Police in Swaziland / Eswatini shot and killed a
suspect as he fled from them after they had stormed his home.
At least 30 police officers were involved, according
to one news report.
It is one of a long line of unusual police shootings
in the kingdom.
It happened at about 6 a.m. on Monday (2 July 2018).
The Times of Swaziland reported the dead
man Vusi
Ntimane, aged 33, was wanted by police for a number of offences, including the
bombing of an ATM machine.
The Times reported that
Ntimane emerged from a Matsebula homestead after police had surrounded it.
It reported a witness saying, ‘When they got to the homestead, he was
ordered out of the place and he came out running and bolted to the forests and
down the stream. After crossing the stream, he came across more police
officers, who were already shooting at him. We watched from a distance and saw
all the events which eventually led to his death. The police fired so many
shots and each was carrying a pistol. the suspect was shot several times before
he drew his own gun and attempted to shoot at the team of police officers.’
The Swazi Observer reported about 30
police officers were involved.
Police in Swaziland have a long history of shooting suspects in unusual
circumstances.
In January 2018 Police Information and Communication Officer Khulani
Mamba said that a suspect who was wanted for murder
committed suicide at Makhungutja by taking weevil tablets after he was shot
in the ankle by police during a raid at the homestead where he was hiding.
In August 2017 Siboniso Brian Mdluli, aged 22, who police wanted in
connection with armed robbery was reportedly killed at point blank range in ‘cowboy style.’ His family demanded an inquiry saying Mdluli was
assassinated by trigger happy police officers for no apparent reason.
In November 2015 police shot a man at close range after he overturned
rubbish bins and then ran away from them. The Times of Swaziland, reported at the time that a 21-year-old man had
been suspected of throwing rubbish in the road and pelting vehicles with
stones. The newspaper said, ‘he was shot by police at close range after
refusing to board their vehicle’.
A plain-clothed policeman shot an unarmed man in the back killing
him while on a public bus in February 2014. The man had allegedly stolen some
copper wire before boarding the bus, travelling from Siteki, in eastern
Swaziland to Manzini. The Times Sunday newspaper reported at the time the driver of the
bus Majahonke Zikalala said, ‘the man was attempting to force his way out of
the bus, the police officer shot him in the back, near the spine… the man fell
on the floor after which he was handcuffed while he bled’. He died of his
injures at the scene.
In March 2013 Swaziland police shot a man dead in front of his 11-year-old child
as he held his hands up in an attempt to surrender to them. Thokozani
Mngometulu, aged 31, was killed as he got out of his car at his homestead in
Dlakadla, in the Shiselweni region of Swaziland. Thokozani’s family, who also
witnessed the killing, say he was shot in the pelvis at close range by a police
officer.
In June 2012 a serial rapist suspect Bhekinkhosi Masina, popularly
known as Scarface, was shot by police as they cornered him for arrest.
Police say they only shot him in the thigh and he unexpectedly died of his
injuries. The Times of Swaziland
newspaper later revealed he had been shot six times, including in the head and
back.
In July 2012 a mentally ill man, Mduduzi Mngometulu, aged 34, was shot seven times by police and died of his injuries. He had four holes in his stomach, one in the leg and two bullet wounds on the left side of his chest.
These are not isolated incidents in Swaziland where police across the kingdom have a growing record of killing or maiming suspects before arrest. The cases have largely gone unreported outside of the kingdom itself.
In one example, police executed a suspect Thabani Mafutha Dlamini at Nkwalini in Hlatikulu in the presence of his colleagues and home boys in what local media called ‘cowboy style’. The Swazi Observer newspaper reported the incident in December 2011 saying, ‘Police had previously warned the mother of the dead man to “budget for funeral expenses” as they intended to remove him. He was said to be on a police “wanted list”’. Dlamini was unarmed.
In a separate case in February 2011 a Swazi policeman shot Mbongeni Masuku, described in media as a Form IV pupil, in the head in what was later described as ‘an execution-style killing’. The killing happened outside a bar in Matsapha, an industrial town in Swaziland. Masuku’s uncle Sigayoyo Maphanga said Mbongeni had been dragged out of his car by police. He told the Swazi Observer, a policeman whom he named, ‘shot my nephew at the back of the left ear and he fell on the ground with blood oozing from his mouth and ears. We were all shocked and angered by such brutality from police officers.’
In July 2012 a mentally ill man, Mduduzi Mngometulu, aged 34, was shot seven times by police and died of his injuries. He had four holes in his stomach, one in the leg and two bullet wounds on the left side of his chest.
These are not isolated incidents in Swaziland where police across the kingdom have a growing record of killing or maiming suspects before arrest. The cases have largely gone unreported outside of the kingdom itself.
In one example, police executed a suspect Thabani Mafutha Dlamini at Nkwalini in Hlatikulu in the presence of his colleagues and home boys in what local media called ‘cowboy style’. The Swazi Observer newspaper reported the incident in December 2011 saying, ‘Police had previously warned the mother of the dead man to “budget for funeral expenses” as they intended to remove him. He was said to be on a police “wanted list”’. Dlamini was unarmed.
In a separate case in February 2011 a Swazi policeman shot Mbongeni Masuku, described in media as a Form IV pupil, in the head in what was later described as ‘an execution-style killing’. The killing happened outside a bar in Matsapha, an industrial town in Swaziland. Masuku’s uncle Sigayoyo Maphanga said Mbongeni had been dragged out of his car by police. He told the Swazi Observer, a policeman whom he named, ‘shot my nephew at the back of the left ear and he fell on the ground with blood oozing from his mouth and ears. We were all shocked and angered by such brutality from police officers.’
In May 2011 Mathende Matfonsi was shot dead by police while he was attending a field of
dagga (marijuana) inside the remote forests of Lomahasha near the
border with Mozambique. His family accused the police of ‘cold-blooded murder’.
Matfonsi was shot dead at Ebhandeni, the same area where Nkosinathi Khathwane
had previously been shot dead by soldiers at night.
In March 2010 police shot a man as he was trying to surrender to them. This time the victim, Mncedisi Mamba, did not die. His mother Thoko Gamedze said Mamba had his hands up and was surrendering to police, but they shot him anyway.
See also
In March 2010 police shot a man as he was trying to surrender to them. This time the victim, Mncedisi Mamba, did not die. His mother Thoko Gamedze said Mamba had his hands up and was surrendering to police, but they shot him anyway.
See also
POLICE SHOOT MAN, HE ‘COMMITS SUICIDE’
POLICE
KILLING FAMILY DEMAND ANSWERS
‘POLICE
EXECUTE MAN COWBOY STYLE’
POLICE
SHOOT SURRENDERING MAN
SWAZI
POLICE ‘MURDER’ SUSPECT
POLICE
‘EXECUTE’ SUSPECT IN STREET
SWAZI
POLICE SHOOT-TO-KILL AGIN
POLICE
SHOOT AND KILL MENTALLY ILL MAN
POLICE
‘SHOT ACCUSED RAPIST IN HEAD’
POLICE
SHOOT-TO-KILL ON BUS
POLICE
KILL SURRENDERING MAN
SWAZI
POLICE SHOOT-TO-KILL
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