'COMMANDER' NABBED ON WAY TO ATTACK IN MATSAPHA - COPS

MBABANE – Police say Thabo Kunene, the self-confessed commander of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces, was arrested within Eswatini, specifically at the Ngwenya Border Gate traffic circle.

According to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), when Kunene was arrested, he and members of the Swaziland Solidarity Forces were en route to stage a major attack in Matsapha. This claim directly challenges Kunene’s assertion that he was abducted in South Africa.

The police account is detailed in court documents in response to Kunene’s challenge of the legality of his arrest.

The police reveal that Kunene was allegedly apprehended following intelligence reports indicating he was entering the country to stage an attack in Matsapha.

Assistant Superintendent Bhekani Shiba of the REPS Counter Terrorism Unit, in his answering affidavit, stated that Kunene and his co-accused, Sibusiso Nkomonye, were arrested at approximately 2:30am on June 1, 2023, by a team of officers, including Detective Assistant Inspector Friday Mabuza.

“The applicants (Kunene and Nkomonye) were arrested inside Eswatini near the Ngwenya traffic circle towards Mbabane. They were then taken to Mbabane Police Station and to Mafutseni Police Station, where they were subsequently detained.

“At no point during their arrest and processing for detention were they ever tortured,” submitted Superintendent Shiba.

He informed the court that the operation was based on intelligence that Kunene and his group, the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces, planned a ‘major attack’ in Matsapha and were expected to cross the border through an informal crossing near Ngwenya. A ‘sting operation’ was, therefore, launched.

“The information gathered through our intelligence was that Kunene and his group, referred to as Swaziland Solidarity Forces, were coming to Eswatini through an informal crossing at Ngwenya and a grey Honda Fit would pick them up Ngwenya traffic circle,” submitted Shiba.

Kunene, who faces 43 charges under the Suppression of Terrorism Act, including murder and attempted murder, recently filed an application for his immediate release and transfer to the South African High Commission, alleging unlawful abduction from South Africa.

He named police officers Clement Sihlongonyane and Thabo Hlophe among his alleged abductors, and further claimed he was tortured during the arrest.

However, Shiba vehemently denied these allegations, stating that the arrests occurred within Eswatini’s jurisdictional limits. “The applicants were arrested in the Kingdom of Eswatini and at all material times, the police were acting within their jurisdictional limits,” he asserted.

The court documents also revealed that evidence, including camouflage jackets, mobile phones, explosives and cables linking the accused to the alleged crimes had been seized. Notably, a mobile phone linked to Nkomonye was reportedly found at the scene of a railway line bombing.

The prosecution submitted that the Swaziland Solidarity Forces, under Kunene’s command, caused widespread damage and loss of life during the 2021 civil unrest, including the murder of a Correctional Services member and attacks on law enforcement agents.

In his answering affidavit, Shiba denied that the police violated the sovereignty of the Republic of South Africa as the duo was allegedly arrested in the country and, therefore, extradition agreements were not applicable in the arrests.   
He also denied the allegations that Kunene was assaulted by the police during the arrest and had to be taken to hospital.

“The proper forum for the applicants to challenge the jurisdiction is before the trial court itself by means of a plea to jurisdiction in terms of Section 155 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1938.”

The matter is still pending at the High Court and representing the applicants is Professor Dlamini, while for the respondents are lawyers from the chamber of the attorney general.

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