MANZINI – Supporters of EBA President Webster Lukhele mobbed and lifted him up as they celebrated his nomination for an MP position under Manzini North Constituency.
The Eswatini Boxing Association (EBA) president was the first one to be nominated for the position of a Member of Parliament (MP) at his chiefdom (Makholweni), which is under Manzini North. In total, there are seven candidates who were nominated for the position at Makholweni Chiefdom. Lukhele is not new in the game of politics as he tried his luck in 2013-2018 general elections, but lost to former MP Macford Sibandze as they are both residents of Makholweni Chiefdom. It is worth noting that when the elections officials announced that it was time for the electorate to nominate candidates for the position of an MP, the voters reacted by singing and blowing whistles.
Most
All along, during the nomination of bucopho (chiefdom councillors) and tindvuna tetikhundla (constituency headmen), most of the electorate were seated on the ground and they only stood up when they were nominating or going to support the nominees. However, during the nomination of candidates for MP position, most of them stood up and remains on their feet until the elections officials the exercise was closed. When the EBA president was nominated a crowd jumped towards him singing and blowing whistles. Others even lifted him up towards the elections officials. However, only 10 of the supporters were allowed to support him by registering. Lukhele, who is also a businessman, said he accepted the challenge because he believed the people of Manzini North, in particular those from Makholweni, saw that he was capable of representing them in Parliament. In that regard, he was up for the challenge.
Businessman
The other candidates who were elected for the MP position at Makholweni are businessman Sibusiso Tsabedze, Mancoba Dlamini, who is the son of the late former Minister of Public Service Mntonzima, who was also the chairman of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and self-employed Floyd Mlothswa. Others are; Simon Simelane, who is self-employed, unemployed 57-year-old man Alex Sibandze, 73-old-old self-employed Simon Simelane and Mbuso Nhlabatsi, who is employed by one of the auditing companies in the country.
