The former Police Public Relations Officer(PRO) who was very close to King Mswati was allegedly involved in a car accident on Saturday night at Mehlwabovu, Hlathikhulu after attending National Commissioner William Dlamini’s traditional wedding.
It has been disclosed that the car accident involving Masuku, a well-known public figure who was allegedly tipped to take over as National Commissioner was kept a top secret,for two days, this Swaziland News has been struggling to get confirmation.
But an eye witness who was the first to arrive at the accident scene on Saturday evening sent pictures of the car and further confirmed that Masuku was struggling to breathe.
However,in line with journalism ethics, the story could not be immediately published on Saturday as the Deputy National Commissioner was reported to be bleeding about five minutes after the accident and his family was yet to be informed.
Since then, this investigative journalist has been patiently waiting for the police to confirm that Masuku was admitted at the hospital, his phone rang unanswered as efforts were made to get hold of Masuku’s family.
“I am here at the accident scene as we speak, noma kanjani nguMasuku lona bekangu PRO ushumpa kabuhlungu,sengishayele nemaphoyisa.(meaning: I can recognize the person as Vusi Masuku, the former police PRO, he is in pain and I have just informed the police)”,said the source who was the first to arrive at the accident scene on Saturday evening.
Police Spokesperson, Phindile Vilakati had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Subsequent to the struggles to get confirmation from the police regarding Masuku’s death,an investigation was then successfully conducted to verify with the traffic car registration Government system if indeed the car involved in the accident belonged to Masuku.
The findings of the investigation confirmed that a Toyota D4D registered JSD 750 AS whose pictures were shared to this publication by the eye witness was linked or belonged to the late Deputy National Commissioner Vusi Masuku.
Insiders within the Police College confirmed that the former Police PRO has died.
“It’s true, he has died”, said a police officer who worked closely with Masuku.
The matter regarding the death of the former police PRO has been kept a top secret within the police circles, it is being handled by the Head of the Welfare Department officer identified as Mr Mhlanga.
The late Deputy National Commissioner is reported to have died at the Mbabane Government Hospital around 12noon on Monday while complaining with chest pains.
When this investigative journalist went undercover and tried to call the Welfare Department at the Police Headquarters pretending to be a police officer, the cop who answered the call said the matter should be officially confirmed by Mr Mhlanga.
The Welfare office is responsible for arranging funerals for police officers, it has been reported that by Monday afternoon, the police service had already started preparing for Masuku’s funeral without any official public announcement regarding his death,two days after the accident.
“It’s best for you to wait for Mr Mhlanga,he is out of office for now. Kube ngiyati kutsi ungubani ngabe ngiyakuhlebela kutsi liciniso noma cha manje vele lena ifuna Mhlanga(meaning:I could have confirmed to you whether it’s true or not if only I knew who you are but it’s better for you to wait for Mr Mhlanga’s confirmation,” said the cop.
Another call was then made to the Matsapha Police College and the police officer who answered the call confirmed that Deputy National Commissioner Vusi Masuku has died.
Again due to the secrecy surrounding Masuku’s involvement in the car accident and his subsequent death, this investigative journalist went undercover and pretended to be a police officer calling from Ezulwini Police Post, seeking information regarding funeral arrangements.
“It’s too early to know when we will be visiting the Masuku family,we have just received the sad news about fifteen minutes(15)ago.We will wait for an official announcement”,said the police officer.
Even though the cause of the accident remains a subject of a police investigation, it has been disclosed that Masuku became another victim of the poorly maintained Eswatini roads as more money funds Mswati’s lavish lifestyle.
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