ARSON ATTACKS: SADC SHOULD DEPLOY TROOPS - ACTIVISTS, OTHERS

MBABANE – “SADC should deploy peacekeeping troops to stop the violence.”

This was one of the submissions made by political activists and members of the public when questioned on the prevailing situation of snowballing arson attacks in the country lately.
They further said the situation was deteriorating and evidently, a civil war was looming. Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Swaziland President Nombulelo Motsa, said the burning of properties, which was being witnessed nowadays, was a sheer sign of the beginning of a civil war. “What we are seeing now is a lot of blame shifting, which might result in people simply retaliating and instituting the eye for an eye rule,” said Motsa. She said as far as they were concerned, this was evidently the start of a civil war, however, the way things were going it was paramount that they continued to condemn the burning of properties as there was nothing that could be achieved through this as the infrastructure was still necessary for the future.

Solution

“The solution, however, is that the grievances of the people should be heard in order for these attacks to stop. These attacks are simply a push to fast-track the dialogue, but that seems to be a far-fetched dream at this point, as the government has not even announced a date for the dialogue or received the terms of reference from the different stakeholders,” she said. She added that to them as progressives, right now it appeared as though the arson attacks were being perpetrated by those who favoured the current regime in order to taint their image.
The EFF Swaziland president further reiterated People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) Secretary General (SG) Wandile Dludlu’s sentiments during the past week, after his car was petrol-bombed by unknown arsonists,  in that no one was safe from these attacks, including EFF Swaziland members.

She further disclosed that arson was not the only tool of violence or mode of attack being used, as the political party had encountered other forms lately. “We recently had marijuana planted in one of our vehicles by unknown people and also had a van belonging to us tampered with, so as to make it have a faulty braking system but we did not reveal this,” said Motsa. The president said this van was usually used to ferry comrades from the political party to protests, and luckily they were able to realise the fault before getting too far. “So, different forms of attacks have been instituted on us although we have not experienced the burning of any of our properties,” she said. When questioned if they had reported these incidents to the police, she said they had not reported any of them because the police allegedly moved at a snail’s pace when it came to issues affecting them. “We are also reluctant because we could be reporting to the same people who might have information regarding these incidents,” alleged Motsa.

Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) President Sibongile Mazibuko, when asked to comment on the prevalence of arson attacks, said the situation was unfortunate. “In my opinion, this is all due to the statement made by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development Prince Simelane, when he said government should fight fire with fire. Unfortunately, people were now implementing this statement practically,” alleged the NNLC President. She said they were of the opinion that the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) should intervene in order to salvage the situation. “We are a country with a very small population, therefore, if this continues, the whole nation will be wiped away. For example,  the recent attack on comrade Ngomu’yayona Gamedze, he lives near the Ngabezweni Royal Residence, and by mere common sense, he is expected to be far safer than other people but he was also not immune to the arson attacks,” said Mazibuko.

She said this was not to say that she was necessarily blaming anyone for the arson attack on Gamedze, but him being targeted and successfully so was concerning as you would expect that by virtue of where he resided, he would be safe. “The first progressive to be hit was former MP Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane, followed by Penuel Malinga, then Wandile Dludlu and now Gamedze, among others. It is paramount that the SADC peacekeeping troops now make their way into the country because the situation could soon turn volatile,” said Mazibuko.
She further reiterated EFF Swaziland’s blame shifting sentiments, stating that as long as no one knew the exact people behind any of the attacks, then the turmoil would continue, therefore, peacekeeping troops in the country were now more necessary than ever. “What could stop everything that is happening is engagement, that is why the necessity for a dialogue is there now more than ever. We need to thrash things out and move on amicably from this whole situation, quashing whatever differences we have,” said Mazibuko.

Blamed

She said what was currently happening was not what they had hoped for, but blamed government for being reluctant in resolving the situation. Mazibuko said it was unfortunate that SADC was also unclear when it came to a way forward, judging by the cancellation of the summit where matters relative to Eswatini were to be discussed. People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) member Mphandlana Shongwe said as a movement, they had a meeting where they resolved to no longer discuss the issue of arson attacks with outsiders. Globally, countries which have been marred by civil unrest and violence and eventually had their economies deteriorate and poverty increase include; Central African Republic, Venezuela, Nigeria, Palestine, Myanmar, Mexico and Bangladesh among others.

According to Business Insider, The Central African Republic has frequently featured near the bottom of global social rankings, and last year it was named the least prosperous nation on earth by think tank, the Legatum Institute. “Venezuela’s troubles are well-documented. Rampant inflation means that goods and services are incredibly expensive, meaning that much of the country’s population is suffering from hunger and a lack of basic essentials, like toilet paper,” quoted Business Insider.

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