SISF COMMANDER’S NAME IS REVEALED

MBABANE – Unmasked!

For over a year, the country has been under a grip of fear at the mention of ‘commander’. The name caused terror and his recordings forced companies to close, workers to stay at home and children not to go to school. He openly took credit for political killings, arson attacks and attempted murders under the guise of an underground group christened Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (SISF), yet his name was never mentioned except that he was the ‘commander’.On Thursday evening an online publication, Swaziland Democratic News, posted a video in which ‘commander’ was to be unmasked.

Introduced

His video was finally aired live on the publication’s Facebook page yesterday  morning at 6:30am. However, ‘commander’ still introduced himself as the ‘commander’ and did not mention his full name. Even though people were able to see him, his face was still not clearly recognisable due to poor  picture quality. However, the Eswatini News team identified him as ex-police officer Thabo Kunene. He served the police service for 32 years before taking an early retirement.

Kunene was a lead investigator for the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and cracked high profile cases such as the Evukuzenzele E2 million robbery during his time as an officer. He made a name for himself while serving the country in Siteki as an officer and has worked in different stations where he was highly respected. The identity of the ‘commander’ was first cracked by the investigative reporters of our sister publication, the Times SUNDAY on January 29, 2023. The publication reported that Kunene, an ex-cop, was linked to the SISF. At the time it was not stated what role Kunene was playing within SISF, but the publication brought compelling evidence of pictures, showing the link between him and the underground group.

Leaked

What was a mere link based on leaked pictures of six camouflage-clad members of the then underground group, revealed that Kunene, as he appeared on Thursday, was actually the voice behind the ‘commander’. Kunene confirmed the speculation that he was linked to SISF. “Lokhulumako ngu commander,” he said, translated to mean ‘the one who is talking is the ‘commander’. Kunene was clad in a military camouflage gear. His appearance established that indeed he was a member of the group which had been linked to several terrorist activities around the country.

According to his own declaration, he was the man behind the command to carry out such acts. In his address yesterday morning, Kunene rebuked those calling his Solidarity Forces terrorists and said the SISF was not a terrorist group. He said the SISF was a group of freedom fighters who wanted political change in the country.
He said he had been hearing people referring to them as terrorists but warned against the use of the term. “We are freedom fights. We are not owned by anyone,” he said.

He said some people called them hit men and claimed that they were being paid for engaging in the activities. Kunene refuted the statements and said they were not paid, hired or controlled by any person or group. He said no amount of money was worth his life or that of his ‘soldiers’ even if they could mention a figure. However, he could not substantiate his assertion of freedom fighters as compared to terrorists. In an analysis article published by the Times SUNDAY, Dr P.Q. Magagula, a former political science lecturer at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), defined a terrorist as someone’s freedom fighter while  in the same  breath another person’s terrorist.Dr Magagula said former South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter to others and a terrorist to the apartheid regime and the West, including the United States of America (USA).

Terrorist

He stated that the African National Congress (ANC), SWAPO of Namibia and Zimbabwean African National Union (ZANU) were once declared terrorist entities. USA Government only removed the ANC from treatment as a terrorist organisation in May 5, 2008. The former UNESWA lecturer said one of his standard responses on the difficulty in defeating terrorism was that the act is supported by those who viewed it as freedom fighting. Meanwhile, the Times SUNDAY also referred to numerous essays, published articles and expanded research by scholars, politicians and judges engaged to spot the differences between freedom fighters and terrorists.

Political activism turning violent and groups declared terrorist was not unique to Eswatini as the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) was considered as a terrorist group while, Alfonso Dlakama, who was the leader, viewed its action as freedom-fighting. Also, the Angolan political activist Jonas Malheiro Savimbi considered himself as a revolutionary politician but the government viewed him as a terrorist rebel leader. As a police officer, Kunene had a glowing review and his work was revered as the cases he handled were of importance.

He said he consciously took the decision to form the Solidarity Forces even though he had everything he needed in life. He said it was a calling and he was going to be paid after death like Jesus.While based at Siteki Police Station, Kunene was a senior detective under the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). He was also highly respected in crime prevention as he worked with communities to fight crime, not only when it had taken place, but before it happened. During his time, he also helped train many community police members.

Activities

He blended with the community and was often involved in activities, including traditional and cultural events. He attended charity activities where he would donate whenever the need arose. Kunene was also known for solving some of the complex cases, particularly robberies and was once injured when criminals opened fire at him, leaving him motionless only to recover moments later. He is reported to have retired early from the service and the reason for that could not be officially confirmed. Meanwhile, in the video, Kunene also paid tribute to slain Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko. The late lawyer was shot dead at his parental homestead, watching television on January 21, 2023.

Shock

His death sent shock waves around the world as many countries mourned him with some in Kenya setting a night vigil memorial in his honour. In the 42 minutes long video, Kunene also sent a number of threats which cannot be repeated due to their sensitivity. An attempt by this publication was made to reach the Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo, however, he had not responded to questions by the time of compiling this report.

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