Africa-Press – Eswatini. The five public transport workers whose arrest had led to yesterday’s violent scenes in Manzini were last night bailed out.
Three road transport associations came together following the chaos that were reminiscent of last year’s unrest and resulted in destruction of property, to raise the required E30 000 to post the bail of the five men.
The three organisations, the Swaziland Road Freight Association, Eswatini Local Kombis Association and Buses Association each contributed E10 000 towards the bail which was affixed at E6 000 per person.
This they said would hopefully restore order after public transport workers engaged in a violent protest in which thousands of commuters were left stranded and properties vandalised and Manzini was left grounded.
Each of the workers had their bail set at E6 000 but chaos erupted when their colleagues demanded their release, vowing to stop at nothing to have them freed, resolving to engage in continuous protests until their release.
Addressing the media during a press conference held at the Manzini Regional Police Headquarters at around 6:30pm after the bail had been posted, the National Road Transport Council Chairman, Magesi Dlamini, said as public transport operators, they were greatly concerned about the welfare of the incarcerated workers.
Dlamini said it was for that reason that they deemed it fit to contribute in respect of their bail.
He said the associations met after the protest grounded the city, leaving commuters stranded and property destroyed as a result of five workers remaining in jail.
He reminded the workers that they were off the hook as their bail had been paid and advised them to abide by the bail conditions without fail.
Dlamini, when asked if public transport would be available today, said they were optimistic that everything would be back to normal following that the workers had been released.
“They had vowed not to resume operations until their colleagues had been released from custody and now that they have been released, we believe that everything will go back to normal, which means public transport will be available,” he said.
The protests started at around 8:30am when the public transport workers halted operations at the manzini bus rank and vowed not to resume operations until their five colleagues who were arrested on Monday were either granted bail or released from custody.
The five workers were arrested for allegedly assaulting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm Abdullah Aziz Kolia whom they accused of transporting passengers without a permit and therefore stealing customers from the licensed public transport servicing the Manzini-Lomahasha route.
They appeared at the Manzini Magistrate’s Court for their bail hearing yesterday and were granted bail of E6 000 each, much to the dismay and dissatisfaction of their colleagues, who had come to offer them moral support.
Soon after the presiding magistrate stated the bail amount, the public transport workers who were seated at the public gallery were heard complaining about the amount, which they said was hefty considering the charge preferred against their counterparts.
Discontent and dejected they relayed the amount to their colleagues who were protesting at the Manzini bus rank who then charged towards the public road leading to the Magistrate’s Court, where they blocked the road with debris while others pelted members of the public with stones.
Frightened members of the public ran for cover as the public transport workers vandalised property and cars by pelting them with stones, forcing shops to unceremoniously shut down in a bid to protect their stock from being destroyed.
Employees from Stefanutti Stocks, who were working on the road near the Magistrate’s Court, were not spared from the skirmish as they were also pelted with stones and were forced to run for safety.
With everyone out of their way, the public transport workers grabbed road construction barricades, which were used by the Stefanutti Stocks employees to redirect traffic and set them on fire in a bid to barricade the road leading in and out of the Magistrate’s Court.
Court officials and members of the public who were in the court premises when all this transpired were stranded as they could not leave due to the blocked road and fear of being injured by the raucous crowd.
They were saved by the arrival of the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) as the public transport workers ran helter-skelter as soon as the police charged towards them and fired rubber bullets.
However, this was short-lived as the public transport workers responded by vandalising more shops and cars.
They ran towards their kombis, which were parked at the Manzini bus rank and hastily drove them out of the bus rank towards the Grand Valley (GV).
While others drove their vehicles out of the bus rank, others set the police post on fire and it was reduced to ashes.
Officers from the criminal investigations department rushed to remove the country’s flag from the police post and could not salvage anything else.
Other establishments that were vandalised included Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Shoprite Stores, Mozambique Hotel and Build it, to name just a few.
Meanwhile, a Mobile Money container which was situated next to the police post was also razed to ashes after catching the fire from the police post.
It is said that they went inside the shop and found an employee of the company carrying money till drawer and they snatched it from him and threw it in the middle of the road.
As it fell down, an undisclosed amount of money is said to have spilled on the ground, prompting those who were in close proximity to help themselves to it. While this was happening, some of the public transport workers who remained inside the shop are said to have set it alight, resulting to the employees of the shop running for safety.
Luckily enough a truck from the Eswatini Fire and Emergency Services was a stone’s throw away from the establishment and managed to put out the fire before it could cause extensive damages.
At least five people are said to have been shot allegedly by soldiers who were also called to help diffuse the situation at the bus rank.
This came after the public transport workers retaliated after being ordered to disperse when members of the army pounced on them next to the Mozambique Hotel.
The soldiers are said to have fired warning shots soon after they found the public transport workers vandalising shops while others were sang and danced in the middle of the road. However, instead of dispersing, they are reported to have raised their hands and charged towards the soldiers who allegedly opened fire and shot one of them in the leg.
Four others are said to have been allegedly shot during the skirmish and were rushed to hospital, while others were attended to by paramedics, who were already at the scene Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Nosipho Mnguni confirmed that the police post was set alight by unknown people.
She said they were yet to compile a formal report pertaining to the damages incurred.
On another note, the police mouthpiece said one person was arrested during the protest. When asked whether there were any people who had been shot, Mnguni said they did not have a report of anyone who was shot during the protest at the time she was called.
She said if there was anyone who was shot and the police did not know about they should report the matter.
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