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SOLIDARITY FORCES MAN TELLS IT ALL TO POLICE

06/02/2023 08:52:00 Times Reporters

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MBABANE – During the investigations, the SFDF member, Sibusiso Nxumalo, reportedly spilled his guts on the operations of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces.

The Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF) member and his co-accused, Muzi Mnisi, who, according to the indictment, are members of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces, are facing 38 charges. Three of the charges are related to being found in possession of illegal firearms and violating the Suppression of Terrorism Act. They are, among other charges, accused of being involved in the murder and attempted murder of law enforcement officers in different parts of the country.

Commander

In a statement Nxumalo recorded with the police, he revealed the identity of the commander of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces, whom he said was a former police officer. Nxumalo’s statement now forms part of the evidence against him and his co-accused Mnisi and has been used to formulate some of the 38 charges against them. The veracity of the allegations made by Nxumalo in the statement is still to be tested in court. Nxumalo also revealed to the police that they received amounts ranging from E200 to E500 and how they were trained in the Republic of South Africa. In his tell-all statement recorded with the police, Nxumalo related the types of firearms they used during their operations, where they acquired them, who transported the firearms and how they hid the guns after each and every operation. Nxumalo disclosed the hardships they encountered during their training in South Africa.

Disclosed

He also disclosed the role allegedly played by some leaders of political parties in their operations. These leaders, according to Nxumalo included, some leaders of political parties, among others, top executive members of PUDEMO and SWAYOCO. Among those he alleged to have assisted them with transport when they had gone for training in the Republic of South Africa, was a liSwati pastor who hails from the Lubombo Region. He said the pastor was now a South African resident. Nxumalo further disclosed the difficulties they encountered with some members of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces in the training camps in the neighbouring country. He alleged that during the training, they were sometimes starved since there was no money. He also revealed how they were trained with toy guns on how to shoot as there was a shortage of firearms.

Nxumalo also disclosed the role that was allegedly played by the SFDF member Muzi Memma, who was abducted and killed no so long ago, during the recruitment of members of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces, who were later transported to the Republic of South Africa. The members of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces, according to the accused, used certain code names to refer to each other instead of their real names. He alleged that when they arrived at the training camp, the commander gave them strict instructions that anyone who would leave the camp would be killed. Nxumalo related to the police how he was allegedly recruited by a former legislator, to join the underground forces. The accused (Nxumalo) stated that the former legislator told him of an MP who recommended him and said he (Nxumalo) was one of those to go for underground operations. He said there was a man they would meet at Mhlaleni around 2pm, who would be dressed in black.

Wearing

“When I got to Mhlaleni, I found some other guys who were wearing casual clothes like me and they were carrying bags. I suspected that it might happen that I would go with them but I did not worry until the man who was wearing black clothes arrived. That man was Muzi Mmema. I didn’t know his name by then, because he never introduced himself, but got to know him after sometime,” alleged the accused. Nxumalo said they were eight when Mmema picked them up at Mhlaleni. Mmema, according to Nxumalo, drove them in a Nissan van and when they reached Nhlangano, he (Mmema) picked another individual and that brought their number to nine. He alleged that Mmema took them to an informal crossing point at Mashobeni in the Shiselweni Region and he warned them to tell the soldiers there that they were going to attend a funeral and others were going to work.

Nxumalo related that they then proceeded to Piet Retief, where they boarded a kombi to Pretoria. He claimed that they were paid with money that Mmema had given to the man he picked up in Nhlangano. He said the man was known to them as ‘43’. According to Nxumalo, Mmema gave ‘43’ an amount of E4 000 when they left the informal crossing area. “When we reached Pretoria, we met another guy who was driving a seven-seater motor vehicle written Macdonald. He drove us to a place I don’t know but it is closer to Brits Town,” submitted Nxumalo.

Brits is a small farming town situated in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. He went on to disclose the name of the man who was driving the motor vehicle, whom he said was a pastor, based in the neighbouring country. “When we got to the unknown place, we found the commander, ‘020’, ‘13’ and ‘Putin 22’. It was very late when we arrived in Pretoria, at around 2am. So, the commander told us that there was nothing we could do at that time so it was better to go and sleep,” alleged the accused. Nxumalo stated that the commander showed them rooms to sleep in until the next morning.

Instructions

“He introduced himself to us and gave us instructions with terms and conditions that no one would be going to leave the training. We were told that if you leave the training camp you will be killed,” said the accused. Nxumalo said the commander gave them an exercise book to sign, where they made an agreement. The accused alleged that the commander also took their cellphones so that they would not leak any information. He highlighted that the taking of their phones started when they met Mmema at Mhlaleni, who took their gadgets and switched them off. “The training started a day after we signed the agreement with the commander. We were doing physical training like running and push-ups. We were using toy guns for firearms until we got time for shooting range whereby we were renting guns from Indians,” alleged Nxumalo. (Names deliberately withheld as some of the implicated people have neither been arrested nor charged)