FORMER Member of Parliament (MP) Mthandeni Dube, who is yet to complete 56 months of community service, has publicly declared that he is pro-Tinkhundla and not associated with any political party.
He made the declarartion yesterday during a press conference at His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) in Matsapha, where HMCS Commissioner General Phindile LaMakhosini Dlamini was announcing the release of Dube and 11 others.
Dube, who was due for release in 2032, has received special pardon from His Majesty King Mswati III together with the 11 others who were supposed to be released in the next three to 12 years.
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The former legislator said he believed that a person had to join elections to represent the people and not self-appoint themselves.
“I am a former MP who represented Ngwempisi Constituency and not affiliated with any political party,” he reiterated.
He said he did not know anything beyond that.
Dube sang praises to the king for being considered under the prerogative of mercy special pardon. He said it was painful for one to do things that ended up causing a lot of damage and not realise that such damage needed to be fixed and acknowledged.
He said everyone had different ideologies, adding that the Constitution and the king did not have a problem with how people think. He said what then became a problem was when people provoked the king and his leadership, which he stated was wrong.
Dube said Emaswati had a beautiful history of doing things through respectful conversations accompanied by patience.
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“I am still praising Their Majesties for Sibaya in 2023, it was really beautiful. We saw the king calling for Nkwe among government services and he too has been visible to the people.
“One then asks himself if he was advocating for development or fighting to take over the country (kutfutfukisa noma kubanga live). I, Mthandeni Dube, was never into fighting to take over the country,” he narrated.
He applauded the king and government for their active work, adding that this called for unity and patience as a country even if ideologies were not the same.
Dube said it was important to protect the country’s economy and democracy so that the nation could continue to thrive for generations to come.
He said 200 years from now, future generations would know that the interests of the country were prioritised and individual ideologies were abandoned for the good of the nation.
Dube also appreciated the Correctional facility for all that he had been taught whilst kept there.
He appreciated ComGen for being patient with his flaws, stating that coming from outside and having to be arrested and abide by Correctional laws was challenging. He stated that he was grateful that wherever he went wrong, he was corrected with love.
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He further appreciated the services he received while inside, adding that the chaplains of the facility also played a huge role.
He said a person without God could not see his mistakes and such a person was useless.
“A person without God is not able to apologise when they have done something wrong,” he said.
Dube, who represented the Ngwempisi Constituency in the House of Assembly from 2018, was arrested in July, 2021 alongside former Hosea MP Bacede Mabuza.
Both were charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 and the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act of 1938, following widespread pro-democracy protests in June 2021.
They were accused of inciting violence that resulted in damage to public infrastructure and several fatalities. They were denied bail and later convicted on July 15, 2024, receiving sentences of 18 and 25 years in prison, respectively. Prior to sentencing, they had been held in arbitrary detention for nearly two years.
During this year’s Correctional Services Day, the king announced the establishment of the Prerogative of Mercy Committee. His Majesty emphasised that the committee would assess which inmates qualified to serve the remainder of their sentences through community service and which could be pardoned entirely.
The initiative was framed as part of strengthening forgiveness and reconciliation in the country, with the king stressing that genuine repentance should be met with mercy.
Before the king announced the committee, during the same event, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Prince Simelane delivered an apology on behalf of Dube to His Majesty.
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