MBABANE: Sanele Shiba, the kombi conductor who was heavily assaulted by police and dragged to Manzini Police Station were he was tortured said his ears are now not fully functional.

Speaking to this Swaziland News on Saturday, the kombi conductor who was also insulted with his mother’s private parts by the police said after the cops grabbed him, he was dragged to the police station where he was heavily assaulted, at that time he was already bleeding and police allegedly denied him access to health care. Shiba became one of the latest police brutality victims during a protest by kombi conductors against the police who allegedly harassed and arrested them for operating at Mhlaleni.

“After they grabbed me as seen in the video, I was taken to the Manzini Police Station where they continued with assaulting me, at the time I was already bleeding. Now my ears are not functioning well, they even refused to take me to hospital despite that I was heavily bleeding” he said.

Shiba said he was then taken to court after being charged with attacking police officers and forced to plead guilty.

“Now the police are tracing me again, they are calling my girlfriend asking about my whereabouts and I don’t know what they want. They are saying I must report to the police station or tell them where I am so they could come," he said.

The assault and insults directed to women’s private parts triggered tension among women rights organizations who marched to Manzini Regional Headquarters to express their serious concerns regarding the insults.

Reached for comments, Cebile Dlamini, the Secretary General of the Swaziland Rural Women Assembly(SRWA) said they were highly concerned that such insults came from an officer of the law.

“We don’t understand why he decided to insult him with women’s private parts, as an officer of the law, he ought to have known how to deal with such situations in a professional manner” ,she said.

On another note, a protest march is being planned on Monday(17th May 2021) by the University of Eswatini (UNESWA)students after the police allegedly killed Thabani Nkomonye and dumped his body at Nhlambeni, Nkomonye was law student at UNESWA.

In a statement,Police Spokesperson Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said Thabani was involved in a car accident.