By Zweli Martin Dlamini
Africa-Press – Eswatini. Mike Mamba is one of the most feared businessman in eSwatini, he is known to be linked to “tinkabi” and was implicated in the killing of businessman Thulani Mndvonti, the criminal case disappeared and never saw the light of the day.
Recently, the press published a story where Mamba was accused of smuggling drugs worth over R3million through the Lomahasha Border Gate and this, resulted to State journalists trying to set Mike Mamba against me as if I am targeting him with an alleged intention to bring him down.
This is exactly what these hungry and low minded State journalists were doing to Victor Gamedze telling him “uyakwedzelela lomfana mkhombise kutsi ungubani wena” not knowing that I have a principle suggesting that, “the more you threaten me is the more I report or write because I don’t want to endorse or subscribe to a culture of intimidating journalists”.
Perhaps, let me make it clear that to me, businessman Mike Mamba is not a feared ‘god’, I know and I speak to serious drug dealers who are not in eSwatini, the bosses of Mike Mamba and some of them are regular readers and they like this publication.
After publishing that R3million drugs smuggling story, I spoke to Mamba’s bosses who are not in eSwatini and congratulated them for the maturity demostrated my Mike Mamba because “I never received any threats”.
As a result, one of the Mike Mamba’s bosses said, “the boy is matured now because if he tried to fight or intimidate you, he could have compromised some of our dealings”.
Mike Mamba might be feared in eSwatini but compared to the drug dealers I know some of them whom I got to know in my line of duty as a journalist, he is just a ‘boy’.
As a journalist, I know many people including drug dealers but that does not mean stories must be blocked even on an issue that was handled by the police, Mike Mamba was caught smuggling drugs and is alleged to have colluded with Lomahasha Police Station Desk Officer Nhlanhla Nkomonye, that was a story worth reporting.
The State journalists who are afraid to report stories must therefore understand that, to me businessma Mike Mamba is not ‘god’, I can wake-up in the morning and write a story about him if there’s an issue of public interest.
I cannot stop drug smuggling, most drug dealers are trying to earn a living but in the event they are caught, it’s a story to me as a journalist because writing news is my job.
There’s a hierarchy in the drug smuggling syndicates, Mamba might be feared in eSwatini particularly around Manzini because the Kingdom is a small country “kodvwa kukhona lapho afike abe yintwana khona naye and submit to his bosses”.
Mamba’s bosses will never allow him to intimidate or threaten a journalist because they know doing that will threaten the wide network of drug dealers and they will deal with Mike Mamba for attracting media attention for them.
Serious drug dealers are hardly known and they don’t want media attention, “tintwana letihle tetfusa bantfu njengabo Mike Mamba lohle acashwa kwetfusa bantfu”.
Kimi Mike Mamba ngu-Ntfulini nje indvodza yemmmango letizamela imphilo usengakaze wangihlupha nami ngite inkinga naye ngenta umsebenti wami wekubhala tindzaba”.
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