A Swazi judge and the country’s director of public prosecutions who both defied the government in a recent scandal over King Mswati’s newest fiancee have told police that their lives are in danger.
The Swazi police said on Wednesday that Chief Justice Stanley Sapire and Director of Public Prosecutions Lincoln N’Garua had both reported attempted burglaries at their homes on Tuesday night.
Police representative Vusi Masuku said the two requested that security at their homes be increased. The attempted burglaries took place within an hour of each other.
Sapire recently presided over the case of Zena Mahlangu who was allegedly abducted by King Mswati III to become his tenth wife. Mahlangu’s mother went to court to demand that her daughter be released.
While presiding over the case, Sapire and two other judges were ordered by the country’s attorney-general and security force heads to drop the case or face dismissal. The judges defied the order.
N’Garua then charged the attorney-general with sedition but was also ordered to drop the case by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini. He too defied the order and even offered to resign.
Masuku said police were taking the complaints seriously.
”We will beef up security at their residences the two homes will be patrolled by armed police for 24 hours,” he said.
He rejected rumours that police and other members of the security forces could be involved and blamed criminals for Tuesday night’s incidents.
”Police are there to protect lives and property and I cannot see any involvement of the members of the force in this incident. We are however still investigating and hopefully, we will get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Sapire a South African and N’Garua a Kenyan were not immediately available for comment. – Sapa