Tuesday 13 December 2022:- On Sunday 11 December 2022, a battalion of six members of Mswati’s army who were driving a Toyota Land Cruiser registered S196 heavily assaulted yet another Swazi citizen. 

The incident happened at around 2230hrs.

Sicelo* had parked his car next to the Institute of Development Management main gate in Matsapha after it developed mechanical problems. 

When the six army personnel approached him, he was pleased because he thought some form of relief or assistance had come at the right time. Little did he know that he was about to experience a gang attack from them.

As soon as Sicelo tried to explain his car problem to the military personnel, he was met by a hot slap across his face. 

Mswati’s soldiers accused him of planning an arson attack on government properties. When he denied that and tried one more time to explain his misfortune, they responded with continuous kicks. Some of them used sticks, which they replaced each time they got worn out. One used a gun to assault him on his forehead. 

Due to the vicious assault by the soldiers, Sicelo sustained injuries all over the body including arms, buttocks and the forehead. They then ordered him to drink the soft drink he had in the car to prove it was not petrol. They further assaulted him. 

After the torture, Mswati’s soldiers ordered him to lock the car, which he did. They told him that the attack he had just experienced was because he was parked on the king's ground. 

When Sicelo later tried to unlock the car so he could spend the night inside, he could no longer have access to it and had to spend the night outside, exposed to the extreme cold and torrential rain.

Sicelo reports that when he came back with a mechanic on Monday morning, the same army personnel were parked at a distance from where he had parked the car. 

He also learned from the mechanic that another man had also fallen victim for driving at night on his way to KFC to get supper for his children. The man was also heavily beaten by the gangsters in uniform who then took the chicken meal he had bought for his children. 

Sicelo is currently receiving medical care from a local health institution where tests were conducted. He has also opened a case against the army personnel. 

Amid a political unrest where Swazis are calling for democracy and the overthrow of the tinkhundla system, Mswati’s security personnel continue to attack innocent Swazis during night hours. The military is protected by the system, and none of its members has ever been brought to account for their crimes against the people. 

For this crime, it is expected that the same will hold. Mswati has absolute control of the executive, legislature and judiciary. He has unleashed the army on the people since June 2021 and has not called them back to barracks.

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*Not his real name