Africa-Press – Eswatini. Hosea Member of Parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza has urged those calling for political reforms in the country to refrain from being violent.
This was revealed by Sicelo Ndzinisa yesterday during a Political Party Assembly (PPA) mass consultative meeting held at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre yesterday.
Consult
The aim of the consultative meeting was to consult members of the PPA on a way forward following the dismissal of jailed MP’s Mthandeni Dube and Mabuza’s bail application.
According to Ndzinisa, who spoke on behalf of the residents of Hosea during the meeting, he had a brief meeting with Mabuza shortly before the dismissal of their bail application on Thursday and he kindly asked him to convey a message to the people of Hosea. Ndzinisa narrated to the masses that Mabuza kindly asked him to inform the residents of Hosea that he still maintained his stance of advocating for a democratically elected prime minister, however, he was besieging those calling for political reforms in the country to refrain from violence.
Ndzinisa further stated that as Hosea residents they were now afraid to elect a new MP since they were of the view that he would also be arrested.
Richard Vilane, another resident of the area who was also given an opportunity to speak during the meeting, reiterated Ndzinisa’s words that Mabuza has urged them to refrain from violence.
He further urged the residents of Hosea not to boycott next year’s elections but rather try by all means to participate during the elections.
“It is not our intention that elections should be conducted next year under the current government regime, but if they do come by, let us try by all means not to boycott them, but rather we should join and elect people of our own choice,” he said.
Collen Vilakati from Ngwemphisi Inkhundla said as residents of Ngwemphisi, they were greatly saddened by the prolonged incarceration of their MP.
Shortage
This, he said was because, the continued incarceration of the MP had stalled development in the area.
He said currently roads were dilapidated and there was an acute shortage of medical facilities while pupils were forced to walk long distances to schools, as there were no proper schools nearby. Meanwhile, one of the political activists stated that a majority of people were now afraid of police officers, when trying to mitigate the poor attendance yesterday.
There was a poor turnout in yesterday’s meeting, with representatives of political parties failing to show up.
When coming out with the resolutions regarding a way forward, a majority of the speakers suggested that the PPA should embark on grass roots sensitisation exercise, visiting people in the rural areas.
Another speaker suggested that the PPA should come out with a plan of action, with planned activities which would take place once or twice a month.
It was the suggestion of another speaker that the PPA should bring the country to a standstill by halting all operations by all means necessary.
The Chairman of PPA who is also President of Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) Sibongile Mazibuko promised the members of the PPA that since the majority of the people had suggested that they should embark on grass roots sensation exercise, they would draw out a roadmap on how the exercise would be carried out by the different political parties.
She also promised that they would take the other suggestions into consideration.
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