WOMAN SHOT, ROBBED, WITH PETROL

MAKHEWU – A midnight attack at Ntandweni, in the Lubombo Region has left a 49-year-old woman fighting for her life.  Nonhlanhla Mhlanga (49) was robbed of E1 200, and, in an act of unimaginable cruelty, doused with petrol by two unknown assailants. The brutal attack occurred Tuesday night, leaving the community reeling and the victim clinging to hope.
Narrating the incident, Mhlanga said she was asleep together with a minor at midnight on Tuesday when she heard, and was awakened by footsteps outside her house. Mhlanga said she suspected that it could be cattle roaming her home yard and went to investigate.

Out of curiosity, she shared, she opened a door and it was then that two men wearing balaclavas shoved and pushed her inside the house. She said after they had entered her house, the duo demanded money and she took out a sum of E1 200 she had stashed in a bag and gave it to them. Mhlanga mentioned that the pair ordered her to wrap herself in a blanket and to roll on the floor. Adding, she said then one of the men pulled out a firearm while the other sprinkled petrol on her body and lit a matchstick. She stated that the one with a gun fired a shot and then they both left in a hurry as she was burning. According to the woman, she composed herself and then went to the bathroom and locked the door. At that instance, she narrated that she heard screams from the minor. “I suspected that she cried after hearing the gunshot and in fear, she screamed,” she said.

Furthermore, Mhlanga shared that she then went to another house where a relative was sleeping and screamed for help. Her relative then raised the alarm and alerted their neighbours about the ordeal. She shared that a car was arranged to rush her to hospital in the morning and police came and recorded a statement. The woman said the men told her that she would understand life after she had been shot and mentioned that those words ignited thoughts that they were sent by someone to kill her. She stated that she earned a living by selling snacks at her home. “I thank God that I am alive as the men were sent to kill me,” she said. When asked if she suspected anyone to be behind the heinous act, Mhlanga opened up and shared that she suspected a relative who was fighting for ownership of a home.

Dvokodvweni Indvuna Yenkhundla Sabelo ‘Coca Cola’ Fakudze said he was informed about the incident. “I received a call and was told that there was a woman who was in a critical condition after she was attacked at night by unknown men. I am optimistic that the police will make a breakthrough and arrest the culprits,” he said. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said the police were still conducting investigations. She stated that it was a robbery and the woman was shot in the thigh and made to roll on the floor when she was doused with petrol. “She is in a critical condition,” Vilakati said.

Misery

Meanwhile, in December last year, a bank manager in one of the international financial institutions and her husband, who is also a manager in one of the mobile telephony companies, endured a night of misery, after three thieves broke into their house and held them hostage. The couple was said to have been held hostage in their own house at Mpolonjeni, Mbabane. The robbers stole items valuated at E158 000. The items that the robbers went away with include a Mazda 2 vehicle, furniture, clothes, kitchen cutlery, an electric stove and other valuables. Last month, our sister publication, Eswatini News, reported that it took robbers about five minutes to bomb and rob two automated teller machines (ATMs) over E1.3 million and the Royal Eswatini Police Services’ (REPS) swift intervention saw some of them being arrested within an hour.  The incident took place at Mpaka Shopping Complex in the Lubombo Region, in the early hours of Saturday morning, around 1am, and the two affected ATMs belong to First National Bank (FNB) and EswatiniBank.

Meanwhile, the surge in robberies in the country early this month saw a housebreaking incident by armed robbers at Woodlands in Mbabane where a Rolex watch worth E150 000 was stolen. It was stolen along with a Tempo wristwatch valued at E1 000 and a Hisense sound bar worth E3 000. Rolex is a luxury brand of wristwatches with varying amounts. The items, according to a source, were stolen after the thieving suspect(s) gained access to the premises through a window. In total, the suspect(s) got away with items valued at E154 000 with the Rolex wristwatch the most valuable. The items belong to a 37-year-old woman of Mbabane. In another theft incident, a former Cabinet minister on Monday, discovered that property valued at E26 500 was stolen from his home. Also, a man at Zakhele was robbed of his property valued at E44 100 by three unknown men wielding a short spear at Matsapha Industrial Site, while in an incident of housebreaking and theft, a man at Masundvwini discovered that his house had been broken into through the door and property valued at E42 169 was stolen.

These incidents of violence are an addition to armed robberies which have surged in areas closer to the borders with Mozambique. On Saturday, a 54-year-old woman of Nyakatfo reported that on or at around 4pm, she was robbed of money at gunpoint. Nyakatfo is in close proximity to two ports of entry which are Matsamo, located 40 kilometres north from the area and Mananga, located 45 kilometres north-east. The four armed robbers in the stick-up got away with a sum of E70. Also, on the same day, another female aged 34 was suspected to have been robbed by the same bandits within the same area. It was gathered that the woman was robbed around 1:30pm and the suspects fled with her Samsung A10F and cash. It was gathered that the cumulative figure for her loss is E2 200. These armed robberies are against the backdrop of two people who lost E56 000 cash and electronics valued at E26 600. The armed robberies occurred in various instances and in two different regions.

Gunpoint

In the Lubombo Region, last Monday, a male from Mlindazwe was at around 9pm, robbed at gunpoint by four men who were unknown to him. The man was robbed E50 000 cash and electronics valued at E16 100. This tallies his loss to E66 100. Meanwhile, in the Hhohho Region, a woman at Thembelihle was attacked and held hostage by two men who were unknown to her. The robbers, according to sources, were both armed with handguns and they robbed her E6 000, two cellphones, an iPhone valued at E4 000 and a Nokia worth E500. She was also robbed of her Lenovo laptop valued at E6 000. The robbers further withdrew from her bank account E3 000.

Cumulatively, she was robbed of items valued at E10 500. On the other hand, a tenant at Mbikwakhe found her house burgled and her E40 000 was stolen. At the time, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Vilakati, said there were no armed robberies that were shocking and depicting that they could be committed by foreigners. “The robberies we have recorded for now are few and in usual instances where foreigners commit armed robberies, they use assault rifles,” she said.

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