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PM’S BODYGUARD MURDER, SUICIDE: WIFE SHOT TWICE IN HEAD

20/09/2024 08:10:00 Mthunzi Mdluli and Kwanele Dlamini

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MBABANE – The wife of the police officer, who was part of the prime minister’s security detail, was shot twice in the head.

Nomfundo Sihlongonyane (35), who was a police Constable attached to the royal guard, was killed by her husband, Constable Frans Dlamini (41), around 4:50pm on Wednesday. It was gathered that Dlamini used a service pistol to shoot his wife and commit suicide. The service firearm used in the murder and suicide is a Jericho pistol. The incident happened in their home at Mpolonjeni in Mbabane.

Dlamini’s body, on the other hand, had one gunshot wound to the head. The bodies of the couple, according to sources, were found sprawled in a pool of blood in their house, next to each other. The sources also informed this publication that the shocking discovery was made by a neighbour, who heard the sound of gunshots. The neighbour is said to have gone to the couple’s home to investigate after hearing the gunshots. The neighbour is the one who called the police after making the heart-wrenching discovery.

Marriage

Dlamini and Sihlongonyane, according to sources, were in a tumultuous marriage. The sources claimed that he had more than once told his wife that he would kill her. The couple had two minor children – a boy and a girl. At the time of his death, Dlamini had a pending criminal case at the Mbabane Magistrates Court. He was out on bail, after being arrested for allegedly assaulting and further pointing a gun at his wife in January this year. He was accused of contravening Section 77 (1) (a) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act No.15 of 2018.
It has been gathered that Dlamini’s wife, Sihlongonyane, applied for a protection order, which was granted by the magistrates court after the incident.

Warned

It has been gathered that the parties were warned against coming close to each other pending deliberations on their matter. It was also gathered that the threats were so serious that the court ordered that the couple’s children be taken to their grandmother for their safety. While the couple was in separation, it has been gathered, they decided to stay together. Meanwhile, Dlamini’s friends and colleagues received the news of his sudden death with shock, stating that they were not aware of his personal problems.“We knew the couple to be in a happy relationship. Dlamini was passionate about soccer, so much that he was a referee. You’d always find him refereeing during football games, especially at Sigangeni,” said one of his interviewed colleagues.

At the wife’s parental homestead, her teary mother, Phindile Nxumalo, told reporters from this publication that ‘it happened just like you have heard’. Sihlongonyane’s parental homestead is at Sigangeni. Nxumalo said she would not say anything regarding the incident. “What do you want me to say? It happened just like you have heard,” said the distraught mother.
She returned to the house to attend to mourners, who were coming at intervals to pass their condolences.

Relatives also arrived and after ascertaining that Sihlongonyane had indeed passed on, they were in tears. The situation at the homestead was sombre. One of the relatives, who was overcome with emotion, was heard saying, in a loud voice: “Waze wambulala kabuhlungu umntfwana waPhindile”, meaning ‘he killed Phindile’s daughter with such brutality’. Emotions got the better of the couple’s son, who is in primary school, when he saw members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service arrive at his maternal home to express their condolences.

This publication gathered that last week, Sihlongonyane came home and she had bruises on her face after being allegedly assaulted by her husband. Sources also informed this publication that Sihlongonyane had instituted divorce proceedings against her husband. At Mpolonjeni, where Dlamini and Sihlongonyane had established a matrimonial home, their neighbours told this publication that they are still shocked that such a horrific incident happened in their neighbourhood. Some of them alleged that on the day of the incident, they saw Dlamini and his wife coming to the house in a government car, which was moving at high speed.

Suspicions

They said they had suspicions that something might be wrong with the couple since their marital issues were common knowledge among them. Be that as it may, the neighbours said they did not expect that Dlamini would end up killing his wife and taking his own life. The gunshots, according to the neighbours, were heard a couple of minutes after the couple had entered the house at Mpolonjeni. One of the neighbours, upon hearing the gunshots after 4pm, went to the scene to ascertain what could have happened.

According to one of the neighbours, who chose to remain anonymous, the sound of several gunshots came from the couple’s house, and she wondered what could have happened.
“A few minutes after hearing the gunshots, I then saw police cars driving towards the couple’s home. I realised that something had happened. I can’t believe that this has happened,” said one of the shocked neighbours. Another neighbour stated that on the same day, Sihlongonyane, in the company of her younger sister, visited Mbabane Police Station, seeking assistance regarding her ongoing marital issues. According to one of the neighbours, Dlamini was not present at that time at the police station.

“While still at the police station, Sihlongonyane is said to have received a phone call from her husband, asking about her whereabouts. She is said to have told him that she was at the police station. Dlamini is said to have asked that they should meet, as there was something important they needed to discuss,” said another source. It is alleged that Dlamini went to the police station, where upon arrival, he asked his wife to board the government car he was travelling in and they went to Mpolonjeni. According to the shocked neighbour, Dlamini was driving at high speed.

Shocking

“What happened next is shocking. The painful thing is that Dlamini called Nomfundo’s younger sister, to tell her that she would find them in the house dead,” said the neighbour.
Also, yet another neighbour close to the couple informed this publication that he was aware of their marital issues. He said there were times where they would hear them quarrelling. According to the neighbour, Sihlongonyane, due to the abuse, reported her husband to the police and he was later charged under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act No.15 of 2018.

He narrated that he received a phone call, requesting him to come to the couple’s house. He said he was not aware what he was needed for, but went there still. “I found police already at the scene. I was then told to enter the house where I found the corpses of the duo motionless in a pool of blood. “Both of them had gunshots in their heads. I never anticipated such to happen, despite being aware that the two were going through a lot in their relationship,” lamented the neighbour.