ALPHEOUS REFUTES REPORTS OF FOREIGN HIT MEN IN ESWATINI

MBABANE – Who are the foreign men in the company of a police tactical unit?

This question has been widely asked by those who have occasionally seen two men in the company of the police squad during operations and roadblocks. As the questions grew, so have speculations and rumours surrounding their presence. Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo said the State felt obliged to dispel certain rumours alleging that the men were hit men or mercenaries. Nxumalo was responding to allegations made on social media that men of foreign origin had been seen armed, in the company of local police officers. When the Times of Eswatini asked him on Monday to respond to these allegation, he could not give a clear response, calling upon this newspaper to furnish him with the names of emaSwati who were killed by the men as insinuated in the social media reports.

Statement

However, yesterday morning, Nxumalo issued a public statement where he refuted the issue of hit men. “Government wishes to strongly refute the false information currently circulating across social media platforms with regard to the alleged involvement in Eswatini of government-hired foreign hit men and mercenaries,” he said. Nxumalo assured the nation that no hit men had been hired to attack emaSwati, saying such sentiments had no basis whatsoever and should be rejected by all peace-loving emaSwati. “Ordinarily, government is not in the habit of addressing State security matters as this is highly classified information that may be detrimental to national security. However, in this case, government is compelled to respond in order to dispel the circulating rumours,” he said.

The allegations gained momentum when the banned Swaziland Solidarity Network spoke on the SABC-owned Ligwalagwala FM about the alleged presence of the ‘hit men’. The organisation spoke through its Spokesperson Lucky Lukhele. The SSN also circulated a press release in which a South Africa-based security company was named as the employer for the alleged men. The Times investigated the said company named in the SSN statement and found that it had stopped working in 1994 after it was bought by another security company. A manager, who said he worked for a company known as Excel Security Services that used the same phone number as the one named in the social media report, said his company did not take over from the said security company.

“That company was sold to another company in 1994. I don’t even know if the company that bought them still exists itself. We are a completely different company to the one you are asking about,” he said. Meanwhile, another company also named as the employer of the hit men refuted ever having a contract with Eswatini Government or assisting the State with anything. Meanwhile, social media groups continued to unveil names of two men accused to be working with the police.

Details

When Nxumalo was asked to provide the finer details of these operations as had been alleged on social media, he said: “Government has issued a statement, that’s all and I can assist no more than that.” Earlier on, he had also suggested that questions be referred to the national security services. “…and I hope they will assist you,” he said. Questions were forwarded to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati on Monday, but she said there had been no answers prepared by late yesterday. Vilakati had been asked to state the role of the men seen in the company of police officers. When Lukhele was asked to comment on Nxumalo’s rebuttal, he did not revert by late yesterday. Social media sites said the foreign men were seen at work a week before the Main Incwala Ceremony in the company of the police during roadblocks and operations.

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