PUDEMO HELPS BURY MAN SHOT DURING PROTESTS

SOMNJALOSE - It appears that the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) has taken over the responsibility of burying some of the people who were allegedly shot by security forces during the recent pro-democracy protests which culminated in vandalism, looting and loss of life.

This was evident during the burial of Phumlani ‘Mapamu’ Sikhondze yesterday. During the funeral, his family confided that they sought financial assistance from the proscribed political party. “We did not engage PUDEMO for financial assistance because we wanted to but we were obligated after government left us in the dark,” said Mlondi Sikhondze on behalf of the family. Phumlani’s family alleged that he was shot dead by members of the security forces who were patrolling the area in a motor vehicle at around 10pm on June 29, 2021.

Protests

They stated that Phumlani was not part of the protests but was on his way to buy alcoholic beverages at Mvutjini when the security personnel fired a live round of ammunition from the other side of the Mbabane-Manzini Freeway. “We opened a case at the Ezulwini Police Post, where we were referred to Lobamba Police Station.  From Lobamba Police Station, we were referred to the Hhohho Regional Headquarters. We made it clear that Phumlani was not part of the protests with the hope that government would assist us financially. We mentioned that we did not have the financial muscle to bury him. The police promised to call us but they never did hence we engaged PUDEMO,” said Mlondi. He stated that the act by the police showed that shooting Phumlani was just like shooting a bird in the air.  He further thanked the residents of Somnjalose and PUDEMO for the support towards the burial of his brother. Phumlani’s funeral attracted hundreds of youth and residents of the area as he was a well-know football player.  The mourners were more than the stipulated number as per the rules of level 2 of the COVID-19 regulations. The regulations provide that at funerals people should not be more than 50.

According to his teammates, Phumlani was a goalscorer for Kasi Warriors, which had recently won the second division league. Blowing of vuvuzelas and singing of political songs was the order of the day at the funeral. This lasted until Mlondi called for order before handing over to the programme director, well-known PUDEMO member Jerome Shongwe. However, the youth did not stop singing and chanting the political slogans during the course of the funeral. In his remarks, Shongwe told the mourners that a person like Phumlani deserved a special funeral because he allegedly sacrificed his blood for a better Eswatini. Shongwe mentioned that the organisation was yet to honour Phumlani. He added that the organisation had established a fund to compensate families of those who were shot during the protests across the country.

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