The Assassination of Theophilus “Viva” Dlodlo
On 22 May 1987, after a brief appearance at a party in the Thembelihle location of Mbabane, Swaziland, Theophilus Sidima Dlodlo, (aka “Viva Zenge”), got into the driver’s seat of a cream-coloured Ford Laser and departed into town. With him in the passenger seat was Mildred Msomi, and at the back were Thulani Vincent Tutu Nkwanyane, Lungile Zwane, Candy Ntshontsho and “Shezi”.
When the car reached Dalriach South suburb, at approximately 23:00, approaching the bottom of a hill, they noticed another car approaching from behind, with its lights on full beam. As the Laser began to slow down to negotiate a curve, the other vehicle, which was a dark bakkie, moved to overtake, with the side door wide open. At that moment, Dlodlo heard a voice, which he recognised as that of a Comrade, saying “Viva, Viva, stop, what are you doing, we need to talk to you, there is something very urgent I need to tell you!”
When the bakkie began to break, the occupants of the other vehicle emerged from the bakkie, brandishing firearms. They began firing with their weapons that were fitted with silencers, injuring Lungile Zwane’s face, while Theophilus Dlodlo, Tutu Nkwanyane and Mildred Msomi lay dead in the Ford Laser. Shezi, who was with them in the vehicle, was later to brief Dlodlo’s wife, Felicia, about what happened that night.
This incident followed a conversation between Viva, who was part of the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK
