Sandlane pleads not guilty to assault

Sandlane pleads not guilty
The Swazi Observer - Mbabane,Swaziland
By Bheki Gama SANDLANE Zwane, the member of the King’s advisory body, the Swaziland National Council Standing Committee (SNCSC) has pleaded not guilty. Zwane briefly appeared at Manzini Magistrate Court yesterday facing a charge of assault. He allegedly committed the offence at the Matsapha Flying Club on Saturday where he was allegedly involved in an altercation with a senior member of the army Colonel Mdzu Khumalo ... The SNCSC man had the support of his sidekick and former Mr Swaziland Thulani Matsebula who arrived a bit late ... The magistrate told him to come to court for trial on January 23 ... Zwane also stated that he acted in self-defence after the said army senior officer allegedly tried landing three punches on him. He said he was discussing the Flying Club with its former president and Swazi envoy Muntu Mswane when Khumalo came charging. “I have been a devoted member of the club for the last 10 years,” he said, mentioning that he was discussing the degenerated standards of the club with the former chairman as a concerned member. “There is a problem at the Flying Club,” he said, explaining that the club had been turned into a noisy and youth oriented social centre where all sorts of wild acts were allowed to occur. He said the club had been turned into a disco ...