MAN SHOT BY COPS SUFFERING WITH NO COMPENSATION

MBABANE – Nearly 27 years after he was shot, the pain still lingers for Sibusiso Kunene, a resident of Luhlangotsini near Pigg’s Peak.

The shooting incident, which occurred around October 1997, has left an indelible mark on his life, altering its course in unexpected ways. According to a document that was written by a lawyer he  had approached after the incident, Kunene alleged that he was shot by police officers who also later assisted him to go to the hospital. The alleged shooting is said to have happened around October 5, 1997. “I was 20 years old at the time,” Kunene recalls, his voice tinged with the weight of living with the consequences of the alleged shooting. Kunene recounted the events that unfolded, said that on the day of the incident, he was with some friends, seated inside a vehicle.

Kunene revealed that he had knocked off  from work and visited some friends around a place known as Plantation, about three kilometres from Pigg’s Peak. He said he was inside a vehicle with friends when suddenly gunfire shattered the air around them. Moments after the chaos, police officers approached the vehicle and enquired if anyone had been injured.
Shocked at what had happened, Kunene stated that he told the police officers they were all fine. “I did not realise I was hit until I felt weak and noticed I was bleeding,” Kunene recounts.

He said despite feeling the pain, he obliged when a police officer asked if they could all get out of the vehicle. Kunene said it was when he alighted from the vehicle when he realised that the injury to his leg was bigger than he had imagined. He said the severity of his injury quickly became apparent, as he collapsed upon trying to stand after alighting from the vehicle.
Noting that he had been injured, one of the officers is said to have assisted him by carrying him on his back. He said the officer carried him to a nearby police van and that this was also the vehicle which was used to transport him to the Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital.

Job

Little did he know then that this injury would alter the trajectory of his life forever as after the incident, he lost his job. At the time of the shooting, Kunene said though he was only 20 years old, he was a father of two children. He said he was employed at a restaurant but he was advised that with his injury, he could not continue working there. He said the toll of the injury and its lingering effects on his mobility meant that his ability to provide for his growing family was significantly compromised. Also, Kunene revealed that he had spent about two days at the Pigg’s Peak Hospital before being transferred to Mbabane, where he later received more expert treatment to the injury. He was then discharged on November 3, 1997. He said to this day, the reason for the shooting was never explained.

Kunene revealed that though it appeared that he had physically healed, his leg has never been the same, as he is usually in pain due to the bullet fragments left inside the limb. He also said the injury has resulted in other ailments such as a swollen toe, which he added was affecting him and preventing him from doing other activities such as running. Meanwhile, in a letter which was written by a legal firm, addressed to the Mbabane Government Hospital, Kunene’s lawyer alleged that Kunene was shot by members of the Swaziland Police Service which is now the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). The lawyer further stated that his client was injured and had fragments of metal embedded in his leg. The  letter further requested the hospital to release his medical records. Kunene said he had instructed his lawyers to request the records because he needed to use them to prepare documentation for compensation, as he struggled to reach out to the police after the incident.

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