VIOLENCE WAS NEVER OUR PLAN - MP MTHANDENI

MBABANE – Ngwempisi Member of Parliament Mthandeni Dube has blamed the police and government for the spate of violence that marred the protest marches across the country.

Dube revealed that the violence that formed a greater part of the protest marches was never a part of their initial plan when they started calling for political change. He said the police and the military police were the cause of the violence because they started beating people in an attempt to silence them. The country has seen a spate of violence and arson attacks  which left others seriously  injured and others rumoured to be shot dead during the protest marches around the country. Dube said the government shouldn’t have deployed the military police and soldiers to block the protesters. Dube mentioned that when they started the calls for political change, the goal was clear but it all got out of hand when government decided to fight those who wanted to deliver petitions. He said the Acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, could have handled the matter differently and engaged the people as compared to using intimidating techniques.

“The approach taken by government was militant from the onset and it fuelled the anger of the youth. The country is now in danger of a civil war because our government failed to listen to the people but decided to provoke them by deploying armed forces and stricter regulations,” he said. Dube said the youth have already shown resilience which makes them even more dangerous now. He encouraged government to engage the people through a formal political dialogue that will deal direct with the issues raised by the people. He mentioned that now is the time where the role of parliament must be made significance in the discussions of the current political situation. “Right now, we should discuss this thing matter at parliament level and we come up with sound proposal to restore peace so that we can then open a political dialogue. I don’t believe that the Sibaya will work this time around so we must get a neutral round table to have this conversation. I must make it clear though that what will stop all this is giving the people what they want,” he said.

Dube said the people will only stop rioting if government can engage them and give them what they want. He highlighted that the country is at risk of creating child soldiers because the youth has shown that it is willing to die for what it wants. “We do not condone violence and we want to request the people to make sure that they stay safe because it is now clear that the armed forces are ready to use heavy handedness. We won’t stop the call for change until government gives us what we want” said Dube.
Dube mentioned that government must also consider engaging the proscribed political parties because they cannot be ignored anymore. “It can also be proven that the youth forms a bigger part of the political parties and, therefore, government cannot afford to ignore them anymore. I say government must consider engaging the proscribed groups if it intends to find a lasting solution to this,” he said.

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