Africa-Press – Eswatini. In exactly a week after the police shot and killed two residents of MaliSiteki -ndza when they responded to a call to the questionable burglary incident at Mpaka shopping Complex, friends and relatives of the deceased persons are calling for the eviction of a resident police officer whom they accuse of having implemented unjustified excessive force.
Hundreds of mourners convened at a Tsabedze homestead at Nsulutane, a few kilometres east of KMIII International Airport, to bid farewell to the deceased, Dumisani ‘Mgwaze’ Tsabedze who was buried yesterday while Thandekile Kunene was buried on Saturday at the same family graveyard.
Speakers at the vigil echoed each other as they lamented the manner in which Tsabedze and Kunene were killed in an incident, which also left another languishing in hospital with a gun injury on the head.
Mduduzi Mamba who spoke on behalf of Tsabedze’s friends said they were still trying to come to terms with his death in the hands of the police. Mamba said with everything that had been said and done, they still strongly believed that police used unjustified excessive force when responding to the alleged burglary at Mpaka.
Aggrieved
He said they were mostly worried by reports which suggested that the officer who led the response team is also a resident of Malindza, and therefore must have known the deceased and the rest of the occupants of the car which they shot at. He said if the deceased and his friends had committed any crime, it would not have been a problem to trace them to their homes as they were well-known in the area.
Mamba said as friends of the deceased, they remained aggrieved and angry at the police who shot at the six youth, whose crime was stopping and collecting a safe box which had been abandoned on the road. Mamba said with all this anger, they raised concerns about what would happen when they met the officer whom they suspect opened fire at the vehicle.
“It would be best for the umphakatsi to issue an order for the eviction of the police officer and prevent any possible violence which may happen,” he said. Mamba was echoed by Sabelo Tsabedze who spoke on behalf of the Tsabedze family, who added that the deceased was a responsible resident who would not have resisted an arrest.
Seven Days Tsabedze, who doubles as a member of umphakatsi inner council and bucopho of Malindza said they were yet to deliberate on the incident and consider what the residents had said.
“It is evident that people are angry, and the umphakatsi will consider the safety of everyone in the community as we are to deliberate on the incident exclusively,” he said.
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