted a clean sweep – a thorough inspection - and later left and remained at the entrance for the duration of the matter. Ever since the matter resumed last Wednesday, it was for the first time that police officers from this unit were dispatched to the High Court. One of the law enforcers, when asked what necessitated the presence of the unit, said: “I cannot disclose that to you, but can only say that it is for security reasons. We sometimes act on information from our Intelligence Department.”

The officer, however, emphasised that as the matter proceeds, security will be heightened further for various reasons which border around safety and security of all those in court. The High Court building was littered with armed police officers, especially those from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) and those from the Rapid Response Unit of His Majesty’s Correctional Services. Coincidentally, Shongwe’s matter was proceeding alongside that of Maxwell Nkambule, who also is accused of having hired South African hit men to kill public transport operator Jomo Khumalo. Like Shongwe, every time Nkambule appears in court, he is escorted by armed officers from the Rapid Response Unit from His Majesty’s Correctional Services.  

There were over 30 armed police officers, including others who were not in uniform.  There was also a contingent of officers from His Majesty’s Correctional Services who consisted of those from the Rapid Response Unit. The law enforcers were detailed in different places around the High Court while others were inside the courtroom where Shongwe’s trial was proceeding.

Some officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) were deployed at the entrance of the room where Ngubane was being kept. Inside the room, he was closely guarded by some plain-clothes police officers who were in the company of the lead investigator in the Shongwe case, Superintendent Sikhumbuzo Fakudze. Others who were present to observe the proceedings were Mbabane Swallows fans, including General Manager Sandile Zwane.  Also present were those who had come to give Shongwe moral support, including his wife Vuyiswa.

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