Swaziland police officers have been on the attack again, assaulting members of the public – one a form-four school pupil and the other, a pregnant woman.
The latest news is that a group of police attacked the son of a Swaziland member of parliament. They dragged him out of the family vehicle he was driving, kicked him and threw him in a government van, before dumping him on a dangerous road.
Police later said they mistook Sizwe Ngcobo, aged 21, a son of MP Musa Ngcobo, for a wanted criminal (as if that was an excuse for their actions).
Ngcobo’s crime? He couldn’t produce his driver’s licence on demand to the police.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO) has protested about how police assaulted a pregnant woman at the Mbabane Plaza in Swaziland’s capital city, because she was selling items at the bus rank.
The police kicked and punched the woman even though she told them (and it was obvious to see) she was eight-months pregnant.
‘It is more disappointing that even members of the law enforcement are in the habit of perpetuating violence in the pretext of pursuing their work,’ a CANGO spokesperson said.
The Swaziland Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission said it wanted to investigate the case of the assault on the pregnant woman, but it was unable to do any work because it did not have any people employed as investigators.
Editor’s note. New chief of police Issac Magagula told the world in October 2009 that his police officers were servants of the public and would treat ‘clients’ (i.e the public) with respect. I didn’t believe it then and I don’t believe it now.
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