CHAOS IN NIGHT OF ARSON ATTACKS, LOOTING

MBABANE – There are already casualties of the #OperationKungahlwakwenile as one protester has been shot.

The protester, who is 25 years old, was shot in the leg. It was not immediately established which area the protester came from at the time of compiling this report. Meanwhile, protest actions continued in areas surrounding the city, including Msunduza, Mahwalala and Checkers, among others. Yesterday marked the third day of the night protests after the one staged in Siphofaneni on Saturday. At Msunduza Location, at around 8pm yesterday, a majority of the streets were not accessible as skips belonging to the Municipal Council of Mbabane were turned upside down and waste littered all over and set alight. There were also huge rocks placed on the roads.
Protesters were also found on the streets singing political songs and issued warnings to motorists to avoid some parts of the road as they would not pass through.

At the time, there were no police officers visible in the area. It was only the protesters. Around 8:30pm, the protesters were marching by the road passing Solani’s Shisanyama. On another note, there were protesters at Mahwalala who also started a fire in the middle of the road. At around 7pm, police arrived and tried to disperse the crowd by firing tear gas. Along Cozy Corner and Checkers, protesters were also blocking the road. When sought for comment on the matter, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said from where she was, there was nothing she could do. Vilakati said police officers were deployed to other parts of the country and could not be all over the place.

“I have no clue where these protests are taking place but I can assure you that there are some officers who are responding to the situation,” she said. It was gathered that officers from the Operational Support Service Unit (OSSU) had been deployed as well to respond to the situation. Meanwhile, social media was abuzz last night with insinuations that the army had also been deployed to maintain order in various parts of the country. While no confirmation could be obtained, it was stated that the members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) had already been given orders on their next operation.When questioned on the issue of alleged deployment of soldiers, UEDF Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo stated that the army did not disclose their operations. 

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