KILLED SOLDIER WAS BULEMBU ARMY BASE COMMANDER

MANZINI - The member of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) who was shot dead at Bulembu Army Base on Sunday morning, was the army base commander.

The deceased is Lance Corporal Zakhele Magwaza and he was reportedly killed on Sunday, at around 9am by three unknown gunmen who invaded Bulembu Army Base, which is under Nsingizini Army Barracks (Camp) in the Hhohho Region. The military man died five years before he reached his retirement age. He joined the army in 1978 and his regiment is Lusikinyane. This is according to the deceased’s elder brother, Sergeant Japhter, who is also a soldier under the Indlezane Regiment of 1977, which is also known as i-2000.

Chest

The elder brother, who was found at the deceased’s home at Luve under Mkhiweni Inkhundla in the Manzini Region, also revealed that the lance corporal was shot several times in the chest. However, he said they did not have the exact number of bullets which were lodged in his chest as they were still waiting for a formal report from the army. Japhter said the army had promised to visit the family today. He said according to their analysis, the brutal killing of their loved one was politically motivated. He said this was because if his killers were his enemies, they would have left a message or had a brief conversation with him before gunning him down. For example, he said they would have reminded him of the incident or day on which they became enemies.

In this case, he said the three unknown gunmen did not say a word. Instead, he said they opened fire at his unsuspecting brother, who was in a relaxed mood at the army base. “In fact, these people are not political activists, but are what we refer to as tiphekula tikhuni or emavukelambuso (terrorists),” the deceased’s elder brother said. He said this was because the killers had killed a family man for no apparent reason and without thinking about his innocent family, mainly the children, who would suffer after the death of their father. Again, he said as a soldier, he knew their tactic that if their target was a military man, they would attack him when he was relaxing and unsuspecting. He added that, just like they did to his brother, they would shoot him without saying a word that would alert him that he was under attack.

He said as a family, they were still shocked because the deceased was a people’s person, as apart from taking care of his family, he was contributing a lot to the community. “Personally, the killers angingcunulile, angishiya nemtfwalo (left me with a huge load) to take care of my family and that of my brother. Lunya lolu (its meanness),” he said.  On another note, he said the deceased was survived by his wife and nine children, some of whom were still schooling.

Shocked

Mkhiweni Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Masuku said as a community, they were equally shocked when they received the sad news on Sunday afternoon. He said even though he was old, Magwaza was a sociable man. He said when he was at home, he used to spend time with community members at one of the car washes at Luve. He added that if there was a problem at Luve, mainly noise, they would call him to calm and resolve the matter. During the attack, it was reported that there were about two soldiers at the base and after gunning down Magwaza, who tried to run after being shot but fell, the shooters tried to shoot the other soldier, but failed. Thereafter, they fled the scene.

The gunmen were reportedly armed with a rifle and two pistols. There are also claims that they tried to search for the area where the army arsenals are kept within the base, before fleeing.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time an army base is attacked in the Hhohho Region as in December 2022, unknown gunmen opened fire at Zibonele Army Base. The base is situated near Eswatini’s boundary with South Africa and it is an area usually used by dagga dealers to smuggle dagga into the neighbouring country. During the attack, several gunshots were fired at the camp, but no one was injured.

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