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Children’s Home Caught In Child Abuse Scandal, As Minor Falls Pregnant

A scandal that resulted in a 16-year-old girl falling pregnant has rocked a children’s home in the Matobo District.

The girl, who cannot be named for ethical reasons, has been a resident at Ethandweni Children’s Home for three years.

She was brought into the institution that looks after abused and orphaned children by social welfare workers after being raped by a gold panner in 2013 while staying with her maternal grandmother in Matobo District.

The gold panner is serving a lengthy prison sentence at Khami Maximum Prison for the crime.

Last year it was discovered that the minor was pregnant and is due to give birth next month.

An anonymous letter dropped in a Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) suggestion box at a local police station claimed that the Ethandweni Children’s Home director Lucien Oosthuizen was responsible for the pregnancy.

Oosthuizen is well aware of the allegations, but vehemently denies them.

“A lot of things have been said about this institution, that I’m responsible for the pregnancy and alleged sexual relations among our staff members but such talk will not deter us from our core business which is taking good care of these children.

“When we discovered that the girl was pregnant I went to the police, something I would do if anything of that nature happens and an investigation was launched. I’m not responsible for the girl’s pregnancy as alleged by some people in WhatsApp group messages.

“Stories will always come and go,” said Oosthuizen when this publication visited the children’s home.

According to Oosthuizen, when social welfare workers interrogated the girl about the pregnancy, she claimed that a 16-year-old boy who also stays at Ethandweni Children’s Home was responsible for it.

The home looks after 37 children.

“This is the first pregnancy case in this home in 19 years and the girl has since been moved to an institution in Bulawayo, which is better equipped in dealing with pregnant teenagers,” he said.

Asked how the two minors managed to breach security mechanisms at the home and engage in sexual activity Oosthuizen said: “Children break rules all the time and it’s unfortunate it resulted in a pregnancy. The boy who is responsible is still with us. At the end of the day children’s lives must not be destroyed regardless of the false stories that people might spread about us out there”.

A community member who requested anonymity, however, claimed Oosthuizen was being economical with the truth.

“The child’s relatives only discovered she was pregnant after reading about it on a WhatsApp group chat, but Oosthuizen never bothered to officially inform them about the pregnancy. Now they have just discovered the child has been moved to another children’s home in Bulawayo, but there is no official communication from Ethandweni Children’s Home,” said the community member.

Oosthuizen said as far as he knew the pregnant teen’s only close relative made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the girl when she first moved into Ethandweni Children’s Home.

“From the moment the girl moved into this home she became a child of the State which means the decision to move her to another home was made in conjunction with officials from the Department of Social Welfare,” he said.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed that they received a case of sexual abuse at Ethandweni Childrens’ Home and investigations were still underway.

“Investigations are still underway to ascertain who is responsible for the girl’s pregnancy and one of the boys in the institution has also been pinpointed,” said Insp Ndebele. – State Media

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2018 Elections, Mugabe Recruits “Green Bombers”

The National Youth Service programmes are up and running in the country with hundreds of students having enrolled while others are awaiting graduation despite lack of budgetary support.

Scores of National Youth Service students and graduates are currently engaged in various programmes across the country as the programme which seeks to instill discipline and a sense of nationalism among the country’s young people takes a different approach encompassing volunteering work.

National Youth Service Chief Training Officer Mr Jefferynos Mashanda says though they are facing a number of challenges as a result of lack of budgetary support, the enthusiasm amongst young people in participating in developmental programmes is what has kept the programme running.

Acting Deputy Director Polytechnic Education Mr Christopher Mudzingwa says the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development has come on board to assist National Youth Service students with practical training and to provide them with certificates which will enable them to fend for themselves after the programme.

In Tsholotsho, the graduates and students are involved in clearing of resettlement areas where flood victims will be settled once they are released from the Sipepa Camp where they are currently housed.

Several of these youths will also be engaged in the construction of new houses, roads, clinics and the rehabilitation of roads on a voluntary basis amid calls for government and development partners to come on board and ensure the provision of food and tools to be used in the projects.- agencies

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Dr Nkosana Moyo In, But Futile With No Reforms | OPINION

https://youtu.be/Drqj3ggaDiQ?t=3534

Patrick Guramatunhu | I have listened with interest to the Zimeye LIVE panel discussion “Dr Nkosana Moyo seriously considering entering 2018 Presidential race”. The reader should make the effort to listen to the video because the lively discussion raised a number of interesting and important issues.

I would like to comment on the following points:

  1. Can voter mobilization be enough to foil Zanu PF vote rigging?
  1. There must be possibility of opposition winning otherwise why would any of them participate?
  1. What do we, the ordinary people, stand to lose by participating in next year’s elections?
  1. What is the National Transition Authority and why do we need it?

So, starting at the top.

  1. Can voter mobilization be enough to foil Zanu PF vote rigging?

Zanu PF’s vote rigging has grown in diversity and complexity over the last 37 years and it is very well funded; it is no exaggeration that it is able to cope with almost anything that is thrown at it and will come up on top.

 

Dr Moyo said only 19 000 out of 47 000 voted in the recent Mwenezi East by-elections; Zanu PF won 18 000 of the vote. His argument was that the opposition show target the remaining 28 000. In the past Zanu PF has been able to respond in a number of ways to counter such moves. The regime has made rural areas no-go areas for the opposition.

In 2013, the regime made is very difficult for opposition supporters to register as voters, there were more registration centres in Mhondoro (Zanu PF stronghold) with a population of 100 000 than in Harare and Bulawayo with a population of 2 million each.

When it came to voting, the regime denied nearly one million voters, many opposition supporters, the vote; the personal details were not in the constituency voters’ roll they expected. If the regime had released the voters’ roll as it should have done the individual would have had the mistake corrected thus proof this was a deliberate move.

Zanu PF has total controls all aspects of the voting process and thus very the opportunity to adjust and influence everything to ensure a Zanu PF victory.

Zanu PF has tasted absolute power and the party’s determination to hang on to power, to protect their loot and ensure their dirty past is kept a secret, at all cost is the only thing the regime cares about. The regime has all the tools it needs to rig the vote and anyone who thinks the regime will rig the vote and lose the election is naïve.

  1. There must be a possibility of opposition winning otherwise why would any of them participate?

There is simply no possibility of the opposition winning the elections as long as there are no democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote. None!

Since the fiasco of the 2008 elections in which Zanu PF was forced to go into a GNU with MDC, President Mugabe has learnt that he will never again have any more legitimacy problems as long as he allowed the opposition to win some seat on the gravy train. The opposition politicians will contest the election regardless how blatantly flawed the process becomes as long as there are bait seats to be won; Senator David Coltart admitted this in his book.

“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections,” explained Senator Coltart.

 

“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”

  1. What do we, the ordinary people, stand to lose by participating in next year’s elections?

Keeping the status quo, of contesting flawed elections, suits Zanu PF to the T because it gets to rule forever. “Zanu PF ichatonga, tigotonga, tigotanga!” (Zanu PF will rule, and rule and rule!) as VP Emerson Mnangagwa has often boasted in recent times.

Yes, opposition politicians would love to be ministers, VPs and even President but they have settled for the half loaf of the few bait gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away.

The real big losers are the ordinary Zimbabweans who are stuck with the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship for a long time. The only other way for the nation to bring about any meaningful regime change is for the people to stage street protests or worse and pressure Zanu PF to accept meaningful political change leading to free and fair elections.

So, by failing to pressure Zanu PF to accept democratic reforms the people are extending their suffering under the Zanu PF regime and when they have suffered enough, they will come back to the same point – pressure Zanu PF to accept reforms.

  1. What is the National Transition Authority (NTA) and why do we need it?

To understand the NTA one must understand why we needed the GNU in 2008. The primary purpose of the GNU was to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote and thus prevent a repeat of the blatant vote rigging and wanton violence of 2008 elections. Sadly, at the end of the five years it turned out that Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had failed to get even one reforms implemented.

To go forward, we need the reforms to be implemented. The danger of the country being stuck with the present unworkable political system is the country will not have a robust system to elect competent leaders and thus will be stuck with mediocre leaders and regimes.

 

We can ask the government of the day, be it Zanu PF or MDC or whatever, to implement the reforms. It is unlikely that all the reforms will be implemented because the present system favours the incumbent regime and so there is no incentive for the sitting government to reform itself out of an advantageous position.

Force the government of the day to go into yet another GNU and ask the latter to implement the reforms. If the circumstances leading to the formation of the 2008 GNU can be replicated complete with SADC as the guarantor then there is a chance the second GNU will implement the reforms.

Instead of the second GNU being run by the politicians, much less the same individuals who were in the 2008 GNU, a new body staffed with none politicians could be instituted. The new body is the NTA.

Ever since President Mugabe and his Zanu PF regime came into power in 1980 he has systematically denied the ordinary Zimbabweans their basic freedoms and human rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life. After 37 years of being harassed, beaten, raped and some even killed in Zimbabwe’s infamous political culture of vote rigging and wanton violence it is high time people said enough is enough.

The people of Zimbabwe must demand the implementation of all democratic reforms BEFORE the next elections. They have everything to lose from having yet another flawing election and everything to gain from having the country’s first free, fair and credible elections.

Zimbabwe is in this deplorable political and economic mess because there has been no quality political leaders on both side of the political divide. If Dr Nkosana Moyo is considering contesting next year’s elections as a Zanu PF candidate then it must be out of “if you cannot beat them, join them”. Or as one of many opposition candidates contesting for the bait gravy train seats. Either way, he is just one of the many mediocre politicians whose primary interest is his selfish ambition and we should just ignore him!

Senator David Coltart did not make the right decision himself in 2013 but there is no doubt that boycotting a flawed and illegal electoral process, in this case, was and still is the “obvious” choice, the common-sense choice. If Dr Nkosana Moyo cannot be trusted to make the common-sense choice then what good is he as an MP much less as a President!

 

 

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Two Crorocodiles Shot, Believed To Have Remains Of Missing Hunter

Polokwane – Teams searching in Zimbabwe for missing SA hunter Scott van Zyl, 44, have found what is possibly human remains in two crocodiles they shot.

Ex-Colonel Sakkie Louwrens of the Heritage Protection Group (HPG), who is among those trying to find Van Zyl, said on Thursday that they had seen two crocodiles near the banks of the Limpopo River where Van Zyl went missing last Friday, Netwerk24 reported.

He said that in conjunction with Zimbabwe’s police and nature conservation services, a decision had been taken to shoot the crocodiles.

“We found what could possibly be human remains in them.”

The remains will be sent for DNA testing to see if it’s Van Zyl’s. “Until we have the results, we can confirm nothing.”

Meanwhile, his family are still hoping and praying that he is alive.

Pamphlets with a photo of Van Zyl and contact numbers were dropped from choppers in Zimbabwe on Wednesday and Thursday near the vast and bushy area where Van Zyl went missing.

Those searching on land even gave some to people fishing along the banks of the Limpopo.

A reward of $5 000 has been offered for information that can help the search teams track down Van Zyl.

HPG, the SA Hunters’ Association, and the SANDF have joined forces in trying to find Van Zyl.

Police divers even took to the water of the Limpopo River, but to no avail.

According to information from people searching on foot, it seemed as if Van Zyl, the owner of SS Pro Safaris, had gone hunting with a tracker and his dogs in Zimbabwe on Friday, using the Chikwaraka camp as his base. It seems, they say, as if he and the tracker left their bakkie behind and went into the veld on foot. Van Zyl’s gun and personal items were in the bakkie. The men apparently went in separate directions.

Van Zyl’s dogs returned to the camp later in the day, but there was no sign of him. The unnamed tracker raised the alarm, informing authorities that Van Zyl was missing.

Helicopter search teams spotted Van Zyl’s backpack on the banks of the Limpopo River, where his tracks ended.

Messages of support – some from people as far as the US – have been posted on his wife, Suré van Zyl’s Facebook page.

They have two children, Sanél, 11, and SH, 7.

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Drama As Two Teachers Are Caught Bonking Married Woman

Terrence Mawawa, Buhera| In an incident that could easily pass for a Hollywood Movie scene, two teachers here were allegedly caught having sex with a married woman.

Two male teachers from Bhegedhe Secondary School, Moneymaker Ndamuka and Tichaona Jakata, were locked in a house here after being caught having sex with Susan Budzi.
Susan’ s husband caught the three in his house and locked the door for 12 hours. The incident happened in Bhegedhe Village last week. Chief Chamutsa said he summoned the two teachers who admitted they were caught with the married woman around 7pm.

The matter has since been forwarded to the magistrate’s court for confirmation.
Chief Chamutsa said Budzi’s husband got a tip-off that Susan had a relationship with the teachers and he clandestinely returned from South Africa. He arrived at his homestead and found the two in the house.
Local villagers claimed the two teachers were caught as they took turns to have sex with the woman. However Jakata said he was in love with the woman and Ndamuka had only accompanied him to the house.He also said Ndamuka was related to Susan’ s husband.

Chief Chamutsa said :”It is true that the two teachers were caught with Susan.Their case was brought to my attention and they both admitted they were guilty. However, Jakata indicated he was the one who was in love with the woman .” The two were fined three beasts each.

Bhegedhe school head, Langton Mamvura would not comment on the matter.
A senior teacher at the school also refused to comment on the issue.

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Men Can’t Control Their Manhood – Cop

A senior police officer has said all men are potential rapists. Inspector Precious Simango, who is the police spokesperson for Bulawayo said this while reacting to Domestic and Sexual abuse in Zimbabwe.

 Simango told the Chronicle that there is a high tendency of young girls getting raped if left alone with a male relative this Easter Holidays.

‘We want to reiterate that every male is a potential rapist and as such we want to warn the public not to leave the girl child under the guardianship of male relatives.
She also urged the youths not to take part in the act which is a punishable office.
‘We also want to urge the youths not to indulge in activities that may endanger their lives.’ However, police in Zimbabwe have profusely reported on rape cases of female sperm harvesters raping boys in the country.- Agencies

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I Earn $9, Can’t Pay Maintenance – Top Lecturer

A LECTURER with two local universities stunned the court recently when he tried to evade paying maintenance by claiming that his monthly salary from the two universities was $9.

The shocking revelations emerged in court last Thursday when Beauty Nehumba dragged the lecturer only identified as N Dzvairo to court seeking upward maintenance variation for their three minor children.

She wanted the maintenance to be varied upwards from $50 to $250 indicating that he was now employed as a lecturer by Zimbabwe Open University and a part-time lecturer by Solusi University.

Dzvairo told the court that he was not in a position to pay the $250 maintenance for his three minor children that his ex-wife was claiming.

He told the court that his annual salary from ZOU was $56, 60 and that his monthly salary was $9,44.

“I work two semesters per year and that is six months out of the 12 months that are in a year.

“I do not get paid on the six months that are vacations. It is out of passion that I am working, not that the job generates a lot of income Your Worship. It will be best if you dismiss the upwards maintenance variation application because as it is, I am struggling to make ends meet and pay the current maintenance,” he begged the court and provided the court with supporting evidence of his payments from ZOU.

Nehumba, however, insisted that Dzvairo was employed by Solusi University to which he told the court that he had only been a voluntary lecturer at the university once.

“I volunteered lecturing at Solusi University last December and I told her that I was only doing it so that when a position arises, they will employ me, but she failed to understand. It seems all she wants is milking money from me as there have not been any changes from when last we came to court in 2014,” he said.

Presiding over the matter was Miss Nyasha Kuture. Despite proving to the court that he earned $13 a month for lecturing at Zimbabwe Open University and nothing from Solusi University, Nehumba would not hear of it as she demanded that she be given a letter to take to the institutions by the court.

The matter was adjourned to April 20 for continuation. – State Media

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Zuma Still Under VIP Protection

Presidential contender Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is still receiving taxpayer-funded special VIP protection despite government saying earlier this month that she would have to sacrifice this perk when her term ended as African Union chairperson.

This is because of threats against her‚ the South African Police Service said on Friday.

“Dr Dlamini-Zuma continues to receive protection from the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) of the South African Police Service‚ fully in accordance with their mandate and prescripts‚ informed by a threat and security assessment‚” the SAPS said in a statement.

The Sunday Times reported on April 2 that Dlamini-Zuma‚ an ex-Cabinet minister and former wife of President Jacob Zuma‚ had recently visited Luthuli House with a three-car blue-light escort and an armed security detail‚ a courtesy extended to her by the Department of International Relations and Co-operation‚ that was meant to expire in March.

Dlamini-Zuma returned from Addis Ababa on March 15 after a handover process to her successor‚ Moussa Faki Mahamat‚ who was elected in January. During her tenure at the commission‚ she was afforded the status and protocol of a head of state‚ which included a huge security contingent.

In South Africa‚ she was given presidential protection services‚ which are usually extended to the serving president‚ deputy president and former presidents.

The SAPS said: “In terms of the PPU’s mandate‚ protection is provided to the President and Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa‚ former Presidents‚ foreign heads of state and their spouses. The Chairperson of the African Union is afforded courtesies given by DIRCO with the status of President and while serving in that capacity‚ Dr Dlamini-Zuma was provided protection according to this prescript.

“Further protection is being provided to the former African Union Chairperson informed by the outcome of a security assessment conducted and ongoing investigations in relation to threats directed at her person.”

Acting National Commissioner of the SAPS‚ Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane‚ to whom the PPU reports‚ said: “For security reasons‚ the SAPS will not discuss or deliberate on any details of the security afforded to Dr Dlamini-Zuma‚ or in relation to the mentioned threat and security assessment. That in itself would constitute a breach of security.” – Times

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Mnangagwa Blasts it In New Zimdancehall Song

Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo| Dreaded Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has teamed up with two Zimdancehall artists to release a song on the controversial Command Agriculture Programme.

Mnangagwa, who is also known as Ngwena because of his ruthlessness, will reflect the cheerful side of his character as he takes to the dance floor to launch the song Command Agriculture.

The song was written by Wilton Dhobha and Gutu based Zimdancehall artist, Wellington Magura. Magura said the essence of the album was to publicise the Command Agriculture Programme.

“We have decided to further publicise the Command Agriculture Programme through music. Not all of us are interested in reading newspapers. As such we feel music will promote the programme. We appeal to Zimbabweans to support the Command Agriculture Programme,” said Magura.
He also said he was happy with the cooperation from Mnangagwa’ s office.

“The project would not have been a success without the support from Vice President Mnangagwa’ s office. We asked for permission to use video clips from the rallies he addressed. Our song also features his voice.I would like to thank the Vice President for his humility.We feel encouraged to work with a revered person like him,” said Magura.
He said the Command Agriculture Programme was not Mnangagwa’ s personal initiative.
He added the song would be released soon.
Political analysts have said the Command Agriculture P

rogramme is a cosmetic exercise meant to hoodwink the people of Zimbabwe.

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Zuma Gone, But Is There Change?

Thousands are taking to the streets with just one goal: to oust President Jacob Zuma. But his removal might not do much to solve SA’s problems, writes  Sinikka Tarvainen.

Thousands of South Africans are taking to the streets with just one goal: to oust President Jacob Zuma. But his removal might not do much to solve the country’s problems.

Protesters on the lawns of the Union Buildings in Pretoria during the protest by opposition parties calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down.

As thousands of South Africans keep taking to the streets to pressure President Jacob Zuma to step down, it seems as if he were the only obstacle to the country moving forward.

“Zuma must fall” has become a popular slogan since demonstrations against corruption and unemployment gathered pace in 2015. Even many members of Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) party have turned against him.

Removing Zuma, however, may not be a panacea to solve SA’s problems, analysts say.

The ANC is so dominated by people with ties or an outlook similar to Zuma’s, and the country’s economic problems are so intermingled with inequalities inherited from the apartheid era, that his ouster might in fact not change much, they say.

Zuma’s reputation has been tarnished by a string of corruption scandals, including one involving the use of taxpayers’ money to upgrade his country home, and his close ties to an influential business family.

Millions of South Africans meanwhile live in illegal settlements with hardly any services, while economic growth slowed to 0.3 per cent last year and more than a quarter of the workforce is unemployed.

The country’s economic woes were worsened by Zuma’s decision to sack respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan, which sent the rand into free fall and prompted two ratings agencies to downgrade South Africa to junk status.

While the economic stagnation is partly due to external factors such as a drought and a slump in mineral prices, it is also seen as being due to erroneous policies.

“Wastage and corruption together with the bailing out of a series of unproductive state-owned companies have squandered very precious tax resources that should have gone into infrastructure development and service delivery,” said Frans Cronje, CEO of the think-tank South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

The problem is not only slow growth, but also the “gigantic inequality” between the rich elite and the poor masses, said Nicolas Pons-Vignon, senior economics researcher at Johannesburg’s Witwatersrand University.

The country has one of the highest inequality rates in the world, with the top decile accounting for 58 percent of the country’s income, while the bottom half accounts for less than 8 percent, according to the World Bank.

The whitewashed villas surrounded by security walls in Johannesburg’s leafy suburbs stand in contrast to townships with unpaved roads and shack dwellings.

More than two decades after the end of apartheid, the inequality still largely overlaps with the black-white divide, despite the emergence of a black middle class.

More than 70 percent of the country’s top managers are white, despite blacks making up 80 percent and whites only 8 percent of the 56-million population, according to IRR.

Nearly all white children graduate from secondary school, compared to 67 percent of black children, IRR has said.

The government’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) programmes, which practise affirmative action through measures such as giving black-led companies preference for state contracts, have mainly benefited just a small elite linked to those in power, according to critics.

Only 14 percent of blacks have benefited from BEE, IRR said in a new study.

Zuma is now trying to turn black discontent to his advantage by pledging “radical economic transformation” against “white monopoly capital.”

Pons-Vignon dismisses such talk as “pure rhetoric in light of the sustained failure to respond to the demands of poor people” and their constant protest rallies, which have gone on for years but received little media coverage, to call for better schools or health care.

Zuma’s real interest is in securing his wealth and shielding himself from prosecution after he leaves power, analysts say. Cronje sees the sacking of Gordhan as part of a power play that allowed the president to reassert his control over the ANC.

The liberation movement that gave the world the iconic Nelson Mandela and has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994 saw its support dwindle in the August 2016 local elections.

It is, however, still expected to win the 2019 national elections, which Zuma can no longer contest after serving two terms.

Another ANC leader who might replace Zuma “would be unlikely to change the current neo-liberal economic policies that have been unable to lift the black majority out of poverty,” Pons-Vignon told dpa.

If the ANC later suffers an election defeat to the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA), the new government may do a better job at spurring growth, but it is not any more likely to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, analysts said.

A DA-led government “would mainly just make a difference to big business, which is already well treated in South Africa,” Pons-Vignon said. – dpa