TEACHER ASSAULTED BY RAIDING OSSU COPS

SITEKI – A 42-year-old teacher yesterday was heavily assaulted, allegedly by police officers under the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU).

The officers are based at Mafutseni Police Station. The teacher was taken to the police station on suspicions that he was recording a video and taking pictures of the police officers during their raid at his home situated at Mafutseni yesterday morning. According to the teacher, who requested not to have his name published, his sin was being found wacting a video by the contingent of police officers, who were conducting raids in homes around the Mafutseni area. He suspects that this prompted the law enforcers to assault him on suspicions that he was recording them.

Assaulted

The teacher claimed that his phone was taken away by the police and he was taken to the Mafutseni Police Station where he was further assaulted with a diary and some police officers stomped on his feet. He said he was later released together with his phone after a two-hour interrogation and assault. “I was assaulted by the police all over my body with a diary and some with fists and they accused me of recording a video of them. They found me watching a video when they entered my home. My phone was taken and they also took me to the Mafutseni Police Station where I was further assaulted and told that they wanted to deal with teachers because they are unruly. I did not open a case because I was intimidated by the fact that the very police officers who took me in were also based at the same station,” he alleged. A Mafutseni resident, Mbongeni Mnisi, who witnessed the assault, said they were left shocked and traumatised as a community after the incident.

“This morning, we were confronted by a contingent of police officers from OSSU, accompanied by soldiers, who were raiding homes in the area. They took the teacher to the police station where he was further assaulted. His sin was being found at his home yard on his phone and they suspected he was recording them,” the resident alleged. Worth mentioning is that police officers have been seen raiding homes around Ngculwini against the backdrop of a shooting incident of one of their own, Thulani Mthembu, who was fatally shot at by unknown gunmen at his parental home during the preparations of a cleansing ceremony of his late father. This incident happened at the peak of police shootings and killings by unknown gunmen.
Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General (SG) Sikelela Dlamini, said he was yet to enquire about the incident from the Manzini branch of SNAT as he was outside the country.

Enquire

“I will enquire about the matter and ask for a comprehensive report from the Manzini branch leadership,” he said. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the matter. Mnguni advised the teacher to open a case at the Manzini Police Regional Headquarter, if he was uncomfortable doing so at the Mafutseni Police Station. “We do have a report of this matter. I would advise the teacher to go and report his case at the Manzini Police Regional Headquarter if he is not comfortable reporting it at the Mafutseni Police Station,” she said.

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