‘GAWUZELA’ REVEALS MURDER PLOTS, SOLIDARITY FORCES’ SECRETS

MBABANE – Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane has explained why Bheka Magagula’s last words ‘could be’ truthful.

He said Magagula, in his last words, said a certain strongman (name withheld) within the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) dispatched people to kill him. The exiled former Siphofaneni MP made it clear that he did not mean that Magagula’s final words ‘are truthful’, but ‘could be truthful’. As he was listening to the different versions about his murder, Simelane said he recalled that it was not the first time for  the deceased to have been in that situation.

In a video clip accessed by this newspaper, the former lawmaker narrated that Magagula was speaking from what he experienced, at some point, when he and others were allegedly instructed by a certain leader within the MDM to kidnap Muzi Mnisi, who is presently in jail in Eswatini. Mnisi and Sibusiso Nxumalo were arrested by the police in Eswatini last year. They are understood to be members of the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces.  Last year, the High Court of Eswatini issued an order stopping the Times of Eswatini from continuing to report on the statement that was recorded by Nxumalo.

Mnisi and Nxumalo are facing 38 charges of contravening the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008. In his statement to the police, Nxumalo, in particular, allegedly disclosed information relating to the operations of the SISF. Meanwhile, Simelane, the former legislator pointed out that the people who kidnapped Magagula used the same modus operandi they employed when they abducted Mnisi. As a result, he advised members of the MDM to respect the deceased’s final words.

Attacked

The current leader of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) said he (Magagula) was talking from experience when he mentioned the person he thought  wanted him dead.
In Magagula’s thinking, when he was about to be attacked, Simelane presumed that it probably crossed his (Magagula) mind that the person who instructed him and others at some point to kill Mnisi could be the same orchestrator of his assassination. The SWALIMO chief said he was informed by Mnisi himself that the deceased (Magagula) and other members of the SISF kidnapped him on the instruction of the influential MDM strongman.  

He said Mnisi told him that they wanted to kill him because he had serious disagreements with the said strongman. He said he narrated to him how he was bungled into a car and forced to occupy the back seat, with two men from the SISF forcing him to sit in the middle. Simelane mentioned that Mnisi’s hands were tied together by what looked like cables. As the car was about to pass Bronkhorstspruit, a town between Pretoria and Witbank, Simelane mentioned that Mnisi pulled the handbrake, causing the vehicle to decelerate abruptly and swerve on high-traffic road. He said he managed to open the car door and run out to raise an alarm, with Magagula and other members of the SISF hot on his heels. He said Mnisi told him that he was saved by one of the motorists who came out of his car to shoot in the air, causing Magagula and his colleagues to run away, only to be apprehended by policemen from Bronkhorstspruit.

Kidnappers

He said Mnisi told him that his kidnappers did not like what they were doing, but were just carrying out an instruction. Simelane said it was for this reason that he (Mnisi) saved them from arrest and possible conviction as he made up a story that his kidnappers were accusing him of stealing their dagga. An independent investigation by this newspaper revealed that they were charged with obstructing the traffic laws of South Africa. They paid the fine, but other people close to the Bronkhorstspruit Police Station mentioned that they were charged with attempted murder and released on bail of E5 000 each, which was paid by one of the leaders of the MDM.

It could not be established though if the case is still pending as the complainant (Mnisi) is presently in jail in the country. “When Bheka (referring to Magagula) uttered those words that X’s dogs (team) were after me, he was talking from experience. He knew that he was at some point also instructed by someone within the MDM to kill Mnisi,” Simelane said. He went on to say that it could be possible that members of the regime disguised themselves as comrades to beguile Magagula, who was inside a bar at the time he was kidnapped. He said they waited for him outside, and he (Magagula) saw them and telephoned Gift Dlamini who, in turn, informed Bonginkhosi ‘IB’ Dlamini from United Eswatini Diaspora about the hatched murder plot, which Magagula had already discovered, but he feared for his life at that time.

Hallucinating

“Bheka spoke for himself before he died and we have to respect his last words. Bheka was not hallucinating. People must know that we are talking about a soldier here,” said Simelane.
Simelane said it was important to reflect on what makes people believe that certain people within the MDM are capable of killing others. “Why there is a possibility that X (MDM strongman) can kill? Why are you close to the questionable misdeed?” wondered the exiled leader of SWALIMO. “I don’t mean to say Bheka was right in his conclusion, but his words have been profiled as a leading theory that needs to be explored to get to the bottom of the matter.”

He did not understand why some people (comrades) did not want to believe Magagula’s last words. “Why do you want us to calm down and embrace your theory that the State killed Bheka? That is another theory, but Bheka spoke for himself before he died. We have to respect his final words,” Simelane advised. He said he was called on the very night by Gift when the incident occurred. “Gift was with IB when they informed me of the predicament Bheka was in,” he said. Simelane said he asked Gift what was happening in the background when Magagula called him on the  telephone. In response, he disclosed that Gift told him that he could sense that he was agitated.

He said he was made to understand that there was also noise in the background as he (Magagula) was at a social club, presumably a bar. Simelane said the deceased told Gift that he feared that, if he were to come out of the bar, he would be killed. He said he was inside a bar when he conversed with Gift. “There was no gun pointed at him when he told Gift that X’s dogs (team) waited for him outside,” he said. He said it was very important that they explored all the theories leading to the people who killed Magagula. The SWALIMO president mentioned that his first interaction with the deceased was while he was still a warder, when he telephoned him to reveal a plan to help  convicted ex-MPs, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube escape from prison.

He said he told him that his plan was to have the two former MPs dress in the Correctional Services uniform, put on caps and then seize one of the facility’s vehicles. He said Magagula told him that police and soldiers who were manning the roadblocks would not have noticed them. The ex-lawmaker said they would have abandoned the vehicle somewhere near the border.“That is how Bheka planned Bacede and Mthandeni would escape from prison,” he said. ‘Gawuzela’ said he did not know what caused the plan to fail. “I just saw Bheka and other warders on social media announcing that they had resigned from the correctional services. I began to like this man for his bravery and foresight,” Simelane said.

Jailed

He was not sure whether Mabuza and Dube were made aware of the plan to escape from prison. The two jailed former MPs previously said they were safe in prison. Mabuza later moved an application praying to the court to allow him to eat his own food, not the one prepared by the Correctional Services. The court dismissed his application. Attempts to get hold of Gift and IB were not successful yesterday, as they were attending the memorial service and funeral of Magagula. Bronkhorstspruit police, who were on official duty on Friday could not remember the case, but sources confided in this newspaper that the incident did occur.  In December 2023, Simelane explained to the Times SUNDAY the circumstances that forced him to seek refuge in the United Kingdom.

Asked what might have fuelled his decision to leave South Africa which is closer to Eswatini, the exiled politician, in an exclusive interview, revealed that life threatening threats made him leave for the UK. The ex-MP alleged that he received intelligence  reports that the State and MDM plotted to assassinate him. Regarding the State, he said he received intelligence that they wanted to do what they ended up doing to Thabo Kunene, the self-acclaimed President of the underground soldiers known as the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (SISF).

Kunene was arrested on May 31, 2023, by the Royal Eswatini Police Service. Police claimed he was arrested on Eswatini territory but he disputed this allegation in court documents.  
Simelane alleged that the information he had at that time was sufficient to conclude that he would have been killed and dumped in the forests. He alleged there were also death threats from the MDM.  Asked to go a little bit further in his disclosure of the alleged threats from the MDM, the former lawmaker said he would mention the details in his upcoming book titled ‘the dangerous path to freedom’. He did not give the timeframe for completion of the book.

“It is very true that one of the two reasons I left SA was to move away from life threatening threats,” he said. He said another reason he left for UK was to do advocacy work, which he was doing. He said his work would come to light after he had sorted out a few logistics.Meanwhile, deceased Bheka had revealed plots to kill journalists. Last year, Magagula said these plots were orchestrated by a leader of a political party. He did not disclose his identity. The former warder had mentioned in a video clip that the political leader received millions of Emalangeni from donors to finance the struggle for political reforms. He said it was a pity that the money was not used for the intended purpose. Magagula said any person who differed in opinion with this leader faced death threats. He wondered how a leader who failed to manage a team of 16 freedom fighters could run a country of 1.3 million people.

Mistreated

He said the political leader mistreated self-styled Commander of the underground forces, Thabo Kunene, who was arrested on May 31, 2023. Magagula said the senior comrade talked to Kunene as if he was addressing a child. He also alleged that there was an underhand in the arrest of Kunene, suspecting an inside job. He said some comrades might have sold him out to the police. On January 8, 2023, Gift, the then Secretary General of the Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF), told the Times SUNDAY that he was living in hiding after allegedly receiving death threats from a political leader.

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