PUDEMO’S MADZABUDZABU SHOT, LEG AMPUTATED

MBABANE – Political activist Madzabudzabu Kunene has had his leg amputated after he was shot by police officers who were dispersing crowds during the ongoing violent protest actions over political changes.

Kunene is one of several protesters who took a bullet on Tuesday night, when the protesters clashed with the paramilitary police at the Extension 3 township in Mbabane, close to the Mbabane Industrial site. This is where a number of buildings were damaged and looted with Bandag being set on fire. He said he and a group of protesters were singing and dancing along the streets when suddenly police approached them aboard vans.

scampering

“We were just scampering when suddenly the police opened fire on us. One bullet ripped right through my right foot and immediately paralysed me. The police did not stop there, but kicked me with their heavy boots. One officer, who had realised what had happened, stopped his colleagues and told them to halt the beating. They then left me in that position without offering any assistance,” he alleged. Kunene said he had dragged himself to an open space, where his friends noticed that he had been shot.
“My friends later emerged from their hiding spots and organised transport to take me to hospital,” he said. Kunene said when he arrived at the Mbabane Government Hospital he discovered that there were many other people who had sustained injuries allegedly at the hands security officers in different parts of the country.

He said doctors had initially tried to patch his foot by stitching and bandaging it, after which they sent him to his hospital bed to wait for an operation at the theatre. “I realised at this time that my injured leg was cold and that it was not moving any inch. That is when I knew that fears of a possible amputation were real.” He said doctors informed him that saving the leg would be impossible and that the only option was to amputate. “Perhaps I did not have a problem because I knew when the bullet hit me that the leg would be amputated, as it had twisted strangely from the thigh downwards,” he said.

tragic

Kunene said losing a leg is tragic to him but will not silence him in joining the masses that want democratic changes in the country. Besides being a member of the banned Swaziland Youth Congress, Kunene is also known extensively as a foot soldier in the fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS, having persuaded many to start taking the antiretroviral treatment. Siyabonga Dlamini of Msunduza was seriously injured and had his leg fractured when the police pounced on him and a group protesters near the Msunduza Market. Meanwhile, Menzi Tsela from Ezulwini said he was returning home from work when he came across a group of people that were protesting.

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