Africa-Press – Eswatini. Ncumbi Maziya, the Ludzidzini Council member who stands accused of attempting to kill Prince Mlandvo is now colluding with the police to cash R1.5million from the Times of Eswatini that reported the story.
It has been disclosed that the police refused to confirm to the Times that an attempted murder case was reported against the the Ludzidzini Council member, Maziya allegedly attempted to kill Prince Mlandvo and other Mahlanya residents.
It has been disclosed that when the Times journalists were working on the story, Maziya was consulted to verify the allegations,however, he later somersaulted to sue the newspaper through lawyers from Robison Betrams.
“In light of the above,we hold instructions as follows:to formally demand a retraction and apology from your newspapers in your next bulletin on the 7th September 2022. The retraction should get the same headline prominence as the article complained about; and to demand financial compensation in the sum of R1,500.000.00(One Million Five Hundred Thousand Emalangeni) to be paid to our offices in the next 7 calendar days failing which legal action will be instituted against yourself”, reads the letter of demand in part.
Subsequent to the story reported by the Times, the press did a follow-up and interviewed Prince Mlandvo who confirmed on record that Ludzidzini Council member Ncumbi Maziya attempted to kill him by firing shots.
“He is abusing the name of the King to terrorize me and other residents with impunity. As you know, he is owning a block-yard and residents including myself complained that he was making noise at night with his construction machinery and he decided to fight us.Police are not doing anything to him because he is perceived to be powerful,”said the Prince who is the grandson of King Sobhuza.
A questionnaire was sent to Superintendent Phindile Vilakati,the eSwatini police Spokesperson, however, she had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Times senior editor Thobeka Manyathela confirmed that the newspaper received a letter of demand of Maziya’s lawyers.
“Yes I can confirm that we received a letter of demand from Ncumbi Maziya’s lawyers Robinson Bertram, demanding E1.5milion.Letter was received on the Sept 6th,” said the Times editor.
But apart from the confirmation by the Prince, this investigative journalist managed to gain access to the file at the Malkerns Police Station where Ncumbi Maziya was reported, the file was kept a top secret by the Desk Officer to enable Maziya to deny being reported to the police and subsequently sue the Times of Eswatini.
“At the moment they were looking in my direction, Ncumbi, while hurling insults, charged towards my vehicle(the one I was driving) bridged his gun and opened fire sending the boys scattering in all directions and me speeding off. The gun was directly aimed at us,” reads a police statement in part, by Prince Mlandvo Dlamini who reported Ncumbi Maziya at the Malkerns Police Station.
This is not the first time the Times Eswatini faces a lawsuit that undermines media freedom, the High Court previously granted the then Senate President Gelane Zwane five hundred thousand Rands (R500,000.00) as a compensation for defamation.
Like Ncumbi Maziya, the then Senate President was approached by the Times to confirm a story, however Zwane refused to comment despite several efforts by the reporter.
Unlike in the Republic of South Africa where the media is free, a proven attempt by a journalist to seek a comment or clarification before publishing automatically washes away an alleged intention to defame.
A questionnaire was sent to Ludzidzini Council member Ncumbi Maziya where he was asked why he attempted to collude with the police to sue a newspaper through corrupt means, however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Jabu Matsebula, the Secretary General of the Eswatini Editors Forum(EEF)confirmed to this publication that such lawsuits undermined media freedom.
“We don’t encourage people to run to court and sue when feel defamed by the media, we encourage arbitration through the Media Complaints Commission(MCC),” he said.
On Saturday, Nqaba Matshazi, the Regional Coordinator of the Media Institute for Southern Africa(MISA) said as a regional organization they were monitoring this case.
“These might look like genuine lawsuits when you are looking at it but the whole idea is that such lawsuits are meant to deter the media from speaking. They are meant to deter investigative journalism, this is a case of interest and we want to see how it develops. We need to guard against the use of, and be careful against the use of strategic litigation against public participation,” said the MISA Regional Coordinator.
MISA is a regional organization that promotes media freedom, pluralism and diversity, its Headquarters are based in Zimbabwe.
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