TENSION flared at the Nhlambeni Constituency during the second day of the ongoing army recruitment exercise when MP Manzi Zwane publicly challenged the eligibility of several participants.
The drama erupted as Zwane pointed out Sihlangu and Young Buffaloes footballer Mazwi Sihlongonyane among the hopefuls, claiming he did not recognise him as a local. “Lona angimati, he is not from here,” the MP said, referring to the footballer.
This then prompted army personnel to disqualify the player on the spot.
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This was not the only controversy. As winners of the 3.2-kilometre race celebrated their victory, Zwane again voiced discontent, alleging that the army hopefuls were not from the constituency. He singled out Mhlelisi Gama who won the male category from Mbelebeleni and Sisana Thandiwe Mncina from Maphalaleni, winner of the female category.
However, the inkhundla council had already vetted and verified both winners as legitimate residents before the MP’s arrival, effectively dismissing his claims.
The recruitment exercise itself has been marred by confusion and frustration, with hopefuls reportedly turned away on the first day due to issues surrounding chief codes. This added to the growing chaos in what was meant to be a streamlined process.
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Speaking to the media after the exercise, MP Zwane said the exercise went well as there were no incidents during the actual race. However, he said as a constituency, they were saddened that the eventual winners were allegedly not residents of the constituency.
“You heard them yourselves that they were from Maphalaleni and Mbelebeleni. Some of them do not even know me as their MP and cannot even identify their neighbours to prove that they are from here,” he said.
MP Zwane insisted that as a council, they would take the matter further because the confusion might lead to rightful residents of the constituency losing an opportunity to get employed.
He said the purpose of the recruitment at inkhundla level was to ensure that every constituency was represented and all the unemployed Emaswati had equal opportunities to get employed.
He said it was unfair that ‘outsiders’ were qualified and approved to enter the race at the expense of residents born and raised in the constituency.
The MP said they would lodge a formal complaint and hoped that their grievances would be attended to so as to ensure that the on-going exercise continued smoothly.
Zwane further noted that a majority of the reserves were from the constituency, but stood to lose the opportunity to get employed because of the eventual winners who were not from the constituency.
Meanwhile, Umbutfo Eswatini Defence force (UEDF) Brigadier General Sotja Dlamini said they were happy with the exercise.
He said the inkhundla council had raised the concern during a meeting they had after the exercise. However, he said the council claimed that most of the candidates lived in rented flats and were not originally from the constituency.
He said the MP raised the concern with them but at that point, there was little they could do because UEDF was not directly involved in the verification of chief codes.
“Kute ngakitsi labakhale ngako but bakhale ngakubo kutsi lidlojwe libhekile,” said Dlamini.
He insisted that the identification stage was conducted and bucopho from each chiefdom verified the competitors.
He said as the army, they were happy with the exercise.
He further advised that as they continued with the exercise in the coming weeks, members of the tinkhundla councils and traditional leaders should also be present so as to assist in the identification and verification of candidates to avoid similar instances in future.
He further mentioned that it was up to the candidates themselves to be honest and inform the army personnel if there was someone they did not know or was not from their constituency amongst them.
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