By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: Police are now secretly demanding the bullet that was removed by a doctor from the head of Mangwaneni resident who was shot at close range by the police during a protest against politically motivated and royal backed demolitions .

Sanele Sukati, a resident of Mangwaneni whose picture of a bleeding head was widely circulated on social media following the shooting on or around 21 August 2020  rushed to this publication after the police demanded that he handed over the bullet, he said handing over the bullet to the police who had earlier denied shooting him might disarm him of crucial evidence to prove his case with the relevant international human rights advocacy organisations.

.“Police shot me in the head and later blocked the car that was organised by other residents to transport me to hospital. Phindile Vilakati denied in the media that they shot me, she later said I was treated and discharged on the same day when in fact the bullet was in my head for seven days. After the doctor removed the bullet, police demanded that it should be handed over to them and I don’t understand why because they denied shooting me” he said. 

Sukati said he wanted to take the matter further with the international community and the bullet will be presented as evidence. A doctor’s report seen by this publication confirmed that Sukati was shot in the head, he suffered serious injuries and the matter was sabotaged by the State controlled eSwatini media.

This publication later gathered that both the doctors report and the bullet was taken by political activists and  human rights defenders and kept in safe place after fears that the victim might be raided by the police with the intention of destroying evidence.

"The evidence can now be confirmed to be in a safe storage" said a political activist who quickly actioned the matter after it was reported in the Swaziland News audio channel current affairs program.

 ESwatini Police Spokesperson Phindile Vilakati who has earlier used the media to deny that police shot the Mangwaneni victim had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

Sukati later told this publication that he has handed the bullet over to human rights defenders to substantiate a case of human rights violations against the police.

Police in eSwatini are sometimes ordered to shot citizens with impunity during protests and later use the highly censored media to hide information from the eyes of the international community about the real situation in the country