By A Correspondent- The water levels in Lake Kariba now at 478.38m (20% usable storage) as of September 2, 2019.
This is significantly lower than the level at the same time in 2018. The level was 486.19m (80% full).
According to the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), Kariba is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m (with 0.70m freeboard) for hydropower generation.
LONDON-A solicitor at a top law firm who repeatedly raped a young woman after stalking her and dragging her to a park is facing years in prison.
Wilfred Marodza was working at Cripps Pemberton Greenish law firm when he attacked two women on the same night in Borough ( Metropolitan Police .
Wilfred Marodza, 28, pounced on the victim, in her twenties, in the early hours of July 20 as she walked along Great Dover Street in Borough, grabbing on to her neck and threatening her as he forced her into a secluded part of Dickens Fields.
He then stripped her and raped her four times before she managed to break free, Inner London crown court heard.
She fled na_ked through the street with Marodza in pursuit, as he claimed to bystanders they were having a “domestic”, before she managed to escape in a passing minicab.
Marodza, a trainee solicitor with firm Cripps Pemberton Greenish, had been drinking in the area before carrying out the attack at 2.15am, and struck again less than two hours later.
He grabbed another woman, also in her twenties, from behind in Borough High Street and put his hand over her mouth, attempting to drag her into a side street. However, the woman screamed and Marodza fled.
Police were able to catch him because he left his rucksack, with his work identification inside, at the scene.
CPS prosecutor Nahid Mannan said: “This was a horrendous attack on two young, lone females. The prosecution case included compelling evidence showing Marodza dragging the two victims to secluded areas and also chasing the naked victim he had just raped.
“Marodza also left his rucksack containing his work identification at the scene of the rape, allowing police to easily identify him.
“The CPS takes crimes against women extremely seriously and I hope this conviction goes some way to provide the victims with a degree of closure.”
At court yesterday, Marodza, a Zimbabwean national from Eastbourne in East Sussex, pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, kidnapping and a charge of committing an offence with intent to commit a s_exual offence.
He was remanded in custody by Judge Nigel Seed QC until a sentencing hearing next month. – London Evening Standard
By Own Correspondent- The MDC Alliance says the ZANU PF-led central government has handicapped local authorities from being able to discharge their duties.
Residents in almost all urban areas have bemoaned poor service delivery for many years, with the MDC dominating most of those municipalities.
MDC deputy secretary for local government, Clifford Hlatshwayo, accused the central government of interfering in the affairs of local authorities. He said:
“These challenges are manufactured by Zanu PF, a de facto government that controls the central government.
Its interference is all over in our local authorities, but our mayors and councillors are trying to deliver smart services.
Our councils did their budgets using the 1:1 rate of the Zimdollar against the United States dollar and now [Finance minister Mthuli] Ncube introduced something different from what was planned.
This has hampered service delivery. That has affected councils and residents who can’t even pay rates now.
This economic challenge is affecting everyone and people can’t even pay rents.”-Newsday
State Media|THE Health Service Board (HSB) has said Treasury has agreed to adjust the cost of living allowances and provide health specific allowances to end the countrywide doctors’ strike that started yesterday.
According to the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association, doctors manning all Government hospitals are not in a position to go to work due to inadequate salaries and allowances.
However, in an interview yesterday, HSB chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikhosana said negotiations are continuing to ensure that vulnerable members of the public do not suffer.
“We had an agreement with them as the Health Apex committee on the adjustment on the cost of living. The collective agreement, however, had conditionalities where doctors said they are not satisfied and we have since sent a request to Treasury which has been accepted,” said Dr Sikhosana.
“We have already submitted the key scale salary document to Treasury that they provide for an adjustment and it has concurred saying resources are available to cater for the adjustments presented in the request.”
According to Dr Sikhosana, HSB has also noted the request by doctors to have their cost of living allowances adjusted for the last quarter of the year.
“That will depend on the ability of the economy and treasury to absorb the costs. So in the long term depending on the performance of the economy the Government has the intention to ensure all civil servants are able to have remuneration that will sustain in this country,” added Dr Sikhosana.
State Media|YOUTH, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry says she’s dismayed that the Zimbabwe senior netball team players still haven’t been paid the ZWL$20 000 allowances promised to them more than a month ago.
The girls were promised the dues after a largely impressive maiden netball World Cup appearance where they came out eighth after winning three games in the tournament held in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in July.
Coventry has now promised to urgently look into the matter.
“Really? I will follow that up with my office next week (this week). They ought to have been paid as per promise,” Coventry told Chronicle Sport.
She shockingly revealed that the money was from the Africa Cup of Nations fundraising committee and not from government cauffers, which has to be audited for transparency purposes.
“There has been a slight delay because the money was originally with Afcon fundraising committee. There are different procedures that they have to go through because the committee was originally set up for Afcon and now they have to hand it over to the President, who will then hand it to the Gems and that takes a bit of time, but I shall be following it up with my office,” she said.
With the rate at which the Zimbabwean dollar is losing value, the money may just be worthless by the team it reaches the players.
Coventry also expressed disappointment at the vanishing of a member of the Zimbabwe netball delegation, Phillip Masimba, who didn’t return home with the rest of the team.
“It’s sad that after helping secure visas for the team, we had one member of the netball team not returning home and that compromises us as a Ministry and country.
“We want honest people,” she said while addressing members of Indonsakusa Arts Group who had asked for government’s assistance in securing visas for their upcoming international tours.
State Media|A breakdown of three power generation units at Hwange Thermal Power Station recently, has seen Zesa increasing load-shedding across the country, Cabinet has observed.
This reverses the improvement in electricity availability that citizens had started experiencing following an increase in imports from South Africa.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists yesterday during a post Cabinet briefing that Zesa was working around the clock to stabilise the situation while negotiations with Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) of Mozambique and Zesco of Zambia were at an advanced stage, a situation that is expected to see a significant improvement in power supply.
“Cabinet received the weekly power and energy supply status report for the country from the Minister of Energy and Power Development (Advocate Fortune Chasi). The minister indicated that, whereas the electricity supply situation had begun to register significant improvement following the resumption of imports from Eskom (of South Africa), the situation recently took a dip owing to the break-down of three electricity generation units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
“The Minister (Adv Chasi), however, assured Cabinet that the situation should stabilise within a few days’ time, since two of the three broken-down units are now expected to return to service soon. Furthermore, the minister also advised Cabinet that discussions with HCB of Mozambique and Zesco of Zambia for the provision of additional power imports are ongoing.
“The minister expressed hope that the discussions would soon be concluded, thereby further improving the electricity supply situation in the country.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet was concerned about theft of Zesa power cables and transformers in many parts of the country.
She said steps are underway to introduce stern measures to deal with all those involved in this heinous crime.
The reduction of power supply saw Zesa Holdings reverting to Stage Two load-shedding schedule hardly two weeks after assuring consumers of significant relief.
Last month, Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira indicated that they had downgraded load-shedding from Stage Two to Stage One after it started receiving 400MW from Eskom.
However, before most consumers had improved supplies, Zesa announced an increase in load-shedding due to depressed generation of power.
Writing on his Twitter handle last week, Mr Gwasira said; “Load-shedding is at Stage 2. The small Stage 1 generators, whilst online, are producing very little and a major Stage 2 unit gone out for repairs. Shedding has increased phenomenally.”
State run Herald newspaper reports that police are analysing video footage in which a man, the media house believes to be Chitungwiza Mayor Councillor Lovemore Maiko of the MDC, torching a ZBC vehicle opposite Town House in Harare on August 26, 2016.
This was during a demonstration organised by Tajamuka pressure group.
According to the video footage which made rounds violent scenes are witnessed wherein a mob burns a ZBC vehicle. The man who the media claims to be Clr Maiko is seen rushing towards a parked ZBC vehicle with cardboard boxes which he throws inside and a fire erupts, with billowing smoke. The man is wearing a blue and gold T-shirt with a United States of America flag.
During his act, scores of mobsters are heard cheering as the car continues to burn.
To sensationalise their claims, The Herald says it was suddenly inundated with calls on Monday from members of the public who said the person in the video was the controversial mayor of Chitungwiza.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has through the years flighted images and a video of the suspected hooligans on the national broadcaster, notifying the public that the assailants are on their wanted list.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that police were seeking public help to identify the suspects to further investigations.
“We have observed that some people have been identified on separate violent incidences which have been occurring in the country particularly in Harare since 2016 to date.
“These people have been captured in videos and photos that is the reason why we are appealing to the members of the public to help in identifying, locating and apprehending them. We strongly suspect that they have caused a lot of damage to property as is seen in one of the videos,” he said.
Suspected Zanu PF militant supporters on Monday assaulted Maiko at council offices after serving the Town Clerk George Makunde with a suspension letter as the Zanu PF Mashonaland central provincial executive member faces abuse of office and incompetence.
Ahead of the aborted Chitungwiza full council meeting Monday, mayor Maiko recounted how he was assaulted by a gang led by some known land barons allegedly linked to Zanu PF.
Appearing unperturbed, Emmerson Mnangagwa flew into Cape Town, South Africa yesterday to attend the World Economic Forum amid rumours that some African countries are boycotting the event due to massive Xenophobic violence in the host country.
Rwanda, DRC and Malawi were last night indicated in media reports to be sceptical about sending representatives to the forum in protest against the killing of their citizens by South Africans.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa is being launched in that country’s coastal city on Wednesday and participating nations are to deliberate on issues that should shape the continent’s future in terms of sustainable development, innovation, digitisation and governance.
The meeting was expected to see the convergence of at least 1 000 regional and global leaders in politics, business, civic society, media and the academia before the xenophobia issues gave a dent to it.
By the end of day yesterday, it was only his opponent Nelson Chamisa who had issued a statement on the plight of the country’s citizens. As the day stretched into the night, there was not a word from Mnangagwa, with Chamisa tweeting-
Under the theme: “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Future in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, the meeting comes at a time when the continent is seeking solutions to overcome challenges such as economic inequality, rising unemployment and a growing youth population demanding a fair share of the cake.
Statistics show that by 2025 half of the continent’s population will comprise the youth, hence the need to take serious consideration of this demographic in its development discourse.
Women also need to be given space as key partners in development.
The meeting is expected to launch an Africa growth programme to facilitate enterprise development through securing effective funding from investors and institutions. Funding constraints have affected business growth in most economies on the continent.
WEF Africa 2019 will also explore new models to help the continent achieve success at a time when technology is creating economic and societal shifts.
Other areas of focus here include skills and education, ocean economy, free trade and commerce, and the effects of the drone technology on economies. – Agencies/State Media
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has called off the international friendly between that country’s national team and Bafana Bafana in Lusaka on Saturday in response to the current wave of xenophobic violence in SA.
This is an unprecedented move from a Southern African country as a fellow Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) member takes a stand against attacks in SA on foreign immigrants‚ including some against Zambians.
South African Football Association (Safa) communications director Dominic Chimhavi confirmed the FAZ had called the game off.
“The game is off. We have just received correspondence from the FAZ to that say they cannot undertake this match with the ongoing violence in SA‚ including targeting [of] their own people‚” Chimhavi said.
He said Safa had made some headway in finding replacement opponents but could not announce anything yet.
The match‚ which had been scheduled to be played at the 60‚000-seater National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka‚ would have been the first fixture of new Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki‚ whose appointment was only officially made this past Saturday.
Bafana Bafana‚ including most of the team’s overseas-based contingent‚ had assembled and started training for the match on Monday.
The attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa are appalling and heartbreaking. We call upon our African brothers and sisters to show a full sense of brotherhood and sisterhood consistent with the timeless wisdom of Ubuntu. Brother against brother or Sister against sister is inimical to Ubuntu.
Extremely disturbing are scenes and sights of violence and horrendous attacks in South Africa. It is time to take decisive action to protect all in South Africa and stop any attacks on fellow Africans. Priority must be given to individual security & stopping of all manner and forms of violence.
While these attacks are routinely described as xenophobic, it is evident that they target black Africans. These are deliberate and systematic attacks based on race & country of origin rather than foreignness alone. The resulting conflict is terrible for our communities because they foment hatred and tensions between people.
I think it encapsulates all the fundamental points. Save to say maybe in the 3rd paragraph we need to correctly characterise what is happening in SA not as xenophobia but as Afrophobia, as the attacks are not necessarily against foreigners but against fellow black Africans.
The irony is on why an African should be Afrophobic. True, we need to solve the challenges in fellow African countries that have led to many leaving their own countries but the irony remains that Africans would feel unwelcome both in Europe and other continents as well as in a fellow African State. If Africans are unsafe in Africa, where else should they go?
While we acknowledge that South Africa, like many other African countries has problems of inequality, joblessness, social service delivery, poverty and illegal immigration. Violence and impunity is not the answer to these problems.
If we allow violence and brutality in society to be used as an instrument to resolve challenges, it inevitably spreads to all facets of life including affecting women and children. Violence in all its ugly forms and manifestations, be It towards women and children, citizens, illegal immigrants or any other human being for that matter is simply unacceptable.
In Africa, we have always been at each others throat since we were put on this earth by God
fighting over everything or anything,fighting over borders or boundaries, fighting over water, fighting over food, fighting over political parties, fighting over property, fighting over tribes, fighting over ideology, fighting over faith and religion. Yet we hardly ever engage in a civilized contest over strategy, ideas and thought.
As Africans we need As a matter of urgency and emergency to stop violence against each other.
Already, we have seen business being disrupted and commerce being disturbed as truckers that use South African routes fear for their lives. Threats of retaliation against South African drivers and businesses in other parts of the continent demonstrate that this is a vicious cycle in which there is no winner.
More significantly, this violence is concentrated among the poor and vulnerable of our societies. It is the poor killing the poor.Over the years, it has emerged that acts of violence are often caused and are directed by the cruel selfish elites. If we fix our political challenges, there would be no need for circumstances of undue hardships and animosity.
Other nationals are in South Africa principally because politics and leadership ineptitude has made other African countries uninhabitable. They vote with their feet, seeking greener pastures. Yet there, they find hell as they clash with equally vulnerable and happiness-seeking locals. It becomes a running battle between the poor. We can solve this by fixing our messy politics.
This is why we find it incredulous when our brother leaders in the region look aside when our government brutalises citizens. Where do the oppressed go? To the neighbours. That is why we have always said Zimbabwe’s problems are also our neighbours’ domestic challenges. Illegal immigration is a product of nurturing dictatorship at the neighbours’.
Time has now come to think seriously about the New Africa we deserve. We must collectively, as Africans, examine critically the utility of maintaining colonial boundaries and borders which give a false sense of division and exceptionalism. The divisions made in Berlin more than 100 years ago still divide us. We need a post-Berlin conference African consensus to shape a New Africa to the satisfaction of our ideals, imaginations, hopes and aspirations.
In the long run Africa should move towards removing colonial borders, having one passport and establishing a single currency and single market.We must build our internet exchange points, continent-wide television networks, proper road, rail and flight links.We have started well with a continental free trade area.We dare do more!
The great Kwame Nkrumah famously said, “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa,” The declaration encapsulated the sense of brotherhood that defined the struggles for liberation. We should never lose that spirit, even today as many of our citizens across the continent suffer under brutal regimes.
We urgently need A New Africa where African brotherhood is the common denominator. A New Africa where the African Union plays a more dynamic role in solving African problems and is at the forefront of pushing the African youth development agenda.
A better Tomorrow and a NEW AFRICA does not just happen, it must be designed and now is the time to build on these fundamentals and construct: The Africa We want and deserve.
Our dear South African brothers and sisters, we appreciate your being tired of those you estimate to be foreign, but please help us lobby for intervention of SADC and South Africa to fix Zimbabwe’s politics by helping Zimbabweans resolve the legitimacy and governance crisis caused by the disputed July 2018 Presidential election and on-going poor performance.
When Zimbabwe was stable and thriving we never had these problems of illegal immigration.In fact our South African brothers and sisters were coming to Zimbabwe to seek refuge from apartheid, to learn and do business. That’s the way it should be.
Fixing Zimbabwe will reduce South Africa’s problems. Fixing Zimbabwe will restore its citizens’ dignity and hope.Similarly fixing political and governance problems in other countries will go a long way in stabilizing Africa and reducing the problem of tensions and hate. So many people died to free Africa.We can’t have more people dying in a free Africa.
I appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa to help Zimbabweans help themselves through a credible and genuine political dialogue to put in place transitional mechanism that will pave way for comprehensive political and economic reforms a lasting solution to returning Zimbabwe to freedom, legitimacy and democracy.
To our leaders and fellow citizens of SADC, when any country sneezes the whole region catches a cold. A sick and weak Zimbabwe will always be an albatross around the necks of all the other countries in the region and indeed on the continent. Please help us help ourselves.
Lastly, with developments in South Africa, I call for enough mechanisms and measures to be put in place to ensure the security and protection of all Zimbabwean citizens.Section 35(3)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe obliges the state as a peremptory duty and mandatory obligation, to protect citizens wherever they maybe. This right is available to all citizens in and outside Zimbabwe.
New Africa is the way to go
We need a new way.A new dawn on the continent. Africa must unite on values of freedom democratic values, free fair elections and prosperity for its people. SADC must a people’ s community not a community of its leaders alone.The African Union must be truly an African people’s Union
We can’t be Africa without Africans.
Building a better Africa for all
Let’s build a great Africa for all
God bless Africa and heal the world!
NELSON CHAMISA
MDC PRESIDENT
The sanctions against the people’s right to protest must go
In a brazen affirmation of selective application of the law in Zimbabwe, the police have allowed Zanu PF to hold its anti-sanctions march in Harare this week while proscribing the same Constitutional right of ordinary citizens to hold peaceful protests against the deteriorating economic situation in the country.
Ironically, selective application of the law is one of the 10 national grievances that Zimbabweans wanted to march against in the legitimate protests that were brutally foiled by the police in Harare and several other towns.
That the police have now allowed Zanu PF to hold demonstrations while preventing others from exercising the same Constitutional right is one of the key issues at the centre of the crisis in the country. What is good for the goose must certainly be good for the gander and this selective application of the law must stop forthwith.
While Zanu PF members will be freely exercising their right to protest this week, 27 innocent Zimbabweans were denied bail and are currently languishing in prison for wanting to exercise the same right that has now become the sole prerogative for members of Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa’s political party.
It has now been confirmed that the Constitution is only for Zanu PF members and not for the millions of innocent Zimbabweans suffering the brunt of a burgeoning economic crisis to which the regime in Harare has no solution. It is only Zanu PF members who must exercise their Constitutional rights while the rest of the citizens must have the same sacred right proscribed by this rogue regime that brazenly stole the 2018 election. If a regime can steal people’s rights in broad daylight, it must come as no surprise that the same regime could routinely pilfer the sovereign will of the people, with neither shame nor compunction.
Zimbabwe has simply become a banana republic.
SADC must see the regime in Harare for what it truly is. It has become a rogue regime that is proscribing the rights of ordinary citizens while arrogating the same rights only to Zanu PF members.
It is these internal sanctions against innocent Zimbabweans that are the reason for the people’s quest to hold peaceful marches. It is these sanctions against the people that must go first before we even plead for any external sanctions to go.
Charity begins at home.
We urge SADC and the AU to take stern action against this selective application of the law. It is this selective application that formed part of a raft of national grievances that Zimbabweans wanted to peacefully protest against.
MDC@20: Celebrating 20 years of courage, growth and the people’s victories.
Luke Tamborinyoka
MDC Deputy National Spokesperson
A 34-year-old Chimanimani woman has appeared in court on allegations of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
The prosecution is alleging that Ruth Moyo from Chief Muusha’s area forced the teenager to watch pornographic material before manipulating him into sleeping with her.
Moyo is the minor’s sister-in-law.
She took advantage of the absence of other family members to allegedly commit the offence.
The victim reported the abuse to his brother, who alerted the police, leading to Moyo’s arrest.
Moyo appeared before Chipinge magistrate Mr Joshua Nembaware on Monday and was granted $500 bail.
She will return to court on September 11 for trial.State media
Students at Midlands State University (MSU) have expressed concern over high rentals being charged for off-campus accommodation which are now beyond the reach of many.
Most students at the university, which has limited on-campus accommodation, are normally accommodated in homes in surrounding suburbs like Senga, Nehosho and KMP.
Students who spoke to this publication said most house owners reviewed their rentals by over 200 percent, while others were now demanding rentals in foreign currency.State media
The security of the Young Warriors is guaranteed in South Africa where they will take on Amaglug-glug on Friday in an Under-23 AFCON qualifier.
Yesterday, the Football Association of Zambia called off the international friendly between Chipolopolo and Bafana Bafana in Lusaka on Saturday in response to the current wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
SAFA communications director, Dominic Chimhavi, confirmed FAZ had called off the match.
“The game is off. We have just received correspondence from FAZ to that say they cannot undertake this match with the ongoing violence in South Africa‚ and including targeting their own people‚” Chimhavi said.
The match had been scheduled for the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka and would have been the first game for new Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki.
ZIFA spokesperson, Xolisani Gwesela, confirmed the Young Warriors will fly to South Africa.
Their match is set for Friday night at Bidvest Stadium in Johannesburg with the return leg pencilled for Babourfields on Tuesday next week.
The winners will join seven other teams, including hosts Egypt, for the biannual tournament in November.State media
WARRIORS coach Joey Antipas has challenged his players to turn on the show despite the sideshows that have stalked their 2022 World Cup qualifier against Somalia in Djibouti tomorrow.
It’s the first international match, in about eight years, which the Warriors will play without either Khama Billiat or Knowledge Musona in their line-up.
The match starts at 5pm and the Warriors will host the reverse fixture at Barbourfields on Sunday. The match has been overshadowed by reports the coach was ordered not to consider some of the team’s best players while ZIFA also came up with contracts with vastly-reduced earnings for the Warriors.
Six players — goalkeeper Talbert Shumba, Peter Muduhwa, Maclive Phiri, Sipho Ndlovu, Tichaona Chipunza and Phineas Bamusi, together with nine officials, left for Djibouti yesterday. They were set to spend the night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before connecting to Djibouti this morning.
The home-based Warriors are expected to link up their South Africa-based counterparts in Addis Ababa this morning before proceeding to Djibouti. The South Africa-based players were scheduled to fly from OR Tambo International airport at around midnight and arrive in Ethiopia in the early hours of today.
The Europe-based quartet of Teenage Hadebe, Admiral Muskwe, Alec Mudimu and Marshal Munetsi were also scheduled to leave their bases yesterday and also arrive today.
Although, the travel arrangements will leave the team with just one session to loosen up and have a feel of the match venue tonight, Antipas says the players should deliver.
“What we are telling the players is that they have to come up with a good performance,’’ he said. “Some players have been given an opportunity and they have to prove their worth.State media
THE solidarity march that was scheduled for tomorrow, has been deferred to next week, due to President Mnangagwa’s unavailability owing to other national duties.
The President, who is attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa in South Africa, was expected to address thousands of people at the anti-sanctions march.
The march has since been upgraded to national event status.
The march is in solidarity with President Mnangagwa for assuming the chairmanship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation at the just ended 39th SADC Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Further, the march is in support of SADC member states that have joined the campaign for the removal of illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States and the European Union.
The sanctions have decimated the economy, especially the manufacturing sector, which is now contending with antiquated equipment, resulting in high costs of production and consequently high prices of finished goods.
Zanu-PF secretary of Administration Dr Obert Mpofu yesterday said the solidarity march had been postponed to next week and urged all progressive citizens to put aside political affiliations and participate in the solidarity march.State media
Farai Dziva|Deputy Information Energy Mutodi has claimed that the MDC does not have the capacity to rule Zimbabwe.
Said Mutodi: “It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell the opposition party is going nowhere.
Foreign Ambassadors such as the US ambassador Brain Nichols and EU ambassador Timo Olkkonen need an orientation to understand how the country has established its statehood.
It is laughable to expect an MDC government in the near future.
With a two thirds majority in Parliament, ZANU PF is firmly in control of the country’s political affairs and will remain in the lead for several years to come.
For Glenview, it is time to ask why the past was better than now especially why a once thriving urban suburb has turned into a rural area.
It is important to ask why the MDC is campaigning to restore the very same things that were in place when they took over the suburb from ZANU PF nearly 20 years ago.”
Farai Dziva| MDC security officers seized a reporter’s camera at the party’ s rally in Glen View, according to Misa Zimbabwe.
MISA Zimbabwe has reported that MDC security agents confiscated a Canon 6D digital camera belonging Ari Goldstein.
“The journalist claims that when he decided to leave the scene, about nine men he believes were part of MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s security details, approached him and addressed him aggressively before taking his camera.
Goldstein then reported the matter at Glen View police station,” a source said.
“The institute calls upon the MDC to ensure that the confiscated camera is recovered and returned to the journalist,” said an official from the institute.
Farai Dziva|FIFA has nullified a life ban imposed by Zifa on Philip Chiyangwa.
Chiyangwa was banned for life after the Felton Kamambo-led administration accused him of bringing local football into disrepute through the 2019 COSAFA Cup bid debacle which saw the Warriors banned from next year’s edition.
The association also blamed the ex-Zimbabwe football boss of causing chaos in the Warriors camp during the 2019 Afcon held in Egypt two months ago.
According to a statement by COSAFA, FIFA has over-ruled the ban saying Zifa failed to follow a proper procedure in handing down the judgement.
The statement has also revealed that the world football body has asked Chiyangwa to work with the ZIFA administration and the Sports Commission to find solutions to the problems affecting domestic football.
Farai Dziva|The European transfer window officially closed last night.
Real Madrid and PSG swapped goalkeepers with Costa Rican Keylor Navas heading to Paris permanently while the Frenchman Areola moved to the Spanish capital on loan.
The French champions also added a new face to their attack, with the acquisition of Argentine striker Mauro Icardi from Inter Milan.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined AS Roma from Arsenal on loan after struggling to cement a place in the Londoners under Unai Emery.
Below is a list of some of the major transfers:
Mauro Icardi – Inter Milan to Paris Saint-Germain
Keylor Navas – Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain
Alphonse Areola – Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid (loan)
Matteo Darmian – Manchester United to Parma
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – Arsenal to AS Roma (loan)
Rafinha – FC Barcelona to Celtia Vigo (loan)
Ante Rebic – Eintracht Frankfurt to AC Milan
Andre Silva – AC Milan to Eintracht Frankfurt
Radamel Falcao – AS Monaco to Galatasaray
The MDC reiterates the position that the party’s national chairperson Hon. Thabitha Khumalo who appeared in court today on trumped up charges is innocent and merely being harassed by this regime.
Hon. Khumalo and six other party activists appeared in court and were remanded to the 17th of September for either further remand or trial.
We note the removal of Hon. Khumalo’s reporting conditions but we would have wanted the reporting conditions for all the accused to be removed as they are all innocent.
The seven who are facing trumped up charges include Hon. Khumalo, Tshepiso Mpofu, Luba Masotsha, Elliot Mujeri, Tinashe Matimbura, Meliqiniso Sithole and Shelton Tembo. They were unjustly arrested and charged for “publishing false statements prejudicial to the state”.
It is our fully considered view that the State has a very weak case and they are simply persecuting our party leaders for holding on to the correct position that last year’s elections were stolen.
As such, the only reason the matter is being pursued is a political plot to intimidate our political leaders to back down on their demand for Zimbabwe to return to legitimacy under a popularly elected people’s government.
The MDC thus demands an end to this political charade through the unconditional withdrawal of all these false charges against all our innocent leaders.
MDC @ 20: Celebrating Courage, Growth and the People’s Victories.
Daniel Molokele
MDC National Spokesperson
Farai Dziva|The MDC has called for the dropping of charges against the party’s Youth Assembly Secretary General, Gift Ostallos Siziba.
Below is the party’s full statement :
MDC welcomes the relaxation of the bail conditions for our national Youth Assembly Secretary, Gift Ostallos Siziba
Secretary Siziba appeared at the Harare Magistrates courts on Monday morning
He is facing trumped up and politically motivated charges of inciting public violence.
The MDC Calls for dropping of charges against Secretary Siziba on the grounds that there is no reasonable basis to continue persecuting him.
As a matter of legality and principle, if the charges were genuine and substantial, a trial would have been conducted by now. As such, the delays are a clear indication that the charges are designed to persecute, harass, embarrass and abuse him.
The MDC views Secretary Siziba’s case like all other cases being faced by other MDC leaders, members of civil society and ordinary citizens as a form unacceptable political persecution.
He should not have been arrested in the first place as he did not commit any crime.
The democratic space is fast shrinking as a result of these wanton and relentless persecutions against anyone who seeks to express their views and exercise their Constitutional rights.
Indeed, constitutionalism and solidarity are our pillars as a movement and they will always remain as such. Not even illegal political persecutions can hold us back because we believe that Secretary Siziba, and indeed all our other arrested cadres are totally innocent.
As a way forward, the MDC strongly calls for all the charges against Secretary Siziba and all other political leaders and activists to be dropped immediately, unconditionally.
The MDC would like to thank all our party leaders and members who have been actively going to court in solidarity Secretary Siziba.
MDC: Celebrating 20 Years of Courage, Growth and the People’s Victories.
Daniel Molokele
MDC Spokesperson
WE MUST BUILD A NEW AFRICA!
The attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa are appalling and heartbreaking. We call upon our African brothers and sisters to show a full sense of brotherhood and sisterhood consistent with the timeless wisdom of Ubuntu. Brother against brother or Sister against sister is inimical to Ubuntu.
Extremely disturbing are scenes and sights of violence and horrendous attacks in South Africa. It is time to take decisive action to protect all in South Africa and stop any attacks on fellow Africans. Priority must be given to individual security & stopping of all manner and forms of violence.
While these attacks are routinely described as xenophobic, it is evident that they target black Africans. These are deliberate and systematic attacks based on race and country of origin rather than foreignness alone. The resulting conflict is terrible for our communities because they foment hatred and tensions between people. We need to correctly characterise what is happening in South Africa not as xenophobia but as Afrophobia, as the attacks are not necessarily against foreigners but against fellow black Africans.
The irony is on why an African should be Afrophobic. True, we need to solve the challenges in fellow African countries that have led to many leaving their own countries but the irony remains that Africans would feel unwelcome both in Europe as well as in a fellow African State. If Africans are unsafe in Africa, where else should they go?
While we acknowledge that South Africa, like many other African countries has problems of inequality, joblessness, social service delivery, poverty and illegal immigration. Violence and impunity is not the answer to these problems.
If we allow violence and brutality in society to be used as an instrument to resolve challenges, it inevitably spreads to all facets of life including affecting women and children. Violence in all its ugly forms and manifestations, be it towards women and children, citizens, illegal immigrants or any other human being for that matter is simply unacceptable.
In Africa, we have always been at each other’s throat since we were put on this earth by God
fighting over everything or anything, fighting over borders or boundaries, fighting over water, fighting over food, fighting over political parties, fighting over property, fighting over tribes, fighting over ideology, fighting over faith and religion. Yet we hardly ever engage in a civilized contest over strategy, ideas and thought.
As Africans we need as a matter of urgency to stop violence against each other.
Already, we have seen business being disrupted and commerce being disturbed as truckers that use South African routes fear for their lives. Threats of retaliation against South African drivers and businesses in other parts of the continent demonstrate that this is a vicious cycle in which there is no winner.
More significantly, this violence is concentrated among the poor and vulnerable of our societies. It is the poor killing the poor. Over the years, it has emerged that acts of violence are often caused and are directed by the cruel selfish elites. If we fix our political challenges, there would be no need for circumstances of undue hardships and animosity.
Other nationals are in South Africa principally because politics and leadership ineptitude has made other African countries uninhabitable. They vote with their feet, seeking greener pastures. Yet there, they find hell as they clash with equally vulnerable and happiness-seeking locals. It becomes a running battle between the poor. We can solve this by fixing our messy politics.
This is why we find it incredulous when our brother leaders in the region look aside when our government brutalises citizens. Where do the oppressed go? To the neighbours. That is why we have always said Zimbabwe’s problems are also our neighbours’ domestic challenges. Illegal immigration is a product of nurturing dictatorship in our neighbourhoods.
Time has now come to think seriously about the New Africa we deserve. We must collectively, as Africans, examine critically the utility of maintaining colonial boundaries and borders which give a false sense of division and exceptionalism. The divisions made in Berlin more than 100 years ago still divide us. We need a post-Berlin conference African consensus to shape a New Africa to the satisfaction of our ideals, imaginations, hopes and aspirations.
In the long run, Africa should move towards removing colonial borders, having one passport and establishing a single currency and a single market. We must build our internet exchange points, continent-wide television networks, proper road, rail and flight links. We have started well with a continental free trade area. We dare do more!
The great Kwame Nkrumah famously said, “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa,” The declaration encapsulated the sense of brotherhood that defined the struggles for liberation. We should never lose that spirit, even today as many of our citizens across the continent suffer under brutal regimes.
We urgently need A New Africa where African brotherhood is the common denominator. A New Africa where the African Union plays a more dynamic role in solving African problems and is at the forefront of pushing the African youth development agenda.
A better tomorrow and a NEW AFRICA does not just happen, it must be designed and now is the time to build on these fundamentals and construct: The Africa We want and deserve.
Our dear South African brothers and sisters, we appreciate your being tired of those you estimate to be foreign, but please help us lobby for intervention of SADC and South Africa to fix Zimbabwe’s politics by helping Zimbabweans resolve the legitimacy and governance crisis caused by the disputed July 2018 Presidential election and on-going poor performance.
When Zimbabwe was stable and thriving we never had these problems of illegal immigration. In fact our South African brothers and sisters were coming to Zimbabwe to seek refuge from apartheid, to learn and do business. That’s the way it should be.
Fixing Zimbabwe will reduce South Africa’s problems. Fixing Zimbabwe will restore its citizens’ dignity and hope. Similarly fixing Somalia, DRC and Nigeria, among other countries, will go a long way in stabilizing Africa and reducing the problem of tensions and hate.
So many people died to free Africa. We can’t have more people dying in a free Africa.
I appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa to help Zimbabweans help themselves through a credible and genuine political dialogue to put in place transitional mechanism that will pave way for comprehensive political and economic reforms, a lasting solution to returning Zimbabwe to freedom, legitimacy and democracy.
To our leaders and fellow citizens of SADC, when any country sneezes the whole region catches a cold. A sick and weak Zimbabwe will always be an albatross around the necks of all the other countries in the region and indeed on the continent. Please help us help ourselves.
Lastly, with developments in South Africa, I call for enough mechanisms and measures to be put in place to ensure the security and protection of all Zimbabwean citizens. Section 35(3)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe obliges the state as a peremptory duty and mandatory obligation, to protect citizens wherever they maybe. This right is available to all citizens in and outside Zimbabwe.
New Africa is the way to go
We need a new way, a new dawn on the continent.
Africa must unite on values of freedom democratic values, free fair elections and prosperity for its people. SADC must be a people’s community not a community of its leaders alone. The African Union must be truly an African people’s Union.
We can’t be Africa without Africans.
Building a better Africa for all
Let’s build a great Africa for all
God bless Africa and heal the world!
Adv Nelson Chamisa
President – Movement For Democratic Change
Farai Dziva|MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has called for unity across the African continent.
Below is Chamisa’s full statement :
The attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa are appalling and heartbreaking. We call upon our African brothers and sisters to show a full sense of brotherhood and sisterhood consistent with the timeless wisdom of Ubuntu. Brother against brother or Sister against sister is inimical to Ubuntu.
Extremely disturbing are scenes and sights of violence and horrendous attacks in South Africa. It is time to take decisive action to protect all in South Africa and stop any attacks on fellow Africans. Priority must be given to individual security & stopping of all manner and forms of violence.
While these attacks are routinely described as xenophobic, it is evident that they target black Africans. These are deliberate and systematic attacks based on race and country of origin rather than foreignness alone. The resulting conflict is terrible for our communities because they foment hatred and tensions between people. We need to correctly characterise what is happening in South Africa not as xenophobia but as Afrophobia, as the attacks are not necessarily against foreigners but against fellow black Africans.
The irony is on why an African should be Afrophobic. True, we need to solve the challenges in fellow African countries that have led to many leaving their own countries but the irony remains that Africans would feel unwelcome both in Europe as well as in a fellow African State. If Africans are unsafe in Africa, where else should they go?
While we acknowledge that South Africa, like many other African countries has problems of inequality, joblessness, social service delivery, poverty and illegal immigration. Violence and impunity is not the answer to these problems.
If we allow violence and brutality in society to be used as an instrument to resolve challenges, it inevitably spreads to all facets of life including affecting women and children. Violence in all its ugly forms and manifestations, be it towards women and children, citizens, illegal immigrants or any other human being for that matter is simply unacceptable.
In Africa, we have always been at each other’s throat since we were put on this earth by God
fighting over everything or anything, fighting over borders or boundaries, fighting over water, fighting over food, fighting over political parties, fighting over property, fighting over tribes, fighting over ideology, fighting over faith and religion. Yet we hardly ever engage in a civilized contest over strategy, ideas and thought.
As Africans we need as a matter of urgency to stop violence against each other.
Already, we have seen business being disrupted and commerce being disturbed as truckers that use South African routes fear for their lives. Threats of retaliation against South African drivers and businesses in other parts of the continent demonstrate that this is a vicious cycle in which there is no winner.
More significantly, this violence is concentrated among the poor and vulnerable of our societies. It is the poor killing the poor. Over the years, it has emerged that acts of violence are often caused and are directed by the cruel selfish elites. If we fix our political challenges, there would be no need for circumstances of undue hardships and animosity.
Other nationals are in South Africa principally because politics and leadership ineptitude has made other African countries uninhabitable. They vote with their feet, seeking greener pastures. Yet there, they find hell as they clash with equally vulnerable and happiness-seeking locals. It becomes a running battle between the poor. We can solve this by fixing our messy politics.
This is why we find it incredulous when our brother leaders in the region look aside when our government brutalises citizens. Where do the oppressed go? To the neighbours. That is why we have always said Zimbabwe’s problems are also our neighbours’ domestic challenges. Illegal immigration is a product of nurturing dictatorship in our neighbourhoods.
Time has now come to think seriously about the New Africa we deserve. We must collectively, as Africans, examine critically the utility of maintaining colonial boundaries and borders which give a false sense of division and exceptionalism. The divisions made in Berlin more than 100 years ago still divide us. We need a post-Berlin conference African consensus to shape a New Africa to the satisfaction of our ideals, imaginations, hopes and aspirations.
In the long run, Africa should move towards removing colonial borders, having one passport and establishing a single currency and a single market. We must build our internet exchange points, continent-wide television networks, proper road, rail and flight links. We have started well with a continental free trade area. We dare do more!
The great Kwame Nkrumah famously said, “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa,” The declaration encapsulated the sense of brotherhood that defined the struggles for liberation. We should never lose that spirit, even today as many of our citizens across the continent suffer under brutal regimes.
We urgently need A New Africa where African brotherhood is the common denominator. A New Africa where the African Union plays a more dynamic role in solving African problems and is at the forefront of pushing the African youth development agenda.
A better tomorrow and a NEW AFRICA does not just happen, it must be designed and now is the time to build on these fundamentals and construct: The Africa We want and deserve.
Our dear South African brothers and sisters, we appreciate your being tired of those you estimate to be foreign, but please help us lobby for intervention of SADC and South Africa to fix Zimbabwe’s politics by helping Zimbabweans resolve the legitimacy and governance crisis caused by the disputed July 2018 Presidential election and on-going poor performance.
When Zimbabwe was stable and thriving we never had these problems of illegal immigration. In fact our South African brothers and sisters were coming to Zimbabwe to seek refuge from apartheid, to learn and do business. That’s the way it should be.
Fixing Zimbabwe will reduce South Africa’s problems. Fixing Zimbabwe will restore its citizens’ dignity and hope. Similarly fixing Somalia, DRC and Nigeria, among other countries, will go a long way in stabilizing Africa and reducing the problem of tensions and hate.
So many people died to free Africa. We can’t have more people dying in a free Africa.
I appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa to help Zimbabweans help themselves through a credible and genuine political dialogue to put in place transitional mechanism that will pave way for comprehensive political and economic reforms, a lasting solution to returning Zimbabwe to freedom, legitimacy and democracy.
To our leaders and fellow citizens of SADC, when any country sneezes the whole region catches a cold. A sick and weak Zimbabwe will always be an albatross around the necks of all the other countries in the region and indeed on the continent. Please help us help ourselves.
Lastly, with developments in South Africa, I call for enough mechanisms and measures to be put in place to ensure the security and protection of all Zimbabwean citizens. Section 35(3)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe obliges the state as a peremptory duty and mandatory obligation, to protect citizens wherever they maybe. This right is available to all citizens in and outside Zimbabwe.
New Africa is the way to go
We need a new way, a new dawn on the continent.
Africa must unite on values of freedom democratic values, free fair elections and prosperity for its people. SADC must be a people’s community not a community of its leaders alone. The African Union must be truly an African people’s Union.
We can’t be Africa without Africans.
Building a better Africa for all
Let’s build a great Africa for all
God bless Africa and heal the world!
Adv Nelson Chamisa
President – Movement For Democratic Change
By A Correspondent- At 83, Gogo Josephine Jamu of Highfield, feels she still has more years to live.
Gogo Jamu was caught by surprise by her grandchildren who threw a birthday party for her at her Highfield residence on Saturday, where fun was the order of the day.
To plan for the surprise, her grandchildren moved her to Budiriro on Thursday and brought her back to Highfield on Saturday only to be greeted by people singing ‘Happy Birthday Gogo’.
It was, however, her acceptance speech that caught the attention of those in attendance as she revealed the secrets to longevity.
Gogo Jamu reveals self-discipline and love as the significant factors to long life.
“This kind of love makes me feel that I am surrounded by people who love me. That alone gives me the belief that I will be with you for more years to come.
“But something I know is that most of you will not be able to reach 83 years. There are a lot of factors that lead to long-life. You just need to be self-disciplined and love one another.
“When you love, you are also loved and that alone leads to a stress free life. Always smile, share lighter moments with everyone,” she said.
Her sentiments proved truthful as relatives and friends described her as a ‘superwoman’.
One of her grandchildren and namesake, Josephine, said they have learnt a lot from their grandmother and it was worth throwing a party for her.
Gogo Jamu was presented with several birthday presents including blankets, clothes, shoes and money among other goodies.
The birthday cake resembled Gogo Jamu’s Salvation Army uniform.
The event, which saw people partying until late night, had a number of activities with lucky attendees going home smiling.
There were about nine draws for items like headphones, shavers, watches and the grand prize of a Samsung Galaxy J2 which were sponsored by one of the grandchildren, Spencer Garufu.
The draws required people to buy raffle tickets for $5 and $10 to enter the competition.
The lucky winner for grand prize, Rudo Jamu, was presented her prize by the ‘birthday girl’.
– HMetro
VIDEO LOADING BELOW
By A Correspondent- A 30 year old HIV positive woman from Lupane allegedly committed suicide by throwing herself into a 22-metre deep well at her parents’ homestead when her condition worsened after defaulting on her Anti-Retroviral (ARV) treatment.
Acting Matabeleland North police spokesperson, Sergeant Namatirai Mashona, confirmed the incident which took place at Mr Toffee Gumpo’s homestead in Mateteni Village under Chief Mabhikwa on Tuesday last week.
Sgt Mashona said according to the family, the now deceased identified as Geli Gumpo had been sick for some time after defaulting on her medication.
She said goodbye to her mother Ms Simani Sibanda before jumping into the well.
“On 27 August, Geli Gumpo, who was seriously ill after defaulting on ARV medication, was at home with her mother Ms Simani Sibanda and father Mr Toffee Gumpo. They all retired to their separate bedroom huts at 9PM.
“On the 28th of August at 1AM, Mr Gumpo heard some noise from the direction of the kitchen where the deceased was sleeping and asked his wife to go and investigate,” said Sgt Mashona.
She said Ms Sibanda went out to check and found her daughter standing near the well which is about 15 metres away from the kitchen hut.
Ms Sibanda reportedly asked Geli what she was doing at the well.
She reportedly responded by saying: “Lisale kuhle mama (goodbye mother)” before allegedly jumping into the well in full view of her shocked mother.
“Geli Gumpo immediately jumped into the 22-metre deep well and drowned,” said Sgt Mashona.
Ms Sibanda alerted her husband who then informed neighbours.
A report was made to the police who attended the scene.
Police retrieved the body on Wednesday with the help of some villagers.
Lupane resident magistrate Mr Ndumo Masuku waived post-mortem as no foul play was suspected.
Gumpo was buried at her parents’ homestead on Thursday last week.
By A Correspondent- Police are hunting scores of individuals who were captured on camera in various fora allegedly committing acts of public violence in the last four years.
Pictures of the wanted people have been released on social media platforms including on the police Twitter handle (@PoliceZimbabwe).
The government is clamping down on public violence as it moves to create an enabling environment for socio-economic prosperity, a key to achieving vision 2030.
Anyone with information can contact their nearest police station or telephone numbers 0242703631, 0242748836.
By A Correspondent- Men and women should be very prayerful when they are about to choose life partners in order not to fall into wrong hands.
The prenuptial advice came after Silindiwe Mabhena from Nyamandlovu district in Matabeleland North sued her husband Khumbulani Moyo for drunkenness.
Mabhena claimed her husband had, on many occasions verbally and physically abused her whenever he was angry or drunk.
Narrating her ordeal at the Bulawayo Civil Court where she was seeking a protection order against her husband, Mabhena said their marriage was full of frequent fighting instigated by Moyo who was a drunkard.
She said her husband always insults or assaults her whenever there is a little misunderstanding between them.
“My husband Khumbulani Moyo is violent. He verbally and physically abuses me especially when he is drunk. The latest incident of violence was on 30 July when he choked me. The abuse has been going on since 2011. I am now living in fear that he might kill or injure me and as a result I want the court to grant me a protection order that stops him from verbally and physically harassing me,” begged Mabhena.
She said whenever her husband was drunk and she tried to persuade him to stop driving her car, he would beat her mercilessly.
“Whenever I reprimand him not to drink and drive he assaults me. He drives my car in my absence and I don’t want him to drive it when he is drunk.”
But in his defence Moyo, an ambulance driver at Nyamandlovu District Hospital, refuted all the allegations.
He said his wife was always the one who harassed him and took the blankets away from him whenever they had any misunderstanding.
“Whenever I arrive from a bar I don’t talk to her. She is the one who starts provoking me by pulling away the blankets from me when I am sleeping. It is also not true that I drive while I’m drunk and that I choked her,” said Moyo.
His defence, however, failed to convince the presiding magistrate Rachael Mukanga who subsequently ordered him not to verbally, emotionally and physically abuse his wife or threaten her in any way.-BMetro
By A Correspondent- Several female informal traders doing business at Chitima market recently flooded Masvingo Central Police Station protesting against a woman whom they accused of killing their colleague through witchcraft.
This happened after a 39-year-old female informal trader suddenly became paralysed and died one week after being engaged in an argument with the woman who then reportedly threatened that she was not going to see the following day.
Sources said the argument started at the market place when the woman in question (name supplied) was asked to move her wares elsewhere as she had reportedly taken somebody else’s trading spot.
The woman is said to have refused to move, and she argued with several women who tried to reason with her.
She is then said to have turned to one of the woman named Muchazoonei Sagiya whom she allegedly threatened that her days were numbered.
Two days after the dispute, Sagia fell seriously ill and got admitted at Masvingo Provincial Hospital where she later became paralysed and died.
Chairperson of fruit and vegetables at Chitima market, Tamisai Katini said she visited Sagiya at hospital where she found that she had become paralysed waist-down and could no longer walk.
“I visited Sagiya at hospital where she recounted a horrible dream in which she said a fish had entered her stomach and caused her paralysis. She said in the dream, she heard a strange voice telling her she was not going to live,” said Katini.
Sagia’s death in Harare where she had been transferred to angered many informal traders who then confronted the woman who had reportedly threatened to bewitch her.
The woman then went to the police station to report her case but several women followed her protesting. It is illegal to make accusations of witchcraft against anybody.
— TellZim
By A Correspondent- A 32 year old Mvurwi woman is in serious trouble after she allegedly struck her husband to death with a cup in the occiput last Thursday.
Vaida Wemba of Montenzi Farm, Mvurwi, is currently assisting police with investigations following the death of her husband, Shelton Kateguru (42), who died after they reportedly fought over a domestic dispute.
Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Inspector Milton Mundembe confirmed the case.
Allegations are that the now-deceased, Kateguru, accused her wife of infidelity and head-butted her.
In a fit of rage, Wemba reportedly picked a cup and struck the deceased on the back of his head.
Kateguru fell to the ground and writhed in pain. Wemba called for help from neighbours, who tried in vain to secure transport to take Kateguru to hospital.
The neighbours left for their homes and the following morning Kateguru passed on.
According to the police, cases of murder emanating from domestic violence are on the increase.
Two cases of murder were recorded in Guruve and Mt Darwin in the past two weeks.
“Cases of murder emanating from domestic violence are on the increase in the province, hence we implore the public to shun violence and solve their problems amicably, “Mundembe said.
By A Correspondent- Harare City Council (HCC) faces a potential $7 million defamation lawsuit from Paulos Construction over an audit report which accused the company of fraud.
Paulo Construction has hit back at HCC, saying the allegations contained in their audit report were false and had taken a political twist.
“The MDC council is pushing a political agenda, with false narratives because they do not want companies owned and controlled by people linked to Zanu PF and now they are engaging in mudslinging tactics,” Tempter Tungwarara, a Paulos Construction director, said.
The construction firm acknowledges that it got double payments into its account from HCC, but on noticing the payments, they immediately wrote to council.
In a letter dated December 7, 2017, Tungwarara wrote advising of the over-payment and sought to find common ground with the local authority.
“Following our reconciliation done on December 7, for our year-ending reconciliation, we write to inform you that the payment of invoices of the pilot project that we submitted to your organisation was paid twice, which leads to over-payment. Kindly advise if this payment is for another month of refuse collection, if so, please advise us accordingly before our holiday shutdown (sic),” read the letter received by council’s finance department.
Tungwarara said he suspected there was a racket at HCC which wanted to use his company to syphora money from council coffers.
“We actually saved the local authority money by writing that letter and refusing to be part of the theft, but now we are being smeared for being honest. This can’t be right and we are going to sue for defamation,” he said.
The audit report only had details of how council was fleeced of over $62 000 by Paulos Construction, raising fears that it was a hatchet job.
“How do you explain that the entire report centres on just us. Are we the only company that deals with HCC and are they saying they only lost just $62 000 the entire period?” he said.
Council, in an internal audit report, alleges that in 2017 it lost over $62 000 in fraudulent payments made to Paulos Construction.
By Farai D Hove| Chaos reigned Tuesday night, when the match between Zambia and Bafana Bafana was cancelled. All this was over the ongoing Xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa. The attacks were described as “stupid” and some newsreaders said this was punishment. VIDEO UPDATE BELOW –
ZIMBABWE’s liberation war fighters have declared war against alleged remnants of former President Robert Mugabe’s administration still in the public service, accusing them of stifling government programmes and sowing seeds of disharmony between them and President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Addressing journalists in the capital yesterday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general Douglas Mahiya said they would not rest until all top civil servants who served under Mugabe were relieved of their government posts.
“We have gathered here again to look at our welfare. Not much has been done ever and this is caused by people serving in government. I want to tell you that in 1980 when we returned from the war the former regime, the former President (Mugabe) then removed us from the political structures and other people took over and those are the people that are taking decisions today,” he said.
He said the same people who plunged the war veterans into poverty under Mugabe were still driving the agenda of impoverishing them.
“There are people in the civil service who would not want to see the President improve relations with the war veterans and our welfare is not being looked at. We don’t understand why it is not being looked at all. Other sectors like the private sector and civil servants have been cushioned; war veterans have not been cushioned. War veterans are surviving on US$0,48c a day. Nothing has been done,” he said.
The war veterans led the campaign for Mugabe’s ouster in November 2017, accusing the then Zanu PF leader of sidelining them.
Mahiya said the war veterans were not happy with the way their welfare was being handled and vowed to continue piling pressure on government.
“We want to urge government and Parliament to speed the harmonisation of this law so that war veterans start benefiting from the constitutional provisions of their welfare,” he said.
Sources said war veterans were pushing for Mnangagwa to retire top civil servants perceived as sympathetic to Mugabe and appoint new faces.
“There is a feeling that President Mnangagwa should clean out government, especially the top bosses in ministries who are refusing to adapt to the new way of doing things. The war veterans want to occupy those top posts and are pushing that agenda,” a source said.
Defence and War Veterans deputy minister Victor Matemadanda referred all the questions to permanent secretary Grey Marongwe, who was unavailable for comment while Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri’s phone was being answered by aides who said she was locked in meetings.
Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana said he would only comment after gathering adequate information from relevant ministries.
“Can I give you a response on this tomorrow? I will need to find out what’s happening about their allowances from both the Defence and Finance ministries,” he said.-Newsday
The Zimbabwe Cross Borders Transport Association revealed it will close the borders if xenophobic attacks against its citizens continue.
Sparking this threat from the ZCBTA is the nationwide truck driver strike in South Africa, which is fueled by mounting tensions between local and foreign national drivers. Over the last year, there have been dozens of incidents of attacks on trucks as tensions flare.
Now, ZCBTA chair Dennis Juru has threatened to respond by stopping all cross border transport of the attacks continue.
“Due to threats by South African nationals that on September 2, 2019 they are embarking on an attack to foreign national drivers, the International Cross-Border Traders Association executive has resolved that if this plan succeeds, we are going to stop all South Africa-registered trucks, buses and flights to cross borders to any African nation,” read the statement.
“Foreign truck drivers have work permits to work in South Africa. The government of South Africa found it necessary to give foreign nationals work permits, allowing them to take employment in South Africa. No one has monopoly of violence.
“If they turn to be violent to foreign nationals, our organisation shall respond accordingly. We have previously witnessed foreign nationals killed, assaulted and threatened without a single person being arrested or prosecuted.”
AFP|Hundreds of doctors in public hospitals across Zimbabwe went on strike on Tuesday demanding their salaries be pegged to the US dollar in the face of spiralling living costs.
“We are not in the wards, we are not at the hospitals. We simply do not have the means, we are incapacitated,” Peter Magombeyi, president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, told AFP by phone.
Salaries are fast losing value as the southern African country battles a currency crisis and triple-digit inflation.
A junior doctor’s monthly salary in the Zimbabwe currency is now equivalent to around $100, Magombeyi said.
“We don’t have money for transport, we don’t have money for food, we don’t have money to pay our kids schools fees, we don’t have rental and we can’t keep on subsidising the employer anymore.”
Talks with the government on Monday failed to yield any solution.
“We were called to a meeting yesterday and they don’t have any solid answer, they didn’t give a position which addresses our concerns,” said Magombeyi.
The doctors want salaries to be pegged to the prevailing foreign exchange interbank rates.
This is the second time in less than a year that government doctors have embarked on a work stoppage.
They went on strike in December over salaries and conditions, and only called it off after 40 days on promises to resolve their grievances.
State hospitals cater for the majority of Zimbabweans who cannot afford private care while wealthier patients, including top politicians, fly out to neighbouring South Africa and even beyond to Asian countries for medical attention.
Zimbabwe’s health system has collapsed in recent decades as the economy tanked, with shortages of basics like cash, fuel, bread and medicines and surging prices when the goods are available.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from long-time ruler Robert Mugabe and won a disputed election in July last year, pledged to revamp the already ailing economy.
But the country has seen growing strikes and protests as the economy continues to falter.
ZBC workers have written to their management indicating that they have been incapacitated by the current economic crisis.
Workers are demanding a “once-off cushioning allowance” of ZWL$1,000 while the works council negotiates for improved pay.
The workers revealed that most of them were now spending their days at work without eating anything as they can no longer afford to buy food. They added:
We think you are fully aware of the volatile nature of the economic situation we are in. Most employees are now unable to purchase basic commodities, pay rentals and commute to work. Currently, the bread basket is ZWL$1,600.
The letter comes when inflation in the country continues to soar higher. It also comes after the country embarked on currency reforms which saw the multicurrency system being replaced by a local currency which is continuously shedding value, particularly against the United States dollar.
Meanwhile, workers’ salaries remain stagnant.
By Discent Bajila|If African leaders dealt decisively with the issue of unemployment, XENOPHOBIA would not exist.
It is inherent that when human beings lack, the instincts for primitive criminal acts rise. Lacking Africans regardless of their nationality are resorting to illegal migration, fraudulent identities, human trafficking, drug entrepreneurship, transactional marriages and xenophobia as a matter of survival and self expression.
As concerned Africans we need to have international networks pushing for employment creation programs from individual governments and intergovernmental bodies like EAC, COMESA, SADC, ECOWAS, AU etc.
If there were jobs in Zimbabwe, very few Zimbabweans will be in South Africa. If there was space for entrepreneurship within Ethiopia, Nigeria and DRC, the nationals of these countries doing business in South Africa will be doing those enterprises in their homelands. South Africans would least suspect there are jobs inherently theirs but inappropriately taken by foreign nationals.
Inside Zim|Zimbabwe now faces a second major descent into inflation and economic despair in the space of 12 years.
The first, in 2008, involved almost metaphysical rates of inflation – 231m% at one point that year according to some reports, with other estimates even higher.
The crisis resulted in hugely controversial elections, which the opposition surely won – but which saw Robert Mugabe re-installed as President in a power-sharing deal with the opposition.
To stabilise the economy, the worthless Zimbabwean dollar was jettisoned and people were given the option of using a basket of foreign currencies, the US dollar chief among them.
The problem was then how to source US dollars – and this was done largely by borrowing.
Fast forward to 2019, nearly two years after Mugabe was ousted and Emmerson Mnangagwa installed as President – Zimbabwe’s annual inflation is officially 176%, the highest in the world after Venezuela.
But this official figure is almost certainly false. My own calculations, based on prices I observed during the 2018 Zimbabwean elections and reports from Zimbabwean friends now, estimate inflation at about 600%.
And this is within what remains of the formal economy. Recourse to the black market to secure goods such as fuel and bread unavailable elsewhere means a parallel inflation rate that is higher – by my calculations, at about 800%.
And now the publication of inflation data has now been suspended for six months.
The government’s inability to pay for electricity imports has meant power outages of up to 18 hours each day. This is in part a result of poor rains and low water levels in Lake Kariba, the source of a huge percentage of the nation’s hydro-electricity – amid reports that it might be altogether decommissioned.
Even if this is not the case, the turbines at Kariba are far from being in good shape and, even in seasons of abundant rain, Zimbabwe had to depend on electricity supplies from South Africa and Mozambique. These countries now want to be paid.
Mnangagwa’s almost desperate slogan for Zimbabwe is that it is now “open for business”. But the elections of 2018 that were meant to legitimise his presidency were marred by violence and deaths and no election observer group validated the polls as fully free and fair. Under those conditions, initial promises of foreign investors faded away.
Dollars began to dry up, sourcing new dollars became impossible, and the new technocratic Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube, began desperate but hugely orthodox measures to instil some discipline in a runaway economy.
Those who were rich and powerful declined to make sacrifices of their own, while those who were poor simply got poorer.
Almost a year into the job, Ncube has reined in some of the profligacy in state spending and managed to bring in an increase in tax revenue. But his tax measures have been hugely unpopular, with poorer business people seeing them as disincentives to invest in future productivity.
One of his hugely unpopular early measures was to tax cell phone financial transactions. At a stroke, this jeopardised what was beginning to become a thriving cyber economy.
It seems Ncube feels a need to deal only with concrete transactions in a hard currency, however valueless, that he and the government can try to control.
In June, he introduced a new Zimbabwean dollar, outlawing the use of the US dollar. This has already led to a rapid erosion of spending power, with the new currency trading at almost ten to one US dollar. He has defended his decision, although his critics remain many.
With the lack of incentives to small businesses that bridge the formal and informal economies, a huge number of families depend on salaries earned by public servants.
There are about 400 000 civil servants in Zimbabwe. Given the lack of real value in the Zimbabwean dollar, they probably live on less than US$2.00 a day. They and their families, not to mention the network of relatives in the extended family, cannot survive on that.
Ncube’s fixation with control shows the dead hand of a government that has run out of ideas and, above all, trust in entrepreneurial initiative and self-creation. Nevertheless, it wishes to have control of all it surveys, even as this diminishes before its own eyes
According to an interview with Bloomberg in mid-August, Ncube said he hopes to establish a nine-member monetary policy committee that will reduce interest rates from 50%.
Within 12 to 18 months, Zimbabwe plans to sell domestic bonds with a duration of as long as 30 years to fund infrastructure investment. In time, it will approach international markets, he said. How exactly any of this is to be done is yet to be explained.
Hanging over all this is the size of the debt that Zimbabwe needs to repay before investors will consider the country a viable risk for new loan liquidity. Estimates for this figure range from US$9 billion to as much as $US30 billion.
Under a debt-settlement plan, which Ncube maintains he is discussing with creditors, Zimbabwe would complete an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-monitored programme in January 2020. He told Bloomberg that Zimbabwe would then borrow the $1.9 billion it owes the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) from the G7 group of industrialised nations. This would allow it to win $1 billion in debt relief from the World Bank and AfDB, which it would pay back to the G7.
But this is an astonishing strategy. It is based on the ability, and credibility, to borrow money to repay money. And there is absolutely no indication that the G7 would loan significant sums to Zimbabwe until both economic and, above all, political reforms are instituted.
Whether Zimbabwe could complete the IMF staff-monitored programme by January is a huge question in itself. The IMF conditions are not easy ones.
Having got this far, Ncube has no choice but to hope that his policies will work. He inherited a mess of gigantic proportions. It was as if the ZANU-PF ruling party, the government, and the oligarchic ruling class thought the free lunch could go on forever. Someone would always loan it more money.
Ncube realised that this could not any longer be the case. But his solution seems to be simply a new way to borrow more money. The first terrible truth is that it is not Zimbabwean money that will save Zimbabwe. The second terrible truth is that Zimbabwe’s economy may not, for some time, be saved.
Popular South African performer, Zodwa Wabantu, has called out citizens of her country for the xenophobic attack on African nationals living in her country.
The pant-less dancer, in a video, said the recent attack on African nationals and Nigerians living in South Africa isn’t xenophobia but about poverty. According to her, lazy South Africans are “taking things from people who are really doing something about their lives.”
She called out the South Africans destroying and looting businesses owned by African nationals and said the attacks have to stop.
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Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi has torched a major storm calling on South Africa to accommodate Zimbabweans in that country as Zimbabwe was historically nice to thousands of South African citizens who fled from Tshaka and accommodated them into western Zimbabwe.
The South Africans, Mutodi, is talking about are the Ndebele people who may not take kindly to his statement as they have always been up in arms against being considered second class citizens in the country and have been calling for the cessation of the Western region from Zimbabwe into Mthwakazi.
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State Media|A Chinhoyi woman facing a US$35 000 adultery claim is seeking to challenge the constitutional validity of the law, which she says infringes upon her constitutional rights to freedom of association, privacy and equal protection of the law.
Ms Moreblessing Chabvonga is being sued for adultery damages for allegedly engaging in extra-marital relationship with Ms Jamiya Nyakudya’s now former husband, a magistrate at Chinhoyi magistrates’ courts.
Ms Chabvonga successfully stopped the civil trial before Justice Esther Muremba, saying she wants to challenge the constitutional validity of the common law delict of adultery.
Justice Muremba allowed Ms Chabvonga’s objection to have the trial proceed and referred the matter to the Constitutional Court to make a determination. She did not fault in granting the request for referral of constitutional challenge to the highest court on the land so that it can pronounce itself for the benefit of our jurisdiction.
“Once that is done, the issue will be settled,” said the judge citing Section 2 of the Constitution, which states that “any law, practice, custom or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of that inconsistency”.
In this ground-breaking case, the Constitutional bench will be asked to determine whether Ms Chabvonga’s argument that her rights to freedom of association, right to privacy and the right to equal protection to the law, is sustainable. Through her lawyer, Ms Ruvimbo Ruwona of Nyahuma’s Law Golden Stairs, Ms Chabvonga argued that the delict is unconstitutional because it allows only one party to extra marital affair to be sued, with the other party being spared.
“To this end, the claim of adultery damages is inconsistent with the right to equal protection and benefit of the law,” said the lawyer.
On the right to privacy and freedom of association, it is Ms Ruwona’s contention that in defending the adultery claim, the private life of the third party (Ms Chabvonga) being sued is placed under a microscope, leading to the exposure of details of her sexual relationship with a consenting adult, who might be a guilty spouse.
“This is a clear violation of the rights to privacy and freedom of association,” she argued.
The constitutional issues which Ms Chabvonga raised, argued Ms Ruwona, have merit given that in other jurisdictions where there are comparable constitutional provisions, the delict of adultery has been deemed unconstitutional.
“There is no justification to penalise a third party for adultery,” she said.
“It is unjustifiable in any democratic society and not even the limitation of rights provided for in Section 86 of the Constitution can justify the violation of the fundamental rights in an adultery suit.”
In her counter argument, Ms Nyakudya, a self-actor, told the court that the constitutional issue raised was unsustainable, arguing that it was manifestly without foundation. It was her submission that the rights Ms Chabvonga claimed were infringed by the delict of adultery and are not absolute as they are subject to limitation in terms of Section 86 of the Constitution.
“The limitation of these rights by the delict of adultery is fair, reasonable, necessary and justifiable in a democratic society,” she argued.
“The delict of adultery is constitutional because it seeks to punish third parties for failing to respect the sanctity of marriage.”
Reports just received indicate that fired Former Environment, tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Priscah Mupfumira’s Supreme Court bail application has been denied.
Mupfumira who is detained at the Chikurubi Female Prison on charges of criminal abuse of office after she allegedly swindled the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) of over US$95 million, approached the Supreme Court for bail after her attempt at the High Court hit a snag.
High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere dismissed Mupfumira’s bail bid on the basis that there are compelling reasons justifying her continued incarceration, including that as a former Cabinet minister she was a flight risk and could interfere with witnesses.
Mupfumira, who is also Senator for Mashonaland West Province, was remanded in custody in July after acting Chief Magistrate, Munamato Mutevedzi, upheld Prosecutor-General, Kumbirai Hodzi’s certificate which ensured she was further detained for 21 days without applying for bail.
But in her submissions before the Supreme Court through her lawyers Chinyama and Partners, Mupfumira maintained that the State’s evidence against her was weak, adding the High Court, had erred in many respects when it denied her a chance to be tried out of custody.
At the Supreme Court, the matter was heard on Tuesday, before Justice Marie-Anne Gowora and she dismissed the bail application for lack of merit and on basis that the appeal was defective and Mupfumira’s lawyer was fully aware of the irregularities.
She noted that the determination by the Acting Chief Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi on the certificate by the Prosecutor General was not appealed against.
The High Court ‘bail hearing’ was therefore a non-event hence Mupfumira approached the Supreme Court without following proper court processes at the lower courts.
“In my view, the court a quo was not properly seized with this matter and the decision to set aside was a gross irregularity.
“There was no legal premise before the court a quo to interfere with the certificate. Its acceptance by the Acting Chief Magistrate was an exercise of his discretion in terms of the Act which exercise was never challenged. The court a quo was invited and persuaded to set it aside on the basis of submissions made to it by appellant’s counsel premised on the alleged constitutional invalidity of s 32(3b) of the Act.
“I have already found that those remarks by the court a quo have no legal justification,” Gowora noted.
Mupfumira was arrested July 25 by members of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
As the situation intensifies between foreign nationals and locals in most parts of Gauteng, Nigerians have launched a revolt against what is being termed as xenophobic attacks, and are calling on the infamous terrorist group, Boko Haram, to “unleash revenge in South Africa.”
Things have not improved in some parts of Johannesburg, where looters have targeted foreign-owned shops since Monday.
According to the latest information released by the police, at least 100 people have been placed under arrest for their alleged participation in the pillaging of foreign-owned shops we saw between Sunday and Monday.
“They were arrested on a variety of crimes including malicious damage to property, attempted murder, theft, housebreaking,” police spokesperson, Vishnu Naidoo, revealed in a statement.
He also confirmed that, as things stand, two people died, including a woman, as a result of the violence that broke out in the city. While things are said to have calmed down in some parts of the city, it seems that on Tuesday morning, the violence moved to the Alexandra township.
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A Zambian living in South Africa has been badly hurt after he was stabbed by unknown people on the fore-head.
Zambian Association in South Africa (ZASA) President Ferdinand Simaanya who has confirmed the development said Mr. Daniel Lupiya was stabbed badly injured and was rushed to Germiston hospital where doctors attended to him.
Mr. Simaanya has said in a statement that Mr. Lupiya however remains in pain but out of danger.
He has since asked all Zambians to follow instructions and updates that the association is sending to members.
Mr. Simaanya said currently, the xenophobic incidents are in central Johannesburg, Hilbrow, parts of Primrose, Turfontein, Tembisa and some parts of Pretoria and is advising Zambians to avoid these places.
And the Zambian High Commission in South Africa has also confirmed the deadly attack on Mr. Lupiya, 33, who was attacked this morning on his way home after dropping his niece at one of the schools in the area.
According to the information availed to the Zambian mission in Pretoria, Mr. Lupiya was brutally attacked after a group of unknown people greeted him in the local language but could not respond.
He was then brutally stabbed and left for dead but was rushed to Germiston hospital where he was attended to and his condition has been described as stable.
The assailants’ motive for his brutal attack has not yet been fully established but it is suspected that he was attacked because of the current wave of violent attacks against foreigners in South Africa.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mrs. Naomi Nyawali, First Secretary Press and Public Relations at the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.
“He was then brutally stabbed and left for dead but was rushed to Gemiston Hospital where he was attended to. His condition has been described as stable. The assailants motive for his brutal attack has not yet been fully established but it is suspected that he was attacked because of the current wave of violent attacks against foreigners in South Africa.”
Mr. Lupiya has been in South Africa for two months visiting his brother who lives in that country.
“The Mission would like to advise Zambians in South Africa to take extra precautionary measures to ensure that they are safe. It is advised that trouble spots or towns should be avoided as well as movement to other places except where it is absolutely necessary,” Mrs Nyawali said.
Meanwhile, Government through the Ministry of Transport and Communications is cautioning to all Zambian truck owners, bus owners and drivers to immediately avoid travelling to South Africa until the security situation improves.
Minister of Transport and Communications, Mutotwe Kafwaya is urging Zambian drivers currently in South Africa to park their trucks in safe and secure designated places that authorities in that country may recommend until security improves.
Mr. Kafwaya said in line with bilateral road transport agreement between Zambia and South Africa, the Zambian government will continue engaging the government of south Africa to ensure security measures are put in place to safeguard the lives of all Zambian truck drivers who may be in that country.
This follows a travel alert issued last week by the Zambian High Commission in South Africa to Zambian truck drivers wishing to travel to that country today following reports that they are being threatened with violence.
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BORIS JOHNSON BATTLES BREXIT IN PARLIAMENT https://t.co/VwcuZQFxer
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 3, 2019
As the deadly South African xenophobic attacks on foreigners continue, South Africans have flooded the social media with highly instigating past videos of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Deputy Minister of Police as justification for their wrong war against foreign nationalities in the country.
In his campaign trail in the run up to last year’s elections, Ramaphosa sent out threats to people who come from other countries and set up illegal or unlicensed businesses in South Africa.
He promised to wipe out businesses that were not in the government’s books from existence.
Watch video below.
Meanwhile, in another video widely circulated by the violence instigating South Africans, Deputy Police Minister Bongani Mkongi is featured in the 2017 video accusing foreign nationals in Hillbrow of economic sabotage.
In the video, Mkongi says 80% of Hillbrow is occupied by foreign nationals, a situation he suggests South Africans must never tolerate.
“If we don’t debate that, that necessarily means the whole of South Africa could be 80% dominated by foreign nationals and the future president of South Africa could be a foreign national.”
He says foreign nationals are hijacking old buildings while locals don’t have anywhere to go.
“We fought for this country, not only for us but for generations of South Africans to live in harmony in a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.”
Watch video below.
According to reports, the latest looting and torching foreign-owned businesses and killing foreign nationals trend that has been dominating Gauteng is a result of the speeches that the president and his Deputy Minister gave resulting in South Africans following their command.
Unconfirmed social media reports circulating amongst Nigerians in South Africa, claim that in apparent response to the destruction of cars and businesses belonging to Nigerians and other African nationals in South Africa on Sunday, a mob on Tuesday, burnt one of the offices of South Africa’s Telecom giant MTN in Apapa, Lagos.
Mobs in South Africa had between Sunday and Monday, in what was a continuation of xenophobic attacks in the country, killed at least three individuals, looted and burnt properties belonging to foreigners, including Nigerians.
The President of the Nigeria Union South Africa, Adetola Olubajo had told the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday that the attacks began on Sunday morning in Jeppestown area of Johannesburg when a building was set ablaze by an angry mob.
“The mob also looted several shops that were around the vicinity suspected to be owned by foreign nationals.
“But the Police later dispersed the mob and made some arrests. Late in the evening of Sunday, September 1, a group of violent locals suspected to be Zulu hostel dwellers besieged Jules Street in Malvern, Johannesburg looted and burned shops/businesses.’’
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State Media|COSAFA have said they have been advised by FIFA that the life ban imposed by ZIFA, on the regional body’s president Philip Chiyangwa, is null and void as due process was not followed by the domestic football leadership.
In fact, COSAFA say Chiyangwa has been mandated by FIFA to work with the ZIFA bosses, the Sports Commission and the Government to find a lasting solution to the challenges bedevilling domestic football.
The regional football body have been having consultations with leading FIFA officials since ZIFA announced they had banned Chiyangwa and Omega Sibanda, who served as the association’s vice-president until December last year, for life.
ZIFA claimed Chiyangwa and Sibanda were part of a group of individuals who were allegedly sowing disharmony in domestic football and compromising the administration of the game in the country.
However, the duo have dismissed the allegations.
Legal experts had warned that the bans imposed on the duo were unlikely to be endorsed by FIFA, which would reduce them to mere cosmetic sanctions, because the two were not properly charged and also given a chance to defend themselves.
The ZIFA leaders have been on a warpath with Chiyangwa and tried, but failed, to have him recalled from his position as the COSAFA boss.
Now, according to the latest COSAFA correspondence, Chiyangwa — whom ZIFA had banned for life — has been mandated to help find solutions to the problems afflicting Zimbabwean football.
Recently, FIFA seconded their secretary-general, Fatma Samoura, to deal with the challenges that are affecting the Confederation of African Football.
Destombes wrote a letter to COSAFA member associations on Friday advising them that, after consultations with FIFA officials, the ZIFA ban on Chiyangwa could not be upheld to affect his standing as the leader of the regional football body.
‘’We refer to correspondence sent by Zimbabwe Football Association to our MAs (member associations) during the month of July 2019 and to discussion that took place at COSAFA’s consultative meeting in Cairo on 17th July regarding the allegations made by the Zimbabwe Football Associations against the president of COSAFA, Dr Philip Chiyangwa,’’ Destombes wrote.
‘’Subsequent to and as a consequence of that meeting, it was decided that a fact-finding mission would be deployed in an attempt, within the COSAFA family, to find an amicable way forward.
‘’In the interim, however, a life ban was served upon Dr Chiyangwa and this decision was notified to COSAFA, CAF and FIFA. Following Dr Chiyangwa’s correspondence with FIFA on the matter, we can now advise our members that:
FIFA are of the opinion that the ban served on Dr Chiyangwa is a nullity as due process was not followed; and
Dr Chiyangwa has been mandated to find, in consultation with the Zimbabwe Football Association, the Sports & Recreation Commission and the Government of Zimbabwe, a lasting solution to the ongoing problems.’’
Yesterday, Chiyangwa, who underwent complex and major surgery, conducted by two of the world’s leading specialists, in Cape Town, South Africa, last week to treat a sight-threatening condition in his left eye which has been troubling him in the past four years, said he didn’t want to add anything to the statement.
The surgery was conducted at Mediclinic Cape Town, which describes itself as a “multidisciplinary hospital (which) offers local and international patients a broad spectrum of specialist medical services, modern facilities, high-tech equipment and outstanding nursing care.’’
Professor Darlene Lubbe, a world-leading ear, nose and throat specialist, and Dr Hamzah Mustak, an ophthalmologist, conducted the surgery.
‘’As you might be aware, I have just recently undergone a complex operation and I was given a 10-day period in which I will be under observation by the specialists and I don’t think, at this time, I have anything to say on football, save just to say that there is a lot of value in unity than in fights’’ he said.
The MDC reiterates the position that the party’s national chairperson Hon. Thabitha Khumalo who appeared in court today on trumped up charges is innocent and merely being harassed by this regime.
Today, Hon. Khumalo and six other party activists appeared in court and were remanded to the 17th of September for either further remand or trial.
We note the removal of Hon. Khumalo’s reporting conditions but we would have wanted the reporting conditions for all the accused to be removed as they are all innocent.
The seven who are facing trumped up charges include Hon. Khumalo, Tshepiso Mpofu, Luba Masotsha, Elliot Mujeri, Tinashe Matimbura, Meliqiniso Sithole and Shelton Tembo. They were unjustly arrested and charged for “publishing false statements prejudicial to the state”.
It is our fully considered view that the State has a very weak case and they are simply persecuting our party leaders for holding on to the correct position that last year’s elections were stolen.
As such, the only reason the matter is being pursued is a political plot to intimidate our political leaders to back down on their demand for Zimbabwe to return to legitimacy under a popularly elected people’s government.
The MDC thus demands an end to this political charade through the unconditional withdrawal of all these false charges against all our innocent leaders.
MDC @ 20: Celebrating Courage, Growth and the People’s Victories.
Daniel Molokele
MDC National Spokesperson
Following last Sunday’s fiasco which saw the senior women’s national soccer team, the Mighty Warriors, boycott their Olympic games qualifier against Zambia, it has emerged that ZIFA reportedly tried to field a club side in place of Sithelelelwe Sibanda’s charges.
The game was called off 30 minutes before kick off at the National Sports Stadium as the Mighty Warriors were in a no show, citing outstanding allowances tracable back to COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa.
According British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Zifa tried, though in vain, to field a club side in place of the Mighty Warriors once players were reportedly withdrawn by their respective local clubs.
The report further alleges that in their defence, the Felton Kamambo-led ZIFA actually blames the players for Sunday’s disaster, inisisting that the association agreed with the players to pay them ZW$150 for the two legged affair, an agreement the players supposedly broke.
The players refused to fulfil the fixture as they are owed allowances from last month’s Cosafa Cup in South Africa.
Four clubs withdrew their players from camp late on Saturday night, and the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) tried to field a club side in place of the national team, but the plan failed.
Zimbabwe lost the first leg 5-0 after travelling to Lusaka by road without training for the match, and after that defeat Mighty Warriors coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda said “our country is our best enemy in terms of not affording the team time to train.”
Zambia travelled for Sunday’s game with a small group of fans and warmed up at an empty National Sports Stadium before the match was officially called off 30 minutes before kick-off.
“It’s very disheartening as Zimbabwe are our icons, we believed we can learn a lot from Zimbabwe,” said Zambia’s head of delegation Rix Mweemba.
Zifa blames the players for breach of contract, and asked Fifa for a postponement of the match to Monday morning, but Zambia say that they will be travelling back home then.
“We agreed with the clubs that we would pay the players $150 each for the two games, but unfortunately this agreement has been breached,” said Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela.
Zimbabwe’s women qualified for the 2016 Olympics, but have often been given inferior treatment to the men’s team.
Zifa has given an update on the Warriors squad that is set to travel to Djibouti for a World Cup against Somalia.
Long and short of it is that the team is in shambles.
The national team’s preparations have not been smooth with the association failing to get funds on time for the trip and training for the players.
The local players only had one training while the foreign-based stars will fly straight to Djibouti yet expectations are for the team to win and qualify for the world’s biggest soccer showpiece.
The players will need to draw the best of their individual commitment and brilliance to win this encounter.
Farai Dziva|The MDC has called for the dropping of charges against the party’s Youth Assembly Secretary General, Gift Ostallos Siziba.
Below is the party’s full statement :
MDC welcomes the relaxation of the bail conditions for our national Youth Assembly Secretary, Gift Ostallos Siziba
Secretary Siziba appeared at the Harare Magistrates courts on Monday morning
He is facing trumped up and politically motivated charges of inciting public violence.
The MDC Calls for dropping of charges against Secretary Siziba on the grounds that there is no reasonable basis to continue persecuting him.
As a matter of legality and principle, if the charges were genuine and substantial, a trial would have been conducted by now. As such, the delays are a clear indication that the charges are designed to persecute, harass, embarrass and abuse him.
The MDC views Secretary Siziba’s case like all other cases being faced by other MDC leaders, members of civil society and ordinary citizens as a form unacceptable political persecution.
He should not have been arrested in the first place as he did not commit any crime.
The democratic space is fast shrinking as a result of these wanton and relentless persecutions against anyone who seeks to express their views and exercise their Constitutional rights.
Indeed, constitutionalism and solidarity are our pillars as a movement and they will always remain as such. Not even illegal political persecutions can hold us back because we believe that Secretary Siziba, and indeed all our other arrested cadres are totally innocent.
As a way forward, the MDC strongly calls for all the charges against Secretary Siziba and all other political leaders and activists to be dropped immediately, unconditionally.
The MDC would like to thank all our party leaders and members who have been actively going to court in solidarity Secretary Siziba.
MDC: Celebrating 20 Years of Courage, Growth and the People’s Victories.
Daniel Molokele
MDC Spokesperson
Farai Dziva|Deputy Information Energy Mutodi has claimed that the MDC does not have the capacity to rule Zimbabwe.
Said Mutodi: “It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell the opposition party is going nowhere.
Foreign Ambassadors such as the US ambassador Brain Nichols and EU ambassador Timo Olkkonen need an orientation to understand how the country has established its statehood.
It is laughable to expect an MDC government in the near future.
With a two thirds majority in Parliament, ZANU PF is firmly in control of the country’s political affairs and will remain in the lead for several years to come.
For Glenview, it is time to ask why the past was better than now especially why a once thriving urban suburb has turned into a rural area.
It is important to ask why the MDC is campaigning to restore the very same things that were in place when they took over the suburb from ZANU PF nearly 20 years ago.”
Farai Dziva|MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has called for unity across the African continent.
Below is Chamisa’s full statement :
The attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa are appalling and heartbreaking. We call upon our African brothers and sisters to show a full sense of brotherhood and sisterhood consistent with the timeless wisdom of Ubuntu. Brother against brother or Sister against sister is inimical to Ubuntu.
Extremely disturbing are scenes and sights of violence and horrendous attacks in South Africa. It is time to take decisive action to protect all in South Africa and stop any attacks on fellow Africans. Priority must be given to individual security & stopping of all manner and forms of violence.
While these attacks are routinely described as xenophobic, it is evident that they target black Africans. These are deliberate and systematic attacks based on race and country of origin rather than foreignness alone. The resulting conflict is terrible for our communities because they foment hatred and tensions between people. We need to correctly characterise what is happening in South Africa not as xenophobia but as Afrophobia, as the attacks are not necessarily against foreigners but against fellow black Africans.
The irony is on why an African should be Afrophobic. True, we need to solve the challenges in fellow African countries that have led to many leaving their own countries but the irony remains that Africans would feel unwelcome both in Europe as well as in a fellow African State. If Africans are unsafe in Africa, where else should they go?
While we acknowledge that South Africa, like many other African countries has problems of inequality, joblessness, social service delivery, poverty and illegal immigration. Violence and impunity is not the answer to these problems.
If we allow violence and brutality in society to be used as an instrument to resolve challenges, it inevitably spreads to all facets of life including affecting women and children. Violence in all its ugly forms and manifestations, be it towards women and children, citizens, illegal immigrants or any other human being for that matter is simply unacceptable.
In Africa, we have always been at each other’s throat since we were put on this earth by God
fighting over everything or anything, fighting over borders or boundaries, fighting over water, fighting over food, fighting over political parties, fighting over property, fighting over tribes, fighting over ideology, fighting over faith and religion. Yet we hardly ever engage in a civilized contest over strategy, ideas and thought.
As Africans we need as a matter of urgency to stop violence against each other.
Already, we have seen business being disrupted and commerce being disturbed as truckers that use South African routes fear for their lives. Threats of retaliation against South African drivers and businesses in other parts of the continent demonstrate that this is a vicious cycle in which there is no winner.
More significantly, this violence is concentrated among the poor and vulnerable of our societies. It is the poor killing the poor. Over the years, it has emerged that acts of violence are often caused and are directed by the cruel selfish elites. If we fix our political challenges, there would be no need for circumstances of undue hardships and animosity.
Other nationals are in South Africa principally because politics and leadership ineptitude has made other African countries uninhabitable. They vote with their feet, seeking greener pastures. Yet there, they find hell as they clash with equally vulnerable and happiness-seeking locals. It becomes a running battle between the poor. We can solve this by fixing our messy politics.
This is why we find it incredulous when our brother leaders in the region look aside when our government brutalises citizens. Where do the oppressed go? To the neighbours. That is why we have always said Zimbabwe’s problems are also our neighbours’ domestic challenges. Illegal immigration is a product of nurturing dictatorship in our neighbourhoods.
Time has now come to think seriously about the New Africa we deserve. We must collectively, as Africans, examine critically the utility of maintaining colonial boundaries and borders which give a false sense of division and exceptionalism. The divisions made in Berlin more than 100 years ago still divide us. We need a post-Berlin conference African consensus to shape a New Africa to the satisfaction of our ideals, imaginations, hopes and aspirations.
In the long run, Africa should move towards removing colonial borders, having one passport and establishing a single currency and a single market. We must build our internet exchange points, continent-wide television networks, proper road, rail and flight links. We have started well with a continental free trade area. We dare do more!
The great Kwame Nkrumah famously said, “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa,” The declaration encapsulated the sense of brotherhood that defined the struggles for liberation. We should never lose that spirit, even today as many of our citizens across the continent suffer under brutal regimes.
We urgently need A New Africa where African brotherhood is the common denominator. A New Africa where the African Union plays a more dynamic role in solving African problems and is at the forefront of pushing the African youth development agenda.
A better tomorrow and a NEW AFRICA does not just happen, it must be designed and now is the time to build on these fundamentals and construct: The Africa We want and deserve.
Our dear South African brothers and sisters, we appreciate your being tired of those you estimate to be foreign, but please help us lobby for intervention of SADC and South Africa to fix Zimbabwe’s politics by helping Zimbabweans resolve the legitimacy and governance crisis caused by the disputed July 2018 Presidential election and on-going poor performance.
When Zimbabwe was stable and thriving we never had these problems of illegal immigration. In fact our South African brothers and sisters were coming to Zimbabwe to seek refuge from apartheid, to learn and do business. That’s the way it should be.
Fixing Zimbabwe will reduce South Africa’s problems. Fixing Zimbabwe will restore its citizens’ dignity and hope. Similarly fixing Somalia, DRC and Nigeria, among other countries, will go a long way in stabilizing Africa and reducing the problem of tensions and hate.
So many people died to free Africa. We can’t have more people dying in a free Africa.
I appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa to help Zimbabweans help themselves through a credible and genuine political dialogue to put in place transitional mechanism that will pave way for comprehensive political and economic reforms, a lasting solution to returning Zimbabwe to freedom, legitimacy and democracy.
To our leaders and fellow citizens of SADC, when any country sneezes the whole region catches a cold. A sick and weak Zimbabwe will always be an albatross around the necks of all the other countries in the region and indeed on the continent. Please help us help ourselves.
Lastly, with developments in South Africa, I call for enough mechanisms and measures to be put in place to ensure the security and protection of all Zimbabwean citizens. Section 35(3)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe obliges the state as a peremptory duty and mandatory obligation, to protect citizens wherever they maybe. This right is available to all citizens in and outside Zimbabwe.
New Africa is the way to go
We need a new way, a new dawn on the continent.
Africa must unite on values of freedom democratic values, free fair elections and prosperity for its people. SADC must be a people’s community not a community of its leaders alone. The African Union must be truly an African people’s Union.
We can’t be Africa without Africans.
Building a better Africa for all
Let’s build a great Africa for all
God bless Africa and heal the world!
Adv Nelson Chamisa
President – Movement For Democratic Change
VIDEO LOADING BELOW
WE MUST BUILD A NEW AFRICA!
The attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa are appalling and heartbreaking. We call upon our African brothers and sisters to show a full sense of brotherhood and sisterhood consistent with the timeless wisdom of Ubuntu. Brother against brother or Sister against sister is inimical to Ubuntu.
Extremely disturbing are scenes and sights of violence and horrendous attacks in South Africa. It is time to take decisive action to protect all in South Africa and stop any attacks on fellow Africans. Priority must be given to individual security & stopping of all manner and forms of violence.
While these attacks are routinely described as xenophobic, it is evident that they target black Africans. These are deliberate and systematic attacks based on race and country of origin rather than foreignness alone. The resulting conflict is terrible for our communities because they foment hatred and tensions between people. We need to correctly characterise what is happening in South Africa not as xenophobia but as Afrophobia, as the attacks are not necessarily against foreigners but against fellow black Africans.
The irony is on why an African should be Afrophobic. True, we need to solve the challenges in fellow African countries that have led to many leaving their own countries but the irony remains that Africans would feel unwelcome both in Europe as well as in a fellow African State. If Africans are unsafe in Africa, where else should they go?
While we acknowledge that South Africa, like many other African countries has problems of inequality, joblessness, social service delivery, poverty and illegal immigration. Violence and impunity is not the answer to these problems.
If we allow violence and brutality in society to be used as an instrument to resolve challenges, it inevitably spreads to all facets of life including affecting women and children. Violence in all its ugly forms and manifestations, be it towards women and children, citizens, illegal immigrants or any other human being for that matter is simply unacceptable.
In Africa, we have always been at each other’s throat since we were put on this earth by God
fighting over everything or anything, fighting over borders or boundaries, fighting over water, fighting over food, fighting over political parties, fighting over property, fighting over tribes, fighting over ideology, fighting over faith and religion. Yet we hardly ever engage in a civilized contest over strategy, ideas and thought.
As Africans we need as a matter of urgency to stop violence against each other.
Already, we have seen business being disrupted and commerce being disturbed as truckers that use South African routes fear for their lives. Threats of retaliation against South African drivers and businesses in other parts of the continent demonstrate that this is a vicious cycle in which there is no winner.
More significantly, this violence is concentrated among the poor and vulnerable of our societies. It is the poor killing the poor. Over the years, it has emerged that acts of violence are often caused and are directed by the cruel selfish elites. If we fix our political challenges, there would be no need for circumstances of undue hardships and animosity.
Other nationals are in South Africa principally because politics and leadership ineptitude has made other African countries uninhabitable. They vote with their feet, seeking greener pastures. Yet there, they find hell as they clash with equally vulnerable and happiness-seeking locals. It becomes a running battle between the poor. We can solve this by fixing our messy politics.
This is why we find it incredulous when our brother leaders in the region look aside when our government brutalises citizens. Where do the oppressed go? To the neighbours. That is why we have always said Zimbabwe’s problems are also our neighbours’ domestic challenges. Illegal immigration is a product of nurturing dictatorship in our neighbourhoods.
Time has now come to think seriously about the New Africa we deserve. We must collectively, as Africans, examine critically the utility of maintaining colonial boundaries and borders which give a false sense of division and exceptionalism. The divisions made in Berlin more than 100 years ago still divide us. We need a post-Berlin conference African consensus to shape a New Africa to the satisfaction of our ideals, imaginations, hopes and aspirations.
In the long run, Africa should move towards removing colonial borders, having one passport and establishing a single currency and a single market. We must build our internet exchange points, continent-wide television networks, proper road, rail and flight links. We have started well with a continental free trade area. We dare do more!
The great Kwame Nkrumah famously said, “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa,” The declaration encapsulated the sense of brotherhood that defined the struggles for liberation. We should never lose that spirit, even today as many of our citizens across the continent suffer under brutal regimes.
We urgently need A New Africa where African brotherhood is the common denominator. A New Africa where the African Union plays a more dynamic role in solving African problems and is at the forefront of pushing the African youth development agenda.
A better tomorrow and a NEW AFRICA does not just happen, it must be designed and now is the time to build on these fundamentals and construct: The Africa We want and deserve.
Our dear South African brothers and sisters, we appreciate your being tired of those you estimate to be foreign, but please help us lobby for intervention of SADC and South Africa to fix Zimbabwe’s politics by helping Zimbabweans resolve the legitimacy and governance crisis caused by the disputed July 2018 Presidential election and on-going poor performance.
When Zimbabwe was stable and thriving we never had these problems of illegal immigration. In fact our South African brothers and sisters were coming to Zimbabwe to seek refuge from apartheid, to learn and do business. That’s the way it should be.
Fixing Zimbabwe will reduce South Africa’s problems. Fixing Zimbabwe will restore its citizens’ dignity and hope. Similarly fixing Somalia, DRC and Nigeria, among other countries, will go a long way in stabilizing Africa and reducing the problem of tensions and hate.
So many people died to free Africa. We can’t have more people dying in a free Africa.
I appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa to help Zimbabweans help themselves through a credible and genuine political dialogue to put in place transitional mechanism that will pave way for comprehensive political and economic reforms, a lasting solution to returning Zimbabwe to freedom, legitimacy and democracy.
To our leaders and fellow citizens of SADC, when any country sneezes the whole region catches a cold. A sick and weak Zimbabwe will always be an albatross around the necks of all the other countries in the region and indeed on the continent. Please help us help ourselves.
Lastly, with developments in South Africa, I call for enough mechanisms and measures to be put in place to ensure the security and protection of all Zimbabwean citizens. Section 35(3)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe obliges the state as a peremptory duty and mandatory obligation, to protect citizens wherever they maybe. This right is available to all citizens in and outside Zimbabwe.
New Africa is the way to go
We need a new way, a new dawn on the continent.
Africa must unite on values of freedom democratic values, free fair elections and prosperity for its people. SADC must be a people’s community not a community of its leaders alone. The African Union must be truly an African people’s Union.
We can’t be Africa without Africans.
Building a better Africa for all
Let’s build a great Africa for all
God bless Africa and heal the world!
Adv Nelson Chamisa
President – Movement For Democratic Change
By Terence Rusirevi| Zanu continue to repeat the mantra that western ‘sanctions’ are the cause of the economic rot in the country.
The coup announcer, SB Moyo, while in London and right before we showed our defiance to him, was regurgitating the same pieties about sanctions at Chatham house. The scarf wearer himself in his dreary speeches continues to blame sanctions for the country’s problems.
Even the economically illiterate Zanu war veterans have been given a dictum by their leader to blame sanctions when they deliver their knuckle dragging rhetoric to the masses.
They are all at it. But like every explanation Zanu give to the public, it’s all lies! Zimbabwe’s problems are a result of corruption and cruelty and not western sanctions.
Let’s imagine this government cultivates some mythical goodwill in the eyes of the west and are then given US$10bn (no strings attached) to solve the country’s problems.
I know it defies logic, but stay with me on this one. Let’s imagine Mnangagwa and his government are given this huge some of money, how do you think they will use it? Well, I think the money will be spent as follows during the first year:
After 1 year
1) Command Agriculture money would have benefited farms owned by military generals and the scarf wearer. More than 75% of the money unaccounted for because of corruption.
2) Water and electricity continue to be in short supply. 50% of the companies subcontracted turn out to be bankrupt, the rest were firewood wholesalers.
3) Fuel problems continue. 75% of money missing.
4) Police and army receive their equipment on time and quickly put it to use by quelling a peaceful demonstration in Harare about the misuse of the US$10bn.
These projections are not too far fetched. In fact, the Zanu government had access to about US$15bn from the diamonds and the country did not benefit from any of that money. So the idea that lifting ‘sanctions’ is going to improve things in the country is a complete nonsense. First of all there are no sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The Zanu government is not getting access to money from the west not because of sanctions, but because they are shirkers who will also steal the money and use some of it for repression. The only time Zanu will spend money and ensure they get the things they pay for is when they are buying guns, baton sticks and other instruments of oppression.
Zimbabwe’s problems are not because of sanctions, they are a result of corruption and cruelty by this Zanu government and unfortunately for Zimbabweans, the person who made himself president in 2017 is the apotheosis of that corruption and cruelty.
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By A Correspondent- The Zanu Pf Politburo is set to decide Chivi South legislator Killer Zivhu’s fate after the party received recommendations to expel him from Masvingo Province.
Masvingo Province wants Zivhu expelled from the party for taking to social media to push for a meeting between First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa’s wife Sithokozile.
He is also accused of initiating a process of collecting signatures from people to support his initiative for dialogue between President Mnangagwa and people’s favourite leader Mr Chamisa.
Zanu-PF secretary for Legal Affairs Paul Mangwana yesterday confirmed that the party had received the recommendations.
“Yes, I acknowledge that the party received recommendations made by Masvingo Province in regard to Zivhu’s case. The party’s National Disciplinary Committee will sit and make some recommendations after thorough deliberations on the case. The NDC will make their recommendations to the Politburo for endorsement.
“The Politburo will make the final decision on the fate of Cde Zivhu,” said Cde Mangwana.
Masvingo Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) resolved to kick out Cde Zivhu from the party after he snubbed a hearing called by the party’s provincial disciplinary committee chaired by vice chair Ailess Baloyi.-StateMedia
Statement on the Attacks on Foreign Nationals and shops
The Zimbabwe Community South Africa wishes to express its outright condemnation on the attack of foreign nationals and in particular any Zimbabweans.
While we acknowledge and even empathize with South Africans on some of the issues they are raising particularly on crime, drug dealing, job shortages and illegal trade, it is disingenuous to articulate all this to foreigners. It is our view that social ills are a responsibility of the entire community and thus more sensible resolutionary approaches can be used. It is not correct to loot and destroy South Africa’s infrastructure in the name of protest – what are you then left with!
We acknowledge that many sections of the South African populace have condemned the callous acts of criminality which have even involved the death of people. We praise all progressive sections of society who empathize with the unsolicited plight of many immigrants.
We reject with the disdain it deserves, any member of society who commits acts of criminality and lawlessness in the guise of claiming they are attacking “illegal” and/or “undocumented” foreigners. We believe the South African government has the capacity to manage migration and enforce the laws and any by-laws necessary and any form of vigilantism cannot be helpful to the perception of South Africa as a nation particularly during this strenuous economic period.
We further advise and warn any Zimbabwean nationals who may be committing any crimes to refrain from such. We are confident that the large majority of Zimbabweans are hard working and law abiding and many have been largely documented through the various South African government documentation projects, which we have welcomed and participated in rolling out.
We edge community leaders and politicians to refrain making inflammatory statements that serve to rile the people to wanton acts of xenophobia and criminality in the name of protest action. We urge law enforcement to work with foreigners as well to augment crime intelligence gathering and take proactive action unlike this time where they ignored numerous tips that these activities of xenophobic attacks were being planned.
Finally we call on social cohesion and harmony and combined efforts to solve the issues raised by the communities Zimbabweans in South Africa live among.
Statement by
Zimbabwe Community South Africa
Spokesperson – Bongani Mazwi Mkwananzi +27 73 984 0241
Chairman – Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena +27 83 340 1000
The ZANU-PF Politburo is expected to decide Chivi South legislator Killer Zivhu’s fate after the party received recommendations to expel him from Masvingo Province.
Masvingo Province wants Zivhu expelled from the party for taking to social media to push for a meeting between First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa’s wife Sithokozile. He is also accused of initiating a process of collecting signatures from people to support his initiative for dialogue between President Mnangagwa and people’s favourite leader Mr Chamisa.
Zanu-PF secretary for Legal Affairs Paul Mangwana yesterday confirmed that the party had received the recommendations.
“Yes, I acknowledge that the party received recommendations made by Masvingo Province in regard to Cde Zivhu’s case. The party’s National Disciplinary Committee will sit and make some recommendations after thorough deliberations on the case. The NDC will make their recommendations to the Politburo for endorsement.
“The Politburo will make the final decision on the fate of Cde Zivhu,” said Cde Mangwana.
Masvingo Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) resolved to kick out Zivhu from the party after he snubbed a hearing called by the party’s provincial disciplinary committee chaired by vice chair Ailess Baloyi.
-State Media
By A Correspondent- Silindiwe Mabhena from Nyamandlovu district in Matabeleland North has dragged her husband Khumbulani Moyo to court for drunkenness.
Mabhena claimed her husband had, on many occasions verbally and physically abused her whenever he was angry or drunk.
Narrating her ordeal at the Bulawayo Civil Court where she was seeking a protection order against her husband, Mabhena said their marriage was full of frequent fighting instigated by Moyo who was a drunkard.
She said her husband always insults or assaults her whenever there is a little misunderstanding between them.
“My husband Khumbulani Moyo is violent. He verbally and physically abuses me especially when he is drunk. The latest incident of violence was on 30 July when he choked me. The abuse has been going on since 2011. I am now living in fear that he might kill or injure me and as a result I want the court to grant me a protection order that stops him from verbally and physically harassing me,” begged Mabhena.
She said whenever her husband was drunk and she tried to persuade him to stop driving her car, he would beat her mercilessly.
“Whenever I reprimand him not to drink and drive he assaults me. He drives my car in my absence and I don’t want him to drive it when he is drunk.”
But in his defence Moyo, an ambulance driver at Nyamandlovu District Hospital, refuted all the allegations.
He said his wife was always the one who harassed him and took the blankets away from him whenever they had any misunderstanding.
“Whenever I arrive from a bar I don’t talk to her. She is the one who starts provoking me by pulling away the blankets from me when I am sleeping. It is also not true that I drive while I’m drunk and that I choked her,” said Moyo.
His defence, however, failed to convince the presiding magistrate Rachael Mukanga who subsequently ordered him not to verbally, emotionally and physically abuse his wife or threaten her in any way.-BMetro
Farai Dziva|FIFA has nullified a life ban imposed by Zifa on Philip Chiyangwa.
Chiyangwa was banned for life after the Felton Kamambo-led administration accused him of bringing local football into disrepute through the 2019 COSAFA Cup bid debacle which saw the Warriors banned from next year’s edition.
The association also blamed the ex-Zimbabwe football boss of causing chaos in the Warriors camp during the 2019 Afcon held in Egypt two months ago.
According to a statement by COSAFA, FIFA has over-ruled the ban saying Zifa failed to follow a proper procedure in handing down the judgement.
The statement has also revealed that the world football body has asked Chiyangwa to work with the ZIFA administration and the Sports Commission to find solutions to the problems affecting domestic football.
I condemn the violence that has been spreading around a number of our provinces in the strongest terms. I’m convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them. pic.twitter.com/sizZkwIyPO
— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? (@CyrilRamaphosa) September 3, 2019
Farai Dziva|Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry has blasted the Zimbabwe Football Association for neglecting women’s sport.
The Mighty Warriors boycotted their Olympic qualifier return leg against Zambia over upaid allowances and governement then summoned the country’s football governing body, only to get a shocking response.
Coventry made the remarks on Twitter.
By A Correspondent- A 32 year old Mvurwi woman is in serious trouble after she allegedly struck her husband to death with a cup in the occiput last Thursday.
Vaida Wemba of Montenzi Farm, Mvurwi, is currently assisting police with investigations following the death of her husband, Shelton Kateguru (42), who died after they reportedly fought over a domestic dispute.
Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Inspector Milton Mundembe confirmed the case.
Allegations are that the now-deceased, Kateguru, accused her wife of infidelity and head-butted her.
In a fit of rage, Wemba reportedly picked a cup and struck the deceased on the back of his head.
Kateguru fell to the ground and writhed in pain. Wemba called for help from neighbours, who tried in vain to secure transport to take Kateguru to hospital.
The neighbours left for their homes and the following morning Kateguru passed on.
According to the police, cases of murder emanating from domestic violence are on the increase.
Two cases of murder were recorded in Guruve and Mt Darwin in the past two weeks.
“Cases of murder emanating from domestic violence are on the increase in the province, hence we implore the public to shun violence and solve their problems amicably, “Mundembe said.
Farai Dziva|The European transfer window officially closed last night.
Real Madrid and PSG swapped goalkeepers with Costa Rican Keylor Navas heading to Paris permanently while the Frenchman Areola moved to the Spanish capital on loan.
The French champions also added a new face to their attack, with the acquisition of Argentine striker Mauro Icardi from Inter Milan.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined AS Roma from Arsenal on loan after struggling to cement a place in the Londoners under Unai Emery.
Below is a list of some of the major transfers:
Mauro Icardi – Inter Milan to Paris Saint-Germain
Keylor Navas – Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain
Alphonse Areola – Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid (loan)
Matteo Darmian – Manchester United to Parma
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – Arsenal to AS Roma (loan)
Rafinha – FC Barcelona to Celtia Vigo (loan)
Ante Rebic – Eintracht Frankfurt to AC Milan
Andre Silva – AC Milan to Eintracht Frankfurt
Radamel Falcao – AS Monaco to Galatasaray
By A Correspondent- Harare City Council (HCC) faces a potential $7 million defamation lawsuit from Paulos Construction over an audit report which accused the company of fraud.
Paulo Construction has hit back at HCC, saying the allegations contained in their audit report were false and had taken a political twist.
“The MDC council is pushing a political agenda, with false narratives because they do not want companies owned and controlled by people linked to Zanu PF and now they are engaging in mudslinging tactics,” Tempter Tungwarara, a Paulos Construction director, said.
The construction firm acknowledges that it got double payments into its account from HCC, but on noticing the payments, they immediately wrote to council.
In a letter dated December 7, 2017, Tungwarara wrote advising of the over-payment and sought to find common ground with the local authority.
“Following our reconciliation done on December 7, for our year-ending reconciliation, we write to inform you that the payment of invoices of the pilot project that we submitted to your organisation was paid twice, which leads to over-payment. Kindly advise if this payment is for another month of refuse collection, if so, please advise us accordingly before our holiday shutdown (sic),” read the letter received by council’s finance department.
Tungwarara said he suspected there was a racket at HCC which wanted to use his company to syphora money from council coffers.
“We actually saved the local authority money by writing that letter and refusing to be part of the theft, but now we are being smeared for being honest. This can’t be right and we are going to sue for defamation,” he said.
The audit report only had details of how council was fleeced of over $62 000 by Paulos Construction, raising fears that it was a hatchet job.
“How do you explain that the entire report centres on just us. Are we the only company that deals with HCC and are they saying they only lost just $62 000 the entire period?” he said.
Council, in an internal audit report, alleges that in 2017 it lost over $62 000 in fraudulent payments made to Paulos Construction.-Newsday
By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe’s liberation war fighters have declared war against alleged remnants of former President Robert Mugabe’s administration still in the public service, accusing them of stifling government programmes and sowing seeds of disharmony between them and President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Addressing journalists in the capital yesterday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general Douglas Mahiya said they would not rest until all top civil servants who served under Mugabe were relieved of their government posts.
“We have gathered here again to look at our welfare. Not much has been done ever and this is caused by people serving in government. I want to tell you that in 1980 when we returned from the war the former regime, the former President (Mugabe) then removed us from the political structures and other people took over and those are the people that are taking decisions today,” he said.
He said the same people who plunged the war veterans into poverty under Mugabe were still driving the agenda of impoverishing them.
“There are people in the civil service who would not want to see the President improve relations with the war veterans and our welfare is not being looked at. We don’t understand why it is not being looked at all. Other sectors like the private sector and civil servants have been cushioned; war veterans have not been cushioned. War veterans are surviving on US$0,48c a day. Nothing has been done,” he said.
The war veterans led the campaign for Mugabe’s ouster in November 2017, accusing the then Zanu PF leader of sidelining them.
Mahiya said the war veterans were not happy with the way their welfare was being handled and vowed to continue piling pressure on government.
“We want to urge government and Parliament to speed the harmonisation of this law so that war veterans start benefiting from the constitutional provisions of their welfare,” he said.
Sources said war veterans were pushing for Mnangagwa to retire top civil servants perceived as sympathetic to Mugabe and appoint new faces.
“There is a feeling that President Mnangagwa should clean out government, especially the top bosses in ministries who are refusing to adapt to the new way of doing things. The war veterans want to occupy those top posts and are pushing that agenda,” a source said.
Defence and War Veterans deputy minister Victor Matemadanda referred all the questions to permanent secretary Grey Marongwe, who was unavailable for comment while Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri’s phone was being answered by aides who said she was locked in meetings.
Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana said he would only comment after gathering adequate information from relevant ministries.
“Can I give you a response on this tomorrow? I will need to find out what’s happening about their allowances from both the Defence and Finance ministries,” he said.-Newsday
Farai Dziva| MDC security officers seized a reporter’s camera at the party’ s rally in Glen View, according to Misa Zimbabwe.
MISA Zimbabwe has reported that MDC security agents confiscated a Canon 6D digital camera belonging Ari Goldstein.
“The journalist claims that when he decided to leave the scene, about nine men he believes were part of MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s security details, approached him and addressed him aggressively before taking his camera.
Goldstein then reported the matter at Glen View police station,” a source said.
“The institute calls upon the MDC to ensure that the confiscated camera is recovered and returned to the journalist,” said an official from the institute.
By A Correspondent- ZBC workers have written to their management indicating that they have been incapacitated by the current economic crisis.
The letter, which was written on the 30th of August argued that the workers should be awarded a “once-off cushioning allowance” of ZWL$1,000 while the workers council negotiates for improved pay.
The workers revealed that most of them were now spending their days at work without eating anything as they can no longer afford to buy food.
They said:
“We think you are fully aware of the volatile nature of the economic situation we are in. Most employees are now unable to purchase basic commodities, pay rentals and commute to work. Currently, the bread basket is ZWL$1,600.”
The letter comes when inflation in the country continues to soar higher. It also comes after the country embarked on currency reforms which saw the multicurrency system being replaced by a local currency which is continuously shedding value, particularly against the United States dollar.
Meanwhile, workers’ salaries remain stagnant.
By A Correspondent- Two Pfungwe men died, while three others were left nursing injuries after a well collapsed and buried them while sinking irrigation pipes.
George Kareku (53) and Israel Mukara (49), both of Deke village under Chief Chitsungo, failed to make it out alive after the well’s concrete lead collapsed, burying them underground.
Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza yesterday confirmed the incident.
“I confirm the deaths of two men from Pfungwe after a well collapsed. Three men were seriously injured in the accident and are currently admitted at Mutawatawa Hospital. We are urging the public to exercise extreme caution when working in such hazardous conditions to avoid fatalities,” he said
According to police, on August 29, the now deceased were in the company of three others standing on a concrete slab that covered the well as they repaired some water pipes they had sunk in the well. It is reported that the concrete slab cracked, gave in and flung the men down the 14-metre-deep well.
Some villagers who witnessed the incident rescued three of the victims who had sustained serious injuries. A report was made at Mutawatawa Police Station who attended the scene and facilitated the retrieval of the bodies.-Newsday
By A Correspondent- A bank account belonging to the country’s football managing board, Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has been frozen.
The account is said to be holding USD100 000 received from FIFA through the FIFA Forward programme last week.
The account was frozen after the debt-ridden ZIFA defied a High Court order to deposit USD518 331,18 owed to its Director of Administration Lazarus Mhurushomana by Monday.
Mhurushomana was retrenched in 2004 and the money in question is in respect of salary arrears.
A ZIFA official confirmed that the country’s mother body had received USD100k from FIFA for football development but a former employee one Mr Lazarus Mhurushomana approached the court claiming salary arrears of USD518 331.81.
Said the official:
“The Sheriff then issued a writ of attachment and an order to transfer the said amount resulting in this development (of freezing the account).
We have filed an urgent chamber application which was set down for today but was postponed to tomorrow.”
Thank you Brother Mmusi for the wisdom and leadership.The leadership crisis in Zimbabwe is South Africa’s crisis.Fixing Zimbabwe’s political problems will fix some of South Africa’s problems. One Africa is our solution.A New Africa, a better continent is our generational mandate! https://t.co/CmeLJUbvD1
— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) September 3, 2019
MDC National Chairperson and party activists are innocent
The MDC reiterates the position that the party’s national chairperson Hon. Thabitha Khumalo who appeared in court today on trumped up charges is innocent and merely being harassed by this regime.
Today, Hon. Khumalo and six other party activists appeared in court and were remanded to the 17th of September for either further remand or trial.
We note the removal of Hon. Khumalo’s reporting conditions but we would have wanted the reporting conditions for all the accused to be removed as they are all innocent.
The seven who are facing trumped up charges include Hon. Khumalo, Tshepiso Mpofu, Luba Masotsha, Elliot Mujeri, Tinashe Matimbura, Meliqiniso Sithole and Shelton Tembo. They were unjustly arrested and charged for “publishing false statements prejudicial to the state”.
It is our fully considered view that the State has a very weak case and they are simply persecuting our party leaders for holding on to the correct position that last year’s elections were stolen.
As such, the only reason the matter is being pursued is a political plot to intimidate our political leaders to back down on their demand for Zimbabwe to return to legitimacy under a popularly elected people’s government.
The MDC thus demands an end to this political charade through the unconditional withdrawal of all these false charges against all our innocent leaders.
MDC @ 20: Celebrating Courage, Growth and the People’s Victories.
Daniel Molokele
MDC National Spokesperson
