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JUSTICE MINISTER WORRIED ABOUT ACC’S ABSENCE

By Andile Dlamini | 2023-11-23

“Where is the Anti- Corruption Commission?”
This was a question posed by Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Prince Simelane when giving a brief outline of his intended focus in the new ministry he is heading.

This was during his farewell dinner hosted by the ministry of housing and urban development at Happy Valley Hotel on Monday. He was occupying the housing portfolio in the 11th Parliament.
Simelane questioned the absence of the Anti-Corruption Commission.

“Where is the Anti-Corruption Commission?, because I remember in the former years, ex-minister Majozi Sithole announced the loss of E40 million to corruption and two months later announced another E80 million.

You ask yourself what happened to the ACC as government engaged services of external investigators. This all shows that the law needs strengthening,” he said.

The minister also vowed that in his new portfolio he will strengthen laws that deal with gender-based violence (GBV), corruption and other crimes.

He said GBV has ravaged the country, comparing it to a demon.
“Today the country is faced with this demon of gender-based violence, I would compare it to the angel demon Beelzebul and even Beelzebul is better.

You can tell that perpetrators find it easy to commit crimes because they know that that they will be in prison for a short time, the laws must be strengthened now more than ever,” he said. The minister said that would act as a deterrent to would be offenders.

“We need to find a way to strengthen our laws, and tighten all bolts and screws within the justice system,” he said.

He said now he would act upon his statement at Mandvulo Grand Hall two weeks ago, where he asked the king to hire more people in the police and Correctional Services as well as in the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force.

“Even as a farmer, you need to adequately secure your property so that any animal that wants to disturb cannot. In front of His Majesty I asked for more security forces and today where I have been deployed, I will put a strong boundary that is the law, they must fear breaking the law because this fence of mine will be fortified,” he said.

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