NKILONGO: Nkilongo voters have vowed to burn aspiring Member of Parliament(MP) Mzwakhe Myeni’s home,for allegedly stopping and/or blocking a government grader that was rehabilitating roads within the area on Monday.
The grader was rehabilitating roads in areas that include Mndobandoba, Hlalangentombi, Mncumaneni among other places under Nkilongo, however, Myeni is alleged to have threatened to burn it, accusing the driver of campaigning for former Indvuna YeNkhundla Sandziso Mamba.
Reached for comments, former Nkilongo Indvuna YeNkhundla Sandziso Mamba said, he was aware of the matter but clarified that politics and competition in the race to Parliament must not block development in the area.
“The grader belongs to Government and while in office, I was supporting with diesel because it came here without fuel. I think we need to understand or differentiate between campaigning and assisting on development. It’s true that the government grader was parked at my home but this is a State development project. I only contributed diesel as I was doing while in office. We cannot stop development just because we are in the middle of elections”, said the former Indvuna YeNkhundla.
Myeni is alleged to have questioned why the government grader was parking at the former Indvuna YeNkhundla’s home.
One of the residents says, when they asked the driver on Tuesday through a conference call, why he stopped rehabilitating the roads, he cited the intimidation and threats to burn the government or State property by Mzwakhe Myeni.
“I have never seen such a person in my entire life, we have been struggling here and now government is helping us by rehabilitating the roads, only for Mzwakhe to threaten the driver of the grader. As we speak the grader is parked at Lubulini everything has been stopped,” said the Nkilongo resident.
One for the residents said, Myeni was lucky because he doesn’t have a home or a house at Nkilongo, otherwise, he would have woke-up to disturbing news suggesting that, his home has been burnt for blocking developments at the Nkilongo Constituency.
But Mzwakhe Myeni, when responding this Swaziland News on Tuesday afternoon, denied the allegations, he said he was in full support of development and there was no way he could stop the grader.
“All of us here want development, how can I stop a government grader from rehabilitating roads within the area?. This is a strategy to de-campaign me ahead of the elections”, said the aspiring Nkilongo MP.
Reached for comments, Futhie ‘Mamkhize’ Ngcamphalala who is also competing for the position of MP, said she heard residents talking about the incident and when driving along the road, she discovered that the grader left an unfinished job.
But the aspiring MP urged this journalist to investigate further obtain the truth behind the matter.
“I am aware of the matter you are asking me about but I don’t have further details. I only saw an unfinished job along the road and heard some residents talking, saying a grader has been stopped from continuing with the rehabilitation,” said the aspiring MP.
Efforts to reach the Supervisor of the grader who based at Lubulini proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
Speaking to this Swaziland News on Tuesday, former Deputy Speaker Trusty Gina said, the grader was commissioned by Government to assist citizens at Nkilongo, she wondered who have the authority to stop it.
“I don’t want to involve myself on this issue, sengmdzala mine ka-politiki ngiyayibona nje intfo lengangibophisa. This grader is owned by government and was rehabilitating roads for the Nkilongo citizens as part of the ongoing rehabilitation of roads in the country.Angati-ke kutsi ukhona lolelilungelo lekuvimba i-grader”, said the former Deputy Speaker who is also in the race to Parliament.
Aspiring MP Mzwakhe Myeni.