By Zweli Martin Dlamini

OSHOEK: King Mswati’s first born son Prince Sicalo Nkopolo Dlamini crossed the border on Monday afternoon, he is allegedly leading a team of State security agents allegedly smuggling weapons of war into the country.

Eswatini, a tiny Kingdom situated in Southern Africa is in the midst of a political unrest, citizens are demanding democratic reforms from King Mswati who rules the country as an absolute Monarch. 

Political parties were banned from participating in elections through the 1973 Decree and on or around June 2021 King Mswati allegedly unleashed soldiers and the police to shoot and kill protesting civilians as the political temperatures continue to rise in this tiny Kingdom.

A preliminary report of the Human Rights Commission suggests that forty-six(46)  citizens have been killed while political parties and the civil society say they have evidence substantiating that the number is actually above one hundred(100).

Now, an independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News obtained documentary evidence suggesting that Prince Sicalo who is leading a team of State security agents in smuggling the guns into the country left Oshoek border on Monday at around 16:30hours. 

The thirty-three(33) year-old Prince who is responsible for the procurement of weapons within the Umbutfo Eswatini Defense Force(UEDF) was using his passport number 40555832, driven in a Mercedes Benz registered MSD 077 CM, Sicelo Siphiwo Mathe was traveling with the Defense Principal Secretary.

When this publication called Prince Sicalo for a comment on Monday evening, a man who said he was his Personal Assistant answered the phone and requested this investigative journalist to communicate the questions to him, on the background of the call, there was a sound of a moving car.

“Who told you that the Prince is going to buy guns?. Where did you get that information? Anyways, I will ask him to call you back shortly and answer your questions”, he said.

But the Prince never returned the call to respond to questions regarding the alleged smuggling of guns into the country.

An independent investigation further uncovered that the trip undertaken by Prince Sicalo comes after Senior Superintendent Clement Maphila Sihlongonyane(58) ‘secretly’ left the country on Sunday, 21st November 2021 via King Mswati III International Airport using passport number 40631196, he connected to Johannesburg, Oliver Tambo(OR) airport via flight 4Z-85.

An online investigation conducted on the flight schedule uncovered that it left KMIII Airport(Skhuphe) at around 1520hours and arrived in Johannesburg at around 1625 hours, Sihlongonyane is then expected to meet Prince Sicalo who left through the Oshoek border today(Monday). Even though their exact destination remains unknown for now, it is subject of a high level investigation by this publication.

But an electronic evidence obtained through our security sources suggests that Prince Sicalo was given a budget to buy guns to be used against unarmed citizens in the midst of the political unrest.

“He is leaving the country to buy guns,”, said a source within the State security agency.

Army Spokesperson Tengetile Khumalo had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

Reached for comments, Wandile Dludlu, the Secretary General of eSwatini’s main and largest opposition party, the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO)said they were also aware that King Mswati was preparing for war not a dialogue.

“We also have highly classified information suggesting that Mswati is preparing for war against unarmed civilians not a dialogue. We are aware that he has been holding secret meetings with senior army officials at Mbuluzi Barracks and there’s an intensive training going on there in preparation for the war”, said the PUDEMO Secretary General.