ADVOCATE: WHERE WAS THABANI’S BODY FROM MAY 8 TO 13?

MANZINI - Does this not require criminal investigation?

Advocate Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila asked the NATCOM if he was aware that hardly two minutes after the accident, the occupants were not found and he responded to the affirmative. He also asked if it was brought to his attention that his officers conducted a search together with members of the public at the scene on the night of the accident, but did not find the occupants of the car. In response, the NATCOM alleged that this information did not reach his ears. Instead, he submitted that he was told that there was a car which was found at the scene, it was towed to Matsapha Police Station and that no occupants were found inside.
Again, the advocate asked if he was told that on the following morning, police officers from Matsapha Police Station were sent to conduct a search at the scene, but did not find anything or anyone. He responded to the positive.

Once more, Advocate Mabila asked the police chief if he was aware that on May 10, 2021, Mathokoza Makhanya (the first person who arrived at the scene on the day of the accident), conducted another thorough search, but did not find the body of the deceased. In response, the NATCOM alleged that the police told him that they did not find the occupants, but mentioned that they would continue searching. Furthermore, the legal eagle told the witness that on May 13, 2021, the Nkomonye family was asked by the police to go to the scene, together with officers from His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS), and within a short space of time (hardly three minutes); they discovered the body of their loved one.  

Investigation

“The question is; does this not require a criminal investigation? Is that not good enough for you to institute a criminal investigation?” Advocate Mabila asked.
In response, the NATCOM said; “No, because there was already an investigation of a fatal road traffic accident which was ongoing. If any criminal element will be discovered at any stage, the docket will be transferred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).”

However, the advocate wanted to know from the NATCOM why they did not investigate where the body was in the five days (between May 8, 2021 and May 13, 2021). He asked if he did not deem it appropriate to investigate why the body was not found after the accident and during other searches. “I did not find it necessary to do so because the body was eventually found. Before that (during previous searches), they did not go and search where the body was found,” NATCOM claimed.

Thereafter, Mabila asked if the police lied to him (Dlamini) and he claimed that he did not know. Again, Advocate Mabila submitted that Constable Victor Nkentjane and Constable Blondy Mdluli were transferred from the Traffic Department at Manzini Police Station to the Communications Department at Manzini Police Regional Headquarters six days after the body of Nkomonye was discovered. The NATCOM alleged that he was not sure about the time, but mentioned that they were allegedly transferred together with one Constable Ndlovu because they were implicated in a kombi conductor’s arrest, which attracted the attention of social media users and the public.

Thereafter, the advocate told the NATCOM that in the evening of the alleged accident, a police sedan was supposedly seen in pursuit of a black Mazda Demio at high speed at Ngwane Park. He submitted that coincidentally, Mdluli, as per his own evidence and MTN Eswatini records, was at Ngwane Park. Again, he submitted that on the following day, around 7:45am, Constable Mdluli communicated with Nkentjane. Thereafter, he added that on May 12, 2021, at around 5pm, both officers were allegedly at Nhlambeni, yet the jurisdiction of Manzini did not cover that area.

Explanation

He alleged that according to the evidence, Nkentjane spent about two hours at Nhlambeni and he allegedly failed to give an explanation on what he was doing there because he was on duty. Then the following day, he submitted that the body of the deceased was found in less than three minutes. “Does this not need to be investigated?” the advocate asked. On top of that, Advocate Mabila brought it to the attention of the NATCOM that Dr Komma Reddy, the Police Pathologist who conducted the post-mortem on May 14, 2021, told the coroner that he could not rule out an assault on the body of the deceased. He added that the doctor also told the coroner that he could not rule out that the deceased was pulled on his back by his feet, thus he sustained injuries on the upper part of his back.

Once more, he submitted that the doctor also told the coroner that he could not have come out of the car without being assisted and that if the vehicle ejected him through the windscreen, it would have not curved inwards. “Now, you have all this evidence, still you do not see a need to institute a criminal investigation?”  Advocate Mabila asked. In response, the witness submitted that they would wait for the coroner’s report and recommendations. The advocate told him that they did not institute the investigation in the first place because they knew that Nkentjane and Mdluli were allegedly involved in the death of Nkomonye and they were supposedly protecting them together with the organisation.

“I cannot protect officers who commit criminal offences,” the NATCOM responded. As they continued, the NATCOM submitted that the lawyers could not push them to launch a criminal investigation now or tomorrow. “I am sorry, that I cannot do,” the police chief added. Thereafter, lawyer Nkomondze accused the NATCOM of allegedly emulating a character which was consistent with that of his subordinates; that of shifting blame. He then reminded him that the Inquest Act did not prohibit the police from carrying out their own investigation, even if there was an ongoing inquiry.

Evidence

Furthermore, Nkomondze submitted that police investigations were important and had weight compared to that of the inquest investigation because law enforcers went out to gather evidence, while the coroner depended on what people submitted.  The NATCOM did not dispute the lawyer’s submissions. He added that with the investigation of the coroner, a person who committed a criminal offence could get away with it, yet in police investigations, they would be arrested. However, the NATCOM submitted that maybe no one had committed a criminal offence in the matter.

Thabani Nkomonye is the 25-year-old man who went missing on the night of Saturday May 8, 2021, after the car, a Mazda Demio, which he was driving, was involved in a road traffic accident at Nhlambeni, along the Mhlaleni/Nhlangano Public Road. After the accident, his body was not located. It was eventually discovered five days later, on May 13, 2021, and it was about 20 metres from where the car was found.

The delay in the discovery of Nkomonye’s body raised questions among many and diverse insinuations were shared on social media platforms. This resulted in the #JusticeForThabani movement, whereupon members of the public demanded answers from the police. Thereafter, the then acting Prime Minister (PM), Themba Masuku, appointed a Coroner, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini, to lead an inquest into the death of Nkomonye, who was a Law student at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA). The inquest started on June 1, 2021.

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