Mbabane – A petrol container bought shortly before a house was set ablaze became part of the evidence that linked Menzi Phungula to an arson attack in which three people were allegedly targeted while asleep.
The High Court has found Phungula guilty of arson and three counts of attempted murder, concluding that the Crown’s evidence overwhelmingly connected him to the December 2021 attack at Luhleko, Bhunya.
Judge J.M. Mavuso convicted Phungula in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, after finding that his explanation for possessing materials linked to the incident was an afterthought.
The court heard that shortly before the attack, a sky-blue Toyota Vitz arrived at a filling station along the Malkerns-Luyengo road.
Petrol attendant Percy Mbongwa Maseko testified that the vehicle was occupied by his former schoolmate, Melusi Langwenya, and another man.
He said the vehicle was refuelled for E370, despite the instruction being that the fuel purchase should not exceed E400.
The remaining E30 was instead used to buy fuel in a five-litre container.
The witness later identified the other man in the vehicle as Phungula when he was taken to the police station.
The evidence placed the fuel purchase shortly before the attack, which happened in the early hours of December 8, 2021.
The court heard that Mbongiseni Patrick Maseko’s house was set alight while his wife, Nozipho Jele, and their children were asleep inside.
Jele testified that she heard what sounded like an explosion before discovering that the sitting room was on fire.
She woke the children and they escaped from the house.
The children also testified, telling the court that they were awakened by the fire and a loud noise.
Police bomb disposal specialist Constable Sabelo Dlamini told the court that investigators found a broken Fanta grape bottle, a burnt wick, river sand and a strong smell of petrol inside and around the burnt room.
He concluded that a Molotov cocktail had been used to start the fire.
The court also heard that police recovered a two-kilogram container of window putty from a Toyota Vitz previously used by Phungula and belonging to his girlfriend.
Phungula denied the charges and gave his own explanation for some of the items and substances linked to the investigation.
Judge Mavuso, however, rejected his version, noting that it had not been put to the Crown witnesses during cross-examination.
The court also found that the defence had not challenged the Crown witnesses on Phungula’s alleged involvement in the attack.
Judge Mavuso concluded that the Crown had proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Phungula was accordingly found guilty on all four counts.
The charges arose from allegations that he acted together with Muzi Mabuza, who remains at large.
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