2 CAUGHT CHEATING, DISQUALIFIED

GEGE – Through the vigilant eye of the members of the army, two people were caught cheating during the ongoing recruitment exercise yesterday.

The two, who were from Gege, were part of over 700 hopefuls who participated at Maseyisini and Gege constituencies in the ongoing army recruitment yesterday. As part of the recruitment exercise, participants are expected to run a distance of 1.6km in one direction and return to the starting point, in total covering 3.2km. The culprits started running with the others and along the way to the starting point, they boarded a motor vehicle, which dropped them off close to the finish line. The motor vehicle is said to have dropped them off at a safe distance and they emerged from a forest and ran, pretending to have been running the entire time. One of the cheating aspiring recruits was fetched by a Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) Quantum to the constituency centre, while the other was denied entry at the gate. In an interview with one of the culprits, Ngabisa Mabuza, she admitted that she cheated, saying she wanted to be among the top six.

Energy

She said the idea was to save energy for the exercises as she wished to join the army for employment purposes. “What was I supposed to do because I wanted to win?” she asked with a smile. UEDF Public Affairs Officer 2nd Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo confirmed the incident. She stated that they took the recruitment exercise seriously, hence the reason they were vigilant. She further said they discouraged cheating by those yet to participate in the exercise. “We appreciate the community as well; they also came to tell us about the same people and it showed that they also wanted transparency out of this exercise,” she said.  Meanwhile, half of Maseyisini Constituency winners said they were inspired by their family members to join the army as they (family members) also served in the army.

Footsteps

One of the winners, Thulisile Thring (23), said her late brother was a soldier and she had always wished to follow in his footsteps. She stated that she was hoping to make it to the end.
Thring came first in the 3.2km race among female participants, and she stated that she was a football player for Royal Leopard Ladies Team. She stated that she was not afraid to be a soldier regardless of the political unrest. Meanwhile, Nontuthuko Dlamini who also won, having prepared for only three days, said her father was a soldier and he inspired her a lot. She said she had hopes that the ongoing unrest in the country would pass and even if it did not, she was still not afraid or doubtful that she wished to join the army.

Phumlani Kunene said growing up, he had always trained at least once a week since he finished school, so the exercises were not challenging for him. Also, Nkosinathi Shongwe said his father was a soldier and he loved it from a tender age. He said he grew up not knowing his biological father, but had always been told he was a soldier and the wish to meet him came with the love of being in the army. He explained that he was looking at the positive side regardless of the fears and the ongoing unrest, adding that he was a believer and that God knew the future of the country regarding the unrest. Meanwhile, Mthobisi Nkonyane of Gege Constituency, who was among the top six, said he only had three days to prepare for yesterday’s recruitment. He said he was all prepared to serve the nation and was hopeful to pass the vetting and medical check-up to qualify.

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