7 months ago
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eSwatini's opposition party, the People’s United Democratic Movement, says its president Mlungisi Makhanya was poisoned with organophosphates – chemicals used for pest control.
This is according to the party's deputy president Wandile Dludlu who said Makhanya was in critical condition, adding it was a “miracle that he survived more than two hours of this type of poison”.
Dludlu was speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday after Makhanya was rushed to hospital with suspected poisoning.
“It is encouraging that the president has survived the day and through the professional briefing we have received thus far, the poison is extremely dangerous, and its fatality rate is high,” he said.
Makhanya was rushed to hospital in Pretoria in the early hours of Tuesday after what his comrades said was another attempt on his life.
A trusted person who lived in the same house as Makhanya was allegedly behind his poisoning according to Swaziland News.
The publication reported that Makhanya was apparently locked inside the house and left to die after the poisoning, with some of his party members saying he was screaming for help.
The incident, according to party members, comes a few weeks before a planned pro-democracy protest in eSwatini next month, which he had been spearheading.
“It [the poison] is fatal and very rare and not possible for an ordinary person to procure it on the streets. He [Makhanya] is in a very critical condition, but he has been stabilised. This has assisted and made us reaffirm that the people responsible for this is the Swazi government,” Dludlu said.
On Tuesday, eSwatini government spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo denied they were behind Makhanya's attempted assassination.
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