Cracking the Murder Case of Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko
Part 3: The postponed PUDEMO Congress
If Thulani Maseko was alive, Mlungisi Makhanya would not have retained the position of PUDEMO president. Instead, Mandla Hlatjwako would be the leader of the political party. Mlungisi’s sidekick Wandile Dludlu would not have won the vote for deputy president, but Sikhumbuzo Phakathi was going to win this position. Penuel Malinga would also not have been elected PUDEMO Secretary General. Manqoba Nxumalo would be the SG. Mlungisi’s other bootlickers Maxwell Dlamini and Siboniso Mkhabela, who are first and second deputy secretary generals respectively, would only have dreamt of being in these positions.
As one of the most influential elders of PUDEMO, the assassinated human rights lawyer (Maseko) has always had a big say on who should lead the political party and who should be in the national executive.
He was the main reason that the late Mario Masuku held on to the PUDEMO presidency for longer than anybody else. It was Thulani who protected Masuku from other PUDEMO members who wanted to force him out of the position after they felt he had overstayed his welcome and was no longer relevant. It was Thulani who convinced all branches that Mario was the one who had kept PUDEMO together and change in leadership would have to be done orderly lest they risked destabilizing the party. It was only after Mario’s health began to fail him, because his sugar diabetes got worse, and he could no longer cope with the pressures of leading the organisation. Thulani endorsed Mario’s request to hand over the reins to another leader. By that time Mlungisi Makhanya had done a lot of ground work and had established a close relationship with Thulani to a point where making him the Mario’s successor was seen to be sensible.
Thulani had always been cautious of Mlungisi’s leadership style and was well aware of his militancy, hence he always kept him on the leash. But events leading up to the political unrest and what was happening during the unrest saw Mlungisi getting loose from Thulani’s leash and wondered off to establish and hire groups of thugs to unleash violence across the country. He became an unruly person and took no advice from Thulani and other PUDEMO elders but formed a clique of other young PUDEMO members who he was able to convince with the cash he had at his disposal to launch a bid for violent takeover of the country. He had already teamed up with Zwemart to use the online Swaziland News as their number one propaganda platform. The terror that they unleashed across the country is well documented. Thulani never supported any of it.
Thulani and other senior members of PUDEMO held behind the scenes meetings to discuss the rogue Mlungisi who was leading their organization. It was their view that he had driven potential members away from the organisation and had made it so unappealing such that people even decided to join the newly-formed SWALIMO than opting for the more established PUDEMO. The relationship that the PUDEMO president had established with Zwemart was a sore thumb for the party’s elders. The murderous and other violent conduct they were engaged in against citizens made them very unpopular with the elders who have always supported engaging in more diplomatic means to achieve political change.
The PUDEMO elders, with Thulani at the forefront, decided that Mlungisi should be removed from the position and replaced with someone who would make the party more appealing. That person was identified to be Mandla Hlatjwako hence they launched the Letfu Sonkhe think tank that he would use to position himself as the next leader. Thulani was to also use his position as Chairman of the Multistakeholder Forum to galvanize support for Mandla. They started to lobby PUDEMO branches way ahead of the 10th PUDEMO Congress to back Mandla’s bid for presidency as well as the others in his slate. Their lobbying was working and branches agreed to support Mandla’s slate. Mlungisi was very unhappy with both Thulani and Mandla, which worsened after his negotiation that he should at least become Mandla’s Deputy was rejected. That was when all hell broke loose and the plan by Mlungisi to retain the leadership of PUDEMO turned nasty.
The person who stood in Mlungisi’s way to the presidency was Thulani, not Mandla. Thulani had the influence, power and financial muscle. The international sponsors trusted only Thulani with their money. Whatever money they pumped in was sent through Thulani. As the date for the PUDEMO Congress came closer in December 2022, Mlungisi and his stooges pulled every trick in the book to have it postponed to a date when the scales would have tipped into their favour.
Using the security card, they managed to have the Congress postponed on more than one occasion. The date was only confirmed after they had found a way to tip the scales in their favour. How did they tip the scales? Remember, the one person who wa their stumbling block was Thulani. When the Congress was eventually held, he was no longer alive. His name and picture were the main feature of the Congress but he was not there. His wife, who we have previously outlined here how she needs to account for her role in the death of her husband, was enjoying the limelight.
No, don’t draw any conclusions yet. Wait for Part 4, which is coming in the next few days. The dots are slowly coming together.
