CROWN TO PARADE ABOUT 50 WITNESSES AGAINST MPS

MBABANE – The Crown will parade about 50 witnesses against incarcerated Hosea Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube.

The number of witnesses was revealed by the Crown during a pre-trial conference held at the High Court yesterday.  The prosecution was, however, adamant that it would not disclose the names of the witnesses because of security reasons. The Crown served the MPs with the statements of witnesses yesterday and the trial could not proceed because, according to their legal representative, Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko, they were not ready to proceed with the trial. Maseko said he still had to go through the statements with the accused persons and prepare their defence.
The two MPs face charges relating to the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

Statements

“We have just been served with the statements of witnesses. That is why we couldn’t start today because we have just been served with the statements of witnesses. They (Crown) are saying that they will call about 50 witnesses for now. “We don’t know, maybe the number might change. We need to take that big file to these guys (MPs Mabuza and Dube) at Matsapha and go through each and every statement and prepare our defence based on what the State has against us,” Maseko said. In the composite summary of evidence which the Crown presented to the defence, it is alleged that Mabuza and Dube, as well as Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane, held various meetings in different places where they incited members of the public to revolt against government.

According to the Crown, the contents of all their meetings were posted on social media platforms for public consumption. In the composite summary of evidence, the State narrated that it was common cause that there had been unrest in the whole country. The issue, according to the prosecution, started on or about June 5, 2021, at Hosea Constituency. It is alleged that MPs Mabuza and Simelane were present during the meeting that had been called by the former. The Crown went on to highlight that during the meeting at Hosea, there was no registration of the attendees and there was no sanitisation as required by the COVID-19 regulations. The Crown told the court that as a result of the alleged incitement by the three accused persons, different tinkhundla centres were burnt down and these included Timphisini, Ndzingeni, Hosea, KuMethula, Mayiwane, Ngwempisi, Somntongo, Ntondozi, Sandleni, Engudzeni, Matsanjeni and Maseyisini (vandalised).

“FurtherMORE, as a result of the incitement of the public by all the accused persons, various properties around the country were destroyed and different items looted. “These include three OK Supermarkets in Matsapha, Eswatini Breweries, Nhlangano Health Centre, Mbabane Embangweni Complex, Buy Cash Hardwares all over the country, Lewis Stores and different ATMs for various financial institutions around the country,” submitted the Crown.

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