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BISHOP’S SAFETY MEASURES AFTER DEATH THREAT TIP-OFF

26/02/2023 07:52:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

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MBABANE – Bishop Mpendulo Nkambule is taking precautionary measures after receiving information that some people are after his life.
For the past two months, it has been established that the bishop hasn’t been coming to Eswatini.

It is understood that his wife, Zanele Mbokazi, received a message advising her to alert her husband of the plot to assassinate him. Impeccable sources said there was a person in South Africa who had been hired to kill him. According to insiders, the contact details of the alleged aggressor were given to his family. It could not be ascertained if the threat or tip-off was made or given to scare him. The contact details were given by an informer who was understood to be against the purported assassination.

Threatened

Morgan and Morgan Attorneys in New Jersey, USA, strongly recommend that the threatened person should report to the police after hearing the threat. The Royal Eswatini Police Services (REPS) has been advising threatened people to report such cases to them. Protection International, a global non-profit organisation headquartered in Brussels, says aggressors issue threats against human rights defenders for many reasons and only some have the intention or capacity to commit a violent act.

A threat can be defined as a declaration or indication of an intention to inflict damage, punish or hurt, usually in order to achieve something. The organisation, which is dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders, says many aggressors who make threats do not pose a threat. It says a threat is only credible if it suggests that the aggressor behind it demonstrates a minimum level of force or a real capacity to act.

It says there is a distinction between making and posing a threat as illustrated by the following theories:-

Some aggressors who make threats ultimately pose a threat;
Many aggressors who make threats do not pose a threat;
Some aggressors who never make threats do pose a threat;

It depends on who is making the threat, according to the organisation. Bishop Nkambule is the Founder and lead Pastor of Ambassadors House Ministries at Makholokholo in Mbabane. Sources said he took the threat seriously, particularly after the assassination of Thulani Maseko last month at his parental home at KaLuhleko, Bhunya. Maseko was shot three times through a window while watching a soccer game on television. Apart from the Maseko case, there have been some incidents of assassinations or assassination attempts in the country against members of either camp – progressives and conservatives.

Muzi Mmema was kidnapped and shot dead by unknown people. Mmema was the deputy secretary of the Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF). He was killed in December 2022. Sibongile Manyika, a member of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO), survived a hail of bullets at her home in Ngwenya last year.Zandondo Chief Mahloma, a member of the royal family, was killed at his home. An online publication, Swaziland News, reported that he was killed by the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces, an underground military operation.

Assassinated

Some police officers, soldiers and warders were also assassinated. There are suspects who were arrested in connection with these murders. Asked about the issue, Bishop Nkambule was reluctant to talk about it. He chose to say that he heard of what he described as rumours. “I have also heard of the same rumours. I don’t know if they are true or not. I asked myself why anyone would want to assassinate me,” Bishop Nkambule said. “Yes, I do speak against injustice, abuse of human rights, mass murder of our people and unleashing armed forces against unarmed civilians.” He added: “These, for me, are issues of conscience. As a bond servant of our Lord Jesus Christ I must stand on the side of truth, speak and defend truth until the end of this, my mortal state.”

Asked if he reported the matter to the police, the bishop said he was God’s child and left everything in His capable hands. In his budget speech on Friday, Neal Rijkenberg, the Minister of Finance, set aside E30 million for the national dialogue. This money will be accessible in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. However, it must be said that he had announced an allocation of E22 million for the same exercise in the current financial year.

Dialogue

He pointed out that His Majesty the King wanted all emaSwati to constructively engage in dialogue, within the framework of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini and Sibaya – the people’s Parliament, where emaSwati express themselves on national issues at Ludzidzini Royal Residence’s cattle byre. Meanwhile, on Friday, he said the nation experienced unrest and politically motivated acts of violence resulting in the loss of lives and damage to property. He mentioned that government responded appropriately and proportionately to these threats and called upon all stakeholders to denounce violence, constructively engage and work collectively to establish a framework for dialogue.

He said such engagement required the immediate end to violence and an uninterrupted period of peace and stability to ensure all emaSwati could safely and meaningfully contribute to this process. He pointed to the fact that emaSwati would fail to thrive as a nation and as an economy if there was no end to violence and uninterrupted period of peace and stability. “Simply put, unless the violence stops, we cannot rebuild our economy, create jobs, and deliver services,” said the minister of Finance. “In this regard the budget is providing E30 million to facilitate the national dialogue.” Government also allocated a sum of E1.17 billion to the Royal Eswatini Police Service to beef up national security.

Peace and stability

He said Eswatini had always been renowned for its reputation for peace and stability. The minister said the country’s State security forces were not sufficiently equipped to adequately respond to the coordinated and widespread looting, rioting, arson and assassinations that Eswatini has witnessed over the past two years. He said His Majesty the King reminded the nation again that emaSwati could only succeed as a nation if their development aspirations were firmly grounded in peace and that no one wanted to live in a country where government structures were continuously destroyed, homes being burnt down, and people losing their lives.