MBONDZELA FARM SECURITY FOUND DEAD WITH STAB WOUNDS

MBABANE – The security guard who was abducted last week Saturday at Mbondzela farm has been found dead at one of the forests not very far from the farm, with five or six stab wounds on the back.

Over 50 members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) joined the search party yesterday and hardly two hours of searching, the lifeless body of Vukani Mkhwanazi was discovered by some of the law enforcers. Some members of the family identified him and confirmed that it was indeed their relative’s body that was discovered. Acting Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the discovery of the body of Mkhwanazi. She relayed that Mkhwanazi was found with at least five or six stab wounds on the back. “The police can confirm that the body of Vukani Mkhwanazi was discovered yesterday and he had five or six stab wounds on the back, but the exact number is yet to be confirmed after experts examine his body,” she said.  

Search

The search party began its mandate of the day at around 9am and at about 10:30am, Mkhwanazi’s body was discovered. The deceased was discovered in a gum tree forest but his body was not in a decomposed state, despite that it had been at least nine days since he disappeared. Mkhwanazi went missing while he was on duty on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at around 4pm. According to an eyewitness, on the day he went missing, he had set out to look for livestock along the boundaries of the farm and came across a group of unknown people. The unknown people are suspected to be members of political parties, as they were allegedly seen wearing the same clothes around the area previously. After the discovery of the deceased’s body, the police convened for a short meeting where the Gege Police Station Commander Pholani Nxumalo thanked the police officers for their effort and resilience since the first day of the search.
An unidentified senior police officer then reminded his colleagues that the deceased was attacked while he was carrying a gun.

He said that the gun he was carrying had 10 rounds of ammunition and despite firing all of them to scare off the attackers, they were adamant in their pursuit to abduct him. “This should act as a lesson to all of us that we could be attacked while we are carrying guns. The trick here is to know how to use a gun and we should not die while we are armed,” he said. The senior police officer emphasised that police officers should know when and how to use a gun to avoid such situations where one is attacked successfully while they are armed.

Firearm

According to the police, Mkhwanazi went missing with firearm, a panzer pump action that was loaded with 10 live rounds of ammunition. However, it was not discovered. Mkhwanazi body was loaded into a police van an taken  to Nhlangano where the nearest mortuary is located. Family members were spotted at the scene but they were not keen to comment on yesterday’s discovery. The disappearance of Mkhwanazi occurred at a time when there was an ongoing dispute between farm occupants and the owner of the Mahamba Gorge Farm at Mbondzela. Mbondzela Farm 19 is located along the Nhlangano-Gege Road in the Shiselweni Region and some of the farm occupants’ homes were demolished. The demolition of the houses came a day after multiple security guards of the farm were attacked, allegedly by the residents. The alleged assault of the security guards came after the residents found their water pipes disconnected, allegedly by the guards working at the farm.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: