Farai Dziva|Two MDC members have been hospitalized after inhaling tear gas smoke, it has emerged.
The two inhaled tear gas smoke as police violently dispersed MDC members in Masvingo during Job Sikhala’s trial on Friday.
“In Masvingo we have two women who were affected by tear gas smoke and they are seeking medical care.
We suspect there are many citizens who were affected by the smoke.
Police are to blame for attacking peaceful citizens.
Violence erupted when a reckless police officer ordered the firing of teargas canisters on peaceful citizens,”said former Masvingo Central MP Jeffryson Chitando.
Farai Dziva|Controversial former MDC T deputy president Obert Gutu has claimed that the opposition will not win the 2023 polls.
“We’re now focusing on 2028 because, as I have already stated, 2023 is a CASE CLOSED. The impending implosion and inevitable split of the main opposition political party in Zimbabwe is also pointing to another NO contest in 2028. It is what it is,” claimed Gutu.
“It’s always dangerous and foolhardy to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares! Be real! Choose which side you’re! You can’t have your cake and eat it! You can’t blow hot and cold! You can’t approbate and reprobate!
A few days ago, I tweeted that 2023 is done and dusted! I repeat, here and now : 2023 is already a done deal! A fait accompli! Let’s now focus on 2028, which apparently, is mostly likely going to produce a similar result!”
Farai Dziva|Controversial former MDC T deputy president Obert Gutu has claimed that the opposition will not win the 2023 polls.
“We’re now focusing on 2028 because, as I have already stated, 2023 is a CASE CLOSED. The impending implosion and inevitable split of the main opposition political party in Zimbabwe is also pointing to another NO contest in 2028. It is what it is,” claimed Gutu.
“It’s always dangerous and foolhardy to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares! Be real! Choose which side you’re! You can’t have your cake and eat it! You can’t blow hot and cold! You can’t approbate and reprobate!
A few days ago, I tweeted that 2023 is done and dusted! I repeat, here and now : 2023 is already a done deal! A fait accompli! Let’s now focus on 2028, which apparently, is mostly likely going to produce a similar result!”
A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy died after he was hit by a commuter omnibus while attempting to cross a street in Bulawayo.
The incident happened on Monday at around 4PM at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Fort Street.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident but could not reveal the identity of the deceased as his next of kin have not been formally notified of his death.
He said the commuter omnibus, a Toyota Hiace, failed to stop as the driver was turning right into Fort Street.
He then struck the deceased who sustained serious head injuries and body bruises.
“I can confirm that we attended to an accident involving a pedestrian and a motor vehicle where a nine-year-old boy died on the spot after being hit by a commuter omnibus.
The incident happened on Monday afternoon and the deceased was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are still investigating the matter,” said Insp Ncube.
He called for sanity on the roads, saying most accidents in the Central Business District are a result of human error.
“We appeal to motorists to drive with caution.
That area has a lot of school children who will be crossing from McKeurtan and Robert Tredgold schools.
“It is one of the busiest intersections in town and motorists, especially drivers of public service vehicles, are in the habit of speeding along that road, especially when they cruise through the Lobengula Street robots along 3rd Avenue and make a sharp turn into Fort Street. It’s very dangerous behaviour and will continue to cause loss of life if it is not addressed,” he said.-State media
The Zengeza MP Job Sikhala has been followed by state security agents while heading for a court hearing. Sikhala makes the revelations in the following update.
By Hon Job Wiwa Sikhala MDC National Vice Chairman :
My dear friends, it is with sadness that I announce to you that my security situation is precarious and under danger. As I am writing this message we are passing in Norton at 19:39 hrs. I have been quite since my acquittal on Treason charges recently in Masvingo because I was attending to a serious client case at the Regional Magistrate Courts in Karoi.
Dear colleagues, I went to Karoi on Monday after I was phoned that if I don’t present myself the trial was going without my presence. The accused is a solid MDC member Tonderai. I was persuaded by our strong MDC Provincial official Wilson Makanyaire that I must be a lawyer to our member.
It is a commitment I accepted last year in September, as I was touched that this was a call to duty. The accused was given a last warning that if I don’t present myself on Monday, the Court was going to proceed with the trial as I have been giving excuses that I could not attend because on the first setdown of trial which was on the 28th of January which I was attending my Treason trial in Masvingo. I had to go Karoi without fail on Monday evening because our party member was under attack and siege. I went on Monday in the company of my security details and surreptitiously entered Karoi. On Tuesday morning I executed my mandate when the trial commensed. It went on without drama.
The trial had to continue today as I could not finish the cross examination yesterday. It resumed at 8:30 am. I arrived at the Court to find a massive deployment of a huge contingent of CIOs and military intelligence personnel. They were more than 50 at the Court. My security details including Wilson Makanyaire informed me of the situation. I told them to ask then what their mission was? I was briefed that they thought that I had come for Simbarashe Marumahoko’s, the son to Reuben Marumahoko’s, the former ZANU PF Minister whom I voluntarily represented my first day I arrived in Karoi last year when he was accused of having insulted Emmerson Mnangagwa who purport to be a the President of Zimbabwe. I felt challenged and gave him pro amico legal services. I applied for his bail pending trial which the State was opposing furiously. I was confronted by Ziyambi Ziyambi and Themba Mliswa’s sister Mary Mliswa who is the Provincial Minister for Mash West why I represented Marumahoko’s son to obtain bail at Parliament after his admission to bail.
Today after finishing my cross examination of the complainant at 17:38hrs my security details advised me to travel back to Harare as the security situation was untenable in Karoi. The full deployment at the Court and the stoking by the security agency throughout was hazardous.
When we left Karoi, driven by Cllr Chiwanza of Ward 6 in Chitungwiza, two vehicles trailed us from Karoi. We drove fast until Murombedzi Growth Point. When Cllr Chiwanza realized the two vehicles were on our back he alerted me. I asked him to move. And he knows what I mean when I ask him to move. They also speeded, overtook Cllr Chiwanza and flag down violently between the late dictator Robert Mugabe’s resting place and Norton. Cllr Chiwanza was violently flagged down to stop. He skidded past the idiots although I asked him to stop. I wanted to stop, come out and confront them to get exactly what they wanted.
They became more daring when we were approaching Norton. They viciously pursued us but failed to thwart the speed of Cllr Chiwanza.
Let it be known. I am ready Emmerson Mnangagwa for your kill. Your haunting dogs are smaller than Zimbabwe. You can live in illusions. I am not afraid. Should I stop working for my family and the people of Zimbabwe because of your release of dogs against your opponents. Go to hell. You don’t own life. Neither do you own Zimbabwe. I dare you idiot. The day I will die, is the day my God would have allowed it to happen. You don’t own life Emmerson. That’s why I see you as a demented idiot. Your evil will never prosper over good.
Dear friends. My life is under direct threat from evil men and women who are purporting to be running our country. Please if anything happens to me let it be known that Emmerson Mnangagwa is the first culprits. He has clueless dogs and reptiles. I am a lawyer, I will do my work allover the jurisdiction of Zimbabwe without fearing anyone. Go hang.
Farai Dziva|
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes the Champions League – Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid is far from over after his team went down 1-0 in the first leg played on Tuesday at Estadio Metropolitano.
Saul Niguez tapped in a loose ball to score the solitary goal in the fourth minute after the visitors had failed to clear out a corner-kick.
The Reds, on their part, had 73 per cent of possession in the encounter but were unable to find a way through the spirited Atletico rearguard.
“I have no problem with the result. If you are 1-0 down at half-time in a normal game, you would say, ‘OK, we change this and this and that’ and then we would give it a try. We will give it a try – 100 per cent – in the next game as well.
“I saw so many happy faces tonight from Atletico and all that stuff, I get that because it is a big win but it is not over yet and that’s the only thing I feel.”
The gaffer also explained the reason behind the substitution of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in the second half.
“Obviously, the plan tonight was get Sadio out of the game with a yellow card.
“I was afraid his opponent would go down now even if Sadio takes a deep breath or whatever and I didn’t want to have that situation, so that’s why we took him off.
“Mo was just a tactical change, that’s all. We wanted to change a little bit and that’s what we did,” he added.
I-Harare|Former Deputy Minister of Finance And Economic Development for Zimbabwe, Terrence Mukupe, has fired back at Prophet Shepherd Bushiri following allegations that the Prophet cheated on and impregnated his wife.
Bushiri who is the founder of the popular Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church furiously denied the allegations and threatened Mukupe with legal action unless he retracts his claims.
However, instead of backing down and retracting, Mukupe seems to have doubled down on his position. Undeterred by the threats of legal action, Mukupe rubbished Bushiri’s defence and provided ‘evidence’ to support his claims that Bushiri was having an affair with his wife. This is the same evidence that Bushiri also rubbished in his own statement.
He also called Bushiri a fake prophet who runs a fake church and demanded back the R100 000 that he had seeded in Bushiri’s church. With regards to the legal action, Mukupe told Bushiri to bring it on bragging, that if the matter goes to court, it will become clear who between the two of them “serves a true God.”
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, so you have decided to go public on this… no problem… if that’s not you in that pic be my guest… I’m coming after you… if that’s not your mobile you were using for WhatsApp be my guest… you can’t be taking advantage of people like that… I want the R100k that we seeded to your fake church back… false prophet!!! As you said your lawyers are ready to sue please deliver the summons I’m waiting… I want you Bushiri to deny that you met her three times Lilongwe, Pretoria and you Rustenberg place with my blessing, me buying the plane tickets and you offering to go into business with us with Hon Chihana from Malawi in tow… deny it and we will see who serves a true God!!!
Some of the V11s from Terrence Mukupe detailing Bushiri extramarital affair with his wife
Bushiri is yet to respond to Mukupe’s latest claims.
TWIN brothers from Mberengwa have each been sentenced to 31 years in prison for taking turns to rape a woman before robbing her of her valuables as punishment for causing the arrest of their relative.
The brothers (27) allegedly prepared sadza and roasted meat in their victim’s kitchen after raping her.
They ate the food before vanishing into the night.
Handsome and Giveus Shumba on Wednesday appeared before Gweru regional magistrate Mrs Phathekile Msipa facing, unlawful entry, robbery and rape charges.
The two pleaded not guilty, but were convicted after a full trial.
Mrs Msipa sentenced them to five years each for unlawful entry, six years each for robbery and 20 years each for rape.
A Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) student hacked into the university’s Examination Results database and forged results for himself and seven other students who had failed their semester exams last year.
The student received varying amounts in United States dollars from the students who had failed in courses such as financial management, commercial law, computer organisation and architecture and operating systems among others.
Some of the students had failed multiple courses and paid amounts ranging from US$20 and US$80. The 20-year-old student also altered his August to December 2018 results where he was supposed to rewrite a failed course and went on to proceed with his studies.
He is currently in Level 2.2 at the university and allegedly accessed the CUT Examination Computer Database Server using a Python Script called SQLMap.
The matter was discovered and he has since been arrested.
KWEKWE General Hospital medical superintendent, Patricia Mapanda on Monday appealed to government to tighten security at the institution to protect its staff from marauding machete gangs who usually make follow-ups on their hospitalised victims.
Speaking during a tour at the institution by the Health Services Board (HSB), Mapanda said the gangs stormed the institution carrying machetes and other dangerous weapons, a situation that was compromising the safety of hospital staff.
“We have a serious problem with machete gangs, especially artisanal miners,”Mapanda said. “They (machete gangs) clash and attack each other before making follow-ups on their victims admitted at this institution.”
She added: “They would be hiding machetes in their trousers only to bring them out in the hospital wards and in the process threatening nurses on duty.”
“We need HSB to really consider armed security personnel for the safety of our staff.”
She said the institution had since approached the officer commanding Kwekwe police and a promise to set up a base at the hospital had been made.
Mapanda said although none of their staff had been harmed so far, they lived in constant fear. HSB chairperson Paulinus Sikhosana said the board would look into the issue.
Last year, four gun-totting men stormed the institution but they left without harming anyone. It is believed they were hunting for their victim to finish him off.
Recently, Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavima called on stakeholders to join hands with the police and decisively deal with machete gangs before they become warlords who have the potential to start a civil war.
Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition MDC has said that his Landcruiser was not donated by Sakunda Holdings boss, Kuda Tagwirei as some media houses had earlier suggested.
Chamisa said that he can only be bought by the aspirations of the citizenry and not material things adding that he is a qualified lawyer who was earning money from the profession.
Media Statement|As MLF, we applaud Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi for clearing the air over who can name streets in Bulawayo, a move that recently saw deputy local government minister Marian Chombo disqualify the changes that Bulawayo City Council had done to some city streets. It is clear that Marian Chombo’s interest was to further the illegal occupation of Mthwakazi by her tribe than ensuring justice for the people of Mthwakazi whose history has been deliberately distorted by the people like her.
Therefore with the person who knows how justice is exercised having cleared the air over the issue and as stakeholders in the running of the City of the Kings, we would also like to query some changes made and put forward suggestions to them.
As a people whose history is preserved by the changing of names of the streets and properties view the made name changes of some streets as not only an insult to us but a hard-forced reminder of what we went through. Also, to add on our disapproval of some names, recently the same exercise was conducted in Masvingo where MDC counselors were reported as eager to name one other street after Morgan Tshwangirai but the proposal was strongly rejected on basis that Tshwangirai hailed from Gutu and should be honoured there. It then boggles our minds to learn that our City honours people from other countries/regions and people who do not have a clear history with the city ahead of its own people. We therefore strongly disapprove of the naming of; 1. Plumtree Road after Benjamin Burombo Benjamin Burombo born in Buhera (Manicaland) was a labour union leader Born in Buhera in Manicaland. The fact that he worked in Bulawayo, where he formed the British African National Voice Association in 1947, does not qualify him to be honoured in Bulawayo.
2. Manchester Road – George Nyandoro George Nyandoro was born in the Chiota Reserve in Harare and he served as the Secretary General of the very same ZANU that started killing our people as earl as 1975 in Tanzania. Is that what he has to be honoured for in Bulawayo?
3. Athlone Avenue – Simon Vengai Muzenda Born in Gutu, Simon Vengai Muzenda was a ZANU PF member, a Gukurahundist who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1987. The best honour for Muzenda in Bulawayo will be for LUVEVE CEMETRY to be named after him.
4. George Avenue (from Harare Road to Old Esigodini Road) -Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Avenue. The fact that Emmerson Mnangagwa geographically hails from within Mthwakazi (Selukwe) does not qualify him for special honour in Mthwakazi but because he has a nasty history with Mthwakazi the WEST PARK CEMETRY where tens of thousands of his victims lie, should be named after him.
We propose that; 1. George Avenue be named Prince Njube Khumalo Avenue. 2. Athlone Avenue be named Prince Nyamande Khumalo Avenue 3. Street Manchester Road be named Mgandane Road 4. Luveve Cemetry be named Simon Muzenda Cemetry 5. N06 Cemetry be named Robert Gabriel Mugabe Cemetry 6. West Park Cemetry be named Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Cemetry
We believe in this way, the true history of Mthwakazi and the city will be preserved.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa has vowed to lead from the front, a series of mass protests to pressure President Emmerson Mnangagwa to accept dialogue and implement comprehensive political reforms ahead of 2023 harmonised elections.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Harare on Wednesday, Chamisa pledged to provide leadership in the upcoming mass protest. The opposition leader said citizens were ready to revolt against the economic mess caused by the ZANU PF regime.
“We will see more protests. We have the Constitution which gives the people the power to hold peaceful demonstrations.
“We have the right to protest. What we have to give is the oxygen. We will provide leadership. We will not accept any tomfoolery from the police,” said Chamisa.
Chamisa accused Mnangagwa’s government of banning 18 public events organised by the opposition last year.
“They will arrest and kill some of us, but no gun is more powerful than a conscious mind. Some people are saying why don’t you focus on 2023. That is foolishness. Foolishness is doing the same thing with no results. There has to be a radical approach, a disruptive approach.
“No gun is effective against a people who are resolute. We have given peace a chance. The regime must not take us for granted,” Chamisa added.
The opposition leader blamed ZANU PF for sanctions imposed on the country.
He said ZANU PF has done bad things for the people of Zimbabwe.
“Why should our country be debated in Europe on account of what we have done or not?
“Why should our country be debated in the holes of Washington?
” It is because we have done things that are bad for our own people.
“Why would you rape women? Why would you kill citizens who are demonstrating? Chamisa said.
Own Correspondent|BULAWAYO businessman Oricious Moyo who was alleged to have shot dead Tawanda “MaPecca” Moyo, a former member of Siyaya Art, was today acquitted of murder charges
Moyo (41) of Emganwini suburb, who was facing a murder charge in connection with the death of “MaPecca”, was acquitted by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese.
The former employee of the cash-in-transit company wanted for theft of millions of rands.
Sowetan|The SBV security guard who vanished after allegedly stealing R4m from a cash depot was apparently seen at her sister’s wedding in Soweto in December.
Neighbours in Dlamini where Bathobile Mlangeni lived said she attended the wedding. But her mother, who asked not to be named, denied this, saying she had not seen her daughter since the incident occurred in July.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Mlangeni had spent a few days at her home in December before she disappeared again.
He said he was shocked when he read about Mlangeni and her alleged involvement in the disappearance of the millions from the depot at the Mall of Africa in Midrand.
“She is such a sweet person. She grew up here and I knew her well. I would have never thought that she would do something like this,” said the neighbour.
Another neighbour said he had seen Mlangeni in the area numerous times before the wedding.
“There was nothing flashy about her. She wasn’t using a car or anything, just taxis like a regular person. I didn’t even know that she was wanted because she didn’t live here anymore. She lived close to where she worked and I don’t know where that is,” he said.
Mlangeni, 29, vanished into thin air after she strolled out from a SBV Secure Solutions collection facility on July 15 and has never been seen.
She was on duty at the time of the incident and sources said she allegedly cut open two bulk cash bags with a pair of scissors before transferring the money into a number of refuse bags which she placed in a trolley and walked out of the centre.
However, Mlangeni’s mother said she did not know why her daughter was being sought by police because she was not a thief. “My daughter would not steal a penny – not a cent. You can leave your valuables here and she would not even touch them. That is not the type of person she is or the person I raised,” she said.
Asked when she last saw her daughter, she said: “I haven’t seen her since she was accused of stealing the money. I don’t know where she is.”
But before she could continue with the interview, Mlangeni’s other relative interjected and said the family would not comment any further on the matter.
The family has not opened a missing person’s case with the police.
Mlangeni lived in Midrand before she allegedly committed the crime, a former roommate told Sowetan.
The roommate, who also asked not to be named, described Mlangeni as a bubbly and happy person. He said he was shocked when he was taken in for questioning by the police shortly after she disappeared.
“Firstly, she moved out a month before the incident (theft) happened. Police came to me to ask about her and when I last saw her. I told them she moved out a month ago (at the time) and I haven’t seen her since,” he said.
Gauteng police spokesperson Capt Mavela Masondo said Mlangeni was wanted in connection with the disappearance of millions of rands while she was on duty. “She has not reported for work since the day the money went missing,” he said.
He urged members of the public who know her whereabouts to come forward.
Yesterday, SBV group CEO Mark Barrett appealed for information that may help in the investigation.
“As a key service provider that ensures that cash is available for the citizens of South Africa, and as a responsible corporate citizen, we do not tolerate any crime and take all internal and external incidents in a serious light.
“If an incident does occur, we will focus our efforts together with the relevant authorities to ensure that the perpetrators involved are brought to justice,” Barrett said.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Mlangeni is asked to contact Det-Cpt Oupa Miya on 082-333-0525 or Det-Sgt Tumo Mohutsiwa on 082-822-6794.
Own Correspondent|A Zimbabwean woman who arrived in the capital, Harare, on Tuesday from Wuhan, China is being held in isolation as authorities in the Southern African country take all necessary steps to guard against the Coronavirus.
Epidemiology and Disease Control (Ministry of Health and Child Care) Director Dr Portia Manangazira confirmed the development to ZTN News on Wednesday.
“Yes, we have the case of a 27-year-old Zimbabwean who is being held at the Wilkins Hospital’s specialised unit in isolation. She was in Wuhan and passed through Guangzhou where she was certified to be Coronavirus negative and has a certificate to show for it.
“When she arrived we were aware that she was coming because the Chinese authorities had alerted us and we took the precautionary steps of putting her in isolation. She is presently being monitored by a team of experts, including Chinese physicians. We will keep the nation updated.”
The Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was contacted by ZimEye at 6pm on the matter but would not comment further …
A report alleges that Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital in Harare has admitted a visitor who recently travelled to China with symptoms of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19).
The hospital was under virtual lockdown from around 1pm with armed guards controlling movement of people.
Sources said the hospital has since transfered all its patients to Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital also in the capital.
“An emergency meeting has been called and the Government is soon expected to make an announcement,” a source at the Ministry of Health said.
The Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was contacted by ZimEye at 6pm on the matter but would not comment further on the matter.
Correspondent|The Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) has reportedly fired 40 drivers after it had emerged that they had no driver’s licence.
The development was reported by Zim Morning Post, a local publication which indicated however that the Zupco chief executive Evaristo Madangwa could neither confirm nor deny the development, he told this publication that he was in a meeting. An unnamed source to the publication reportedly said:
Zupco now wants drivers with five year experience yet those they said are unqualified have been carrying passengers all along with no licences.
The alleged development follows a spate of accidents involving ZUPCO buses prompting many to qua=estion the roadworthiness of the buses and the competency of drivers.
Some, however, attributed the accidents to the state of local roads which they describe as death traps. Zim Morning Post adds that there are reports suggesting that there is massive corruption in the company which resulted in 42 buses and commuter omnibuses failing a physical fitness test conducted by the Vehicle Inspection department in December last year.
Correspondent|Civil Society Organisations under the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition banner on Tuesday took a firm stand and dismissed in totality Constitutional Amendment Bill No.2 for what it is, a mockery to democracy and a recipe for disaster.
Without any compromise members unanimously agreed that there will be no changes to the constitution before its full implementation.
In arriving at this decision, CiZC members analysed all proposed changes and came to a conclusion that the common denominator to all proposed changes is political emotion largely driven by the desire to consolidate power in the hands of the ruling elite.
This will thus be achieved through a Constitutional amendment scheme that will see the president wielding too much executive powers in relation to the appointments of Vice Presidents, a shift from the current running mate provision in the 2013 Constitution, a provision which guarantees that the country does not go back to the one party state period.
The proposed amendments also relate to the appointments of the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges, all of which is evident of the strong desire to impose the views of the ruling elite in all these appointments.
CiZC members noted that these changes are miles away from guaranteeing a democratic governance system as they have an effect of undermining traditional checks and balances existing in the yet to be implemented 2013 Constitution.
Of great concern to CSOs is the fact that the proposed amendments are not a result of any consultative process which involved citizens, thereby justifying the position taken by CSOs as the decision taken by the ruling elite does not single handedly justify fundamental changes to the constitution.
To defend this position, CiZC membership agreed to belt out a nationwide campaign educating citizens on the impact of the proposed changes and most importantly mobilizing citizens to reject in totality proposed Constitutional changes.
Correspondent|GOVERNMENT has reversed its recent increase in examination fees for Ordinary and Advanced Level following a public outcry over the hike.
The fees had been pegged as;
ORDINARY LEVEL PER SUBJECT –
School Candidates ZWL$190.00 Private Candidates ZWL$190.00 Extra-Territorial Candidates ZWL$443.00
A’ LEVEL
School Candidates ZWL$351.00 Private Candidates ZWL$351.00 Communication Skills ZWL$324.00 Extra-Territorial Candidates ZWL$716.00
Addressing a press conference Wednesday, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Cain Mathema informed all stakeholders to disregard the circular which was released detailing the 2020 examination fees.
“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education would like to inform parents and guardians that following further representations, the recently released circular on the 2020 examination fees has been cancelled with immediate effect,” he said.
The Minister added that new fees will be announced after further consultations have been made and that parents and guardians will continue to pay the old fees approved in 2015.
Own Correspondent|Prophet Shepherd Bushiri of Enlighten Christian Gathering (ECG) Church has denied impregnating wife of Terence Mukupe, former deputy minister in Zimbabwe.
Bushiri said this in a statement posted on his official facebook page.
According to Bushiri, the claims by Makupe are false aimed at tarnishing his image.
“It is not in my nature to respond to allegations levelled against me. However, it has come to my attention that Terence Mukupe, a disgraced former deputy minister in Zimbabwe has made false allegations that I am responsible for his wife’s pregnancy.
“The basis of his allegations are screenshots of chats and messages purportedly between me and his wife,” wrote Bushiri.
Below is the statement from Bushiri;
It is not in my nature to respond to allegations levelled against me. However, it has come to my attention that Terence Mukupe, a disgraced former deputy minister in Zimbabwe has made false allegations that I am responsible for his wife’s pregnancy.
The basis of his allegations are screenshots of chats and messages purportedly between me and his wife.
For the purposes of clarity.
I am not on WhatsApp. Neither am I on iMessenger. This has been the case since late 2017. Those with access to me will know this. Those who do not, please stand guided, I AM NOT ON WHATSAPP or iMESSENGER. I have not been for 3 years.
Secondly, I have not traveled out of South Africa in the last 13 months, and therefore have not met this man’s wife in Malawi as he believes. This ought to be public knowledge.
Thirdly the contact number in his pictures is NOT mine and has never been mine. Therefore whoever was speaking with this man’s wife isn’t me. Given all this, it is therefore impractical and impossible for his allegations to be materially true.
Sadly this guy’s lies are part of a pattern of libel and slander that has been directed at me for over a decade.
The bible teaches us to forgive and ignore, but there also comes a time when those that make defamatory and highly damaging allegations about others must face the music of their choice.
I have consequently engaged my lawyers in Zimbabwe to urgently seek legal recourse.
As you may know, since 2019 I have been suing every newspaper that carries fake stories about me. This is on record. I have been suing and winning, and media house after media house has been apologising and paying damages for their lies. It is a strategy that has become policy.
I therefore call on Terence Mukupe to respect his wife, his marriage and his children. For him to tell the whole world that his wife was impregnanted by another man paints him in bad light but also opens his wife to all forms of abuse.
A man has a duty and obligation to protect his wife and Terence must not open her up to abuse and name calling.
I call on him to respect my family and everyone else. These false allegations stay on the internet forever and will harm many lives. If they were true it would make sense. But these are lies.
To sue him, win and take money from him would be unfortunate, as his already doing all this to me for money. Sir, fear God, don’t be desperate to the level of selling a good name of yourself with cheap lies like these.
But as I said, if he chooses otherwise, we will have no option but to make yet another example out of him.
We cannot tolerate and allow slander, libel and defamation to go unchallenged.
Lastly, I pray that Mukupe makes peace with his wife and whoever is responsible for her pregnancy. God Bless you Zimbabwe. I love you!
Farai Dziva|
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes the Champions League – Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid is far from over after his team went down 1-0 in the first leg played on Tuesday at Estadio Metropolitano.
Saul Niguez tapped in a loose ball to score the solitary goal in the fourth minute after the visitors had failed to clear out a corner-kick.
The Reds, on their part, had 73 per cent of possession in the encounter but were unable to find a way through the spirited Atletico rearguard.
“I have no problem with the result. If you are 1-0 down at half-time in a normal game, you would say, ‘OK, we change this and this and that’ and then we would give it a try. We will give it a try – 100 per cent – in the next game as well.
“I saw so many happy faces tonight from Atletico and all that stuff, I get that because it is a big win but it is not over yet and that’s the only thing I feel.”
The gaffer also explained the reason behind the substitution of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in the second half.
“Obviously, the plan tonight was get Sadio out of the game with a yellow card.
“I was afraid his opponent would go down now even if Sadio takes a deep breath or whatever and I didn’t want to have that situation, so that’s why we took him off.
“Mo was just a tactical change, that’s all. We wanted to change a little bit and that’s what we did,” he added.
Liverpool’s defence of their Champions League title hangs in the balance after Saul Niguez’s early strike gave Atletico Madrid an aggregate lead going into the second leg of their last-16 tie at Anfield.
The Reds were given a dose of their own medicine as Atletico harried and hassled throughout, limiting them to just two clear chances and no shots on target.
Those opportunities fell to Mohamed Salah, who headed wide, and Jordan Henderson, whose hooked shot just missed Jan Oblak’s far post.
Klopp replaced Sadio Mane and Salah with Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but neither made an impact.
Two-time finalists Atletico, who have been on a poor run of form, held on to a fourth-minute lead given to them by Saul.
The Spanish midfielder turned sharply to fire home after a corner came off the boot of Fabinho.
The return leg is on Wednesday, 11 March.
Minutes before kick-off Klopp referred to Atletico having a similar “intense DNA” to his own side – and unfortunately for him they were at their intense best.
What faced the Reds was almost a mirror image – a team that relentlessly pressed and got numbers forward on the counter.
The Reds had large spells of possession in the opposition half, but Diego Simeone’s Atletico side are past masters at dealing with teams of that type. They forced Liverpool into several errors when they had possession, and limited them to only two clear chances on goal.
In fact, Liverpool had to wait until the 53rd minute for their first opening – Salah’s stooping header drifting comfortably wide.
The German coach, obviously not happy with his attacking threat in the first half, had twisted at half-time when he brought on Origi for the under-par Mane.
However, the Belgium striker – the hero of last year’s final – was easily marshalled, bar one moment of quality when he hooked in a cross for captain Henderson, who fired wide.
Klopp’s skipper came off injured in the 80th minute to cap a forgettable night.
Liverpool have it in them to turn this tie around at Anfield, but unlike Barcelona in last year’s semi-final, Simeone’s Atletico will be a tougher nut to crack. Klopp men’s will have to be at their very best in three weeks.-State media
Farai Dziva|Knowledge Musona is set to miss this weekend’s game against Anderlecht.
The 29-year old is on a six-month loan at KAS Eupen from the Purple & White and according to Belgian newspaper L’Avenir, the striker will not be allowed to face his parent club on Sunday.
The paper claims regulations of the Belgian Football Association stipulate that a loaned player is not allowed to feature in the encounter if his parent club is still paying part of the salary.
This will affect Musona as Anderlecht are said to be paying “a part of his salary” as per their contract with KAS Eupen.
SUMMARY: Norton MP Temba Mliswa’s suit was torn in parliament after alleging that MDC legislator Settlement Chikwinya had linked the VP Constantino Chiwenga to coronavirus.
This irked MDC MPs who then barred him from taking a seat among them. While in the process trying to take back his seat, he forced his way to reclaiming it and in the process his suit was torn.
Farai Dziva|Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has disclosed what he labels as the “formula” teams can use to beat his former side.
Liverpool are unbeat in the current Premier League campaign and they have swept aside nearly every team that has come in their way, with winning the title a matter of when and not if for the Jurgen Klopp-coached side.
Benietez however belives there is a way to stop the runaway log leaders.
“When our Newcastle United team played Liverpool, our quick players weren’t faster than theirs were, so in the end the only way to get something from the game is to be really solid,”said Benitez.
The problem is that you cannot keep this solidity up forever if they are on top of you all the time,” told UK-based newspaper The Athletic.
“Defending for 90 minutes is impossible, so you have to try to create something on the counter-attack, to be a threat, to give them something to be more worried about.” he said.
Benitez has however, as a manager, faced Liverpool under Klopp on six occasions, failing to win any of those games.
The late Afro- Jazz artist Prince Kudakwashe Musarurwa , who died over the weekend, was laid to rest on Tuesday.
Musarurwa was buried in Musarurwa Village, Zvimba, where he was confined for the greater part of his illness.
A family friend Diana “Mangwenya” Samkange, who is also a singer, eulogised Musarurwa during his burial.
She said:
He was a good friend of mine and we used to hang around together as a brother and sister. We were inseparable before he relocated to Zvimba where we buried him in his village.
Everything went according to plan and we are happy with the turnout at the burial as fellow artistes and music promoters came to support him.
Musarurwa died of lung cancer at the age of 31.
He became a household name following the release of his single, “Runonzi Rudo” featuring Pah Chihera.
Several musicians and promoters contributed to the Muasrurwa family, among them Mahwindo Foundation, Edd 10 UK, Y2K UK, Chipaz Promotions, 2 Kings Entertainment, Boss Spencer Madziya, Zimbabwe Music Rights Association.-H-Metro
Norton MP Temba Mliswa’s suit was torn in parliament after alleging that MDC legislator Settlement Chikwinya had linked the VP Constantino Chiwenga to coronavirus.
This irked MDC MPs who then barred him from taking a seat among them. While in the process trying to take back his seat, he forced his way to reclaiming it and in the process his suit was torn.
Farai Dziva|Controversial former MDC T deputy president Obert Gutu has claimed that the opposition will not win the 2023 polls.
“We’re now focusing on 2028 because, as I have already stated, 2023 is a CASE CLOSED. The impending implosion and inevitable split of the main opposition political party in Zimbabwe is also pointing to another NO contest in 2028. It is what it is,” claimed Gutu.
“It’s always dangerous and foolhardy to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares! Be real! Choose which side you’re! You can’t have your cake and eat it! You can’t blow hot and cold! You can’t approbate and reprobate!
A few days ago, I tweeted that 2023 is done and dusted! I repeat, here and now : 2023 is already a done deal! A fait accompli! Let’s now focus on 2028, which apparently, is mostly likely going to produce a similar result!”
It affects both animals and humans and can be transmitted from animals to humans. Anyone anywhere can be infected by the virus. It infect people through coughing and sneezing, touching an infected person’s hands or face or touching infected objects an infected person has touched. It is like all the other viruses that cause common cold and is common in winter.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever and a feeling of being unwell. In people with an immunocompromised immune system such as children, elderly, those with heart diseases they might develop respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
There are ways one can protect themselves from catching the virus. Prevention methods include: washing hands with soap and water or using a hand rub always. Avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with infected people. Those infected should also cover their nose, mouth when coughing.
No vaccine or treatment is available for COVID-19.
However if infected one needs plenty of rest, lots of fluids and manage the symptoms such as sore throat, fever. If there is a pneumonia or bronchitis one should also receive appropriate treatment for that respiratory tract infection.
Because this is a communicable virus it spreads fast therefore always protect yourself and your community.
Prevention is always better than cure.
Compiled by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
For more information like/ follow our Facebook page:
Farai Dziva|Two MDC members have been hospitalized after inhaling tear gas smoke, it has emerged.
The two inhaled tear gas smoke as police violently dispersed MDC members in Masvingo during Job Sikhala’s trial on Friday.
“In Masvingo we have two women who were affected by tear gas smoke and they are seeking medical care.
We suspect there are many citizens who were affected by the smoke.
Police are to blame for attacking peaceful citizens.
Violence erupted when a reckless police officer ordered the firing of teargas canisters on peaceful citizens,”said former Masvingo Central MP Jeffryson Chitando.
Farai Dziva|Two MDC members have been hospitalized after inhaling tear gas smoke, it has emerged.
The two inhaled tear gas smoke as police violently dispersed MDC members in Masvingo during Job Sikhala’s trial on Friday.
“In Masvingo we have two women who were affected by tear gas smoke and they are seeking medical care.
We suspect there are many citizens who were affected by the smoke.
Police are to blame for attacking peaceful citizens.
Violence erupted when a reckless police officer ordered the firing of teargas canisters on peaceful citizens,”said former Masvingo Central MP Jeffryson Chitando.
MUDENDA PUNISHING MDC MPs FOR REFUSING TO SALUTE MNANGAGWA OVER THE UNRESOLVED 1 AUG ELECTORAL CRIME | WILL IT MAKE ED RESPECTED & IMPROVE THE ECONOMY?
By A Correspondent- The MDC leader trashed reports that there is turmoil in the party while addressing the media Wednesday at Morgan Tsvangirai House, the party’s headquarters in Harare.
Chamisa said the false allegations of rifts in the party over the “Thabitha Khumalo” issue are the shenanigans of Varakashi meaning Zanu Pf’s hired social media stalwarts.
He said:
“…. but as Vaonesi (light bearers), we are trying to show them the right path.”
Watch the live video loading below for this and more……………
By A Correspondent- MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has trashed claims that there is a fallout in the party over an alleged decision to remove Thabitha Khumalo as leader of parliament and replace her with the party’s Vice President Lynette Karenyi.
The state media reported that Khumalo has not been officially demoted yet to an ordinary National Assembly member, alleging that sources within the party have indicated that Chamisa wants to replace her with Karenyi.
2023 is "too" far, we need to resolve this election before 2023, you can't wait for 5-year cycles to repeat a deception of the people, says @nelsonchamisapic.twitter.com/TurZlJih9M
By A Correspondent- Suspended former Zanu PF Youth League deputy secretary Lewis Matutu and his associates have been denied access to a farm in Kwekwe belonging to Mr Onsimo Zhavairo on the orders of the high court.
This follows after Mr Zhavairo applied to to the court after his farm was invaded by the Zanu-PF youths led by Matutu who was the first respondent, with the minister of Lands being the second respondent. Matutu and his associates were ordered not to enter subdivision 7 of Bezuidenhouts Kraal in Kwekwe and refrain from being violent towards Mr Zhavairo, his family and employees.
According to Mr Zhavairo, he has been living on the farm for the past 14 years before Matutu and his gang allegedly annexed it. They are said to have allegedly slaughtered a pig and four goats before harvesting butter-nuts. They are also said to have allegedly chased Mr Zhavairo’s farmworkers off the property and forced them to sleep on the road.
Meanwhile, there are reports that ZANU-PF National Chairperson and Minister Of Defence, Oppah Muchinguri is reportedly mobilizing members of the Central Committee in a bid to confront President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the party’s decision to suspend Godfrey Tsenengamu and Lewis Matutu.
According to a source in the ZANU-PF circles, party Commissar Victor Matemadanda had assured Matutu and Tsenengamu that the National Chairperson was mobilising Central Committee members to stand with them in their anti-corruption fight.
By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has said the people of Zimbabwe are crying for a legitimate government and not an imposed one.
Addressing the media at Morgan Tsvangirai House, Chamisa said his tour of the country revealed a nation and a people hungry for a legitimate government.
He said :
“The people of Zimbabwe want responsible and accountable leadership.”
Watch the live video loading below for the full text of this and more………….
2023 is "too" far, we need to resolve this election before 2023, you can't wait for 5-year cycles to repeat a deception of the people, says @nelsonchamisapic.twitter.com/TurZlJih9M
By A Correspondent- The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe has said that Cabinet has approved the request to allow those with free funds to pay for their passports in foreign currency.
Speaking to members of the media on Tuesday following a Cabinet meeting, Kazembe Kazembe said:
That has been approved by Cabinet and we are waiting for the Statutory Instrument to be in place. We have received requests from various people with free funds and we are waiting for the Statutory Instrument to be in place then we can allow them.
Speaking at the same event, Information and Publicity Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa announced that the Treasury had availed US$6 796 500; 580 200 Euros and ZW$11 781 900 towards meeting the cost of clearing the passport backlog.
She also announced that passport fees had been reviewed up as follows:
ordinary currently pegged at $53 be increased to ZW$150
emergency passports and $253 be increased to ZW$600.
The passport backlog which dates back to 2018 is reportedly at 400 000. This has allegedly promoted corruption at the Registrar General’s office as the desperate passport seekers would do anything necessary and unnecessary to get the travelling document.
The deteriorating state of affairs has coerced Zimbabweans to apply for passports as they, at all costs, want to escape the crisis.
Watch the video below for the full text of the post cabinet press statement……
DESCENDANTS of the newly revived Mambo Dynasty have clashed with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) over the local authority’s recent decision to rename some of the city’s streets and suburbs in honour of Ndebele kings while ignoring other kings who lived in the city before colonisation.
BCC last month renamed some of the city’s major streets and buildings in a move the local authority says was meant to preserve the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history and heritage of the country’s second capital.
But the move has apparently angered descendants of the Lozwi kingdom which existed in the city before the arrival of King Mzilikazi.
The clan recently installed Mike Moyo (50) as its king in an effort to revive their kingship.
Moyo argues that the recent renaming of some council roads and buildings is not a true historical reflection of the city as it side-lines other pre-colonial Kings.
“We are calling on national government to intervene and reverse this diabolical process or we are going to pull down the new King Lobengula Street plaques in demonstration of our anger.
“We are giving the authorities 21 days to reverse this process, a deadline which if not met, we are going to hold a protest march to the City Hall,” Moyo said Tuesday.
The Lozwi monarch claimed repeated efforts to engage the Bulawayo City Council over the issue has yielded nothing as the city fathers have allegedly refused to entertain their concerns.
“The council was invidious in that they ignored our requests to have a meeting with them in 2018 and 2019 over this same process.
“We approached the mayor and he agreed that we should meet to discuss the issue but then he went behind our backs and decided on new street names without making any consultations,” claimed Moyo.
He said the local authority was supposed to have consulted several stakeholders before coming up with the new names.
“They talk of preserving Bulawayo’s founding and colonial history but they fail to recognise the fact that there were settlements around the city that also deserve to be recognised.
“They simply ignored and failed to make consultations even now when they decided to go ahead with their process which was not inclusive,” said Moyo.
The Lozwi monarch further argued that several Ndebele icons have already been honoured through renaming them after suburbs, schools and art centres.
“We do not see why one of the Lozwi Kings should not have the Mzilikazi Street named after him. We have been subject to colonisation first by Mzilikazi and then the whites.
“Mzilikazi oppressed us, creating a caste system in which the Nguni were regarded as first class citizens while those incorporated along the way were in the second strata and our people that he found here were in the lowest rung , being referred to as amahole,” added Moyo.
Bulawayo City Council Mayor, Solomon Mguni could not be reached for comment.
By A Correspondent- Matobo Rural District Council has been accused of delaying the approval of a site for the construction of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo School of Tourism and Hospitality in the area.
The accusations are being made by Lalangwe Mbambangwe Memorial Trust, a non-governmental organisation founded by a former ZPRA cadre, Linganiso Mdabuko Nyathi, in honour of the late former Vice President Joshua Nkomo.
Nyathi told News Day that the Trust engaged the Council back in 2011 but nothing has happened to date. He said:
Despite Matobo RDC’s retrogressive attitude of not pegging our site, we are focused. Their action is viewed as deprivation of development to the community.
Since 2011, the local authority has been dragging its feet in approving the site for us.
Meanwhile, Matobo RDC chief executive officer Elvis Sibanda said that he could not remember the project and would have will have to reconsult his records and respond to the matter on Monday when he comes back to office.
Own Correspondent|MDC Vice President and ex-Finance Minister Tendai Biti has told Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya to consider shutting his mouth than make a fool of himself through presenting a meaningless monetary policy statement.
This comes after the central bank chief on Monday took time to present his statement which, according to observers, was less inspiring considering the country’s myriad problems, a result of government’s muddled up economic policies.
What was the point of that Monetary Policy Statement ?Some institutions and individuals must learn to shut up when they have nothing useful to say . Which is essentially one way of saying they must permanently shut up.
By A Correspondent- Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe has announced that it will be closing two of its branches, Chitungwiza and Beitbridge effective March 31, 2020, to pave way for a digitisation strategy.
The intended closure was announced by Stanbic Bank chief executive, Mr Joshua Tapambgwa, who told the state media that the digitisation strategy would leave the financial player with a physical footprint of 17 branches across the country.
He said:
The model we are following has been adopted by many financial and non-financial institutions in other parts of the world but very few in Southern Africa.
The new banking technologies we are introducing continue to bring ease ofbanking to our customers, which gives us the confidence to move to the next level of banking.
He added that customer accounts which are being maintained at these two branches will be safely migrated to Southerton and Bulawayo Joshua Nkomo Street branches, with the option of visiting any one of their 17 branches should they need service from physical branch facilities.
Tapambgwa also highlighted that all the staff members currently working in these two branches will be redeployed to other departments of the bank, which are driving the digital bank strategy.
Cape Town – There has been a twist in the case involving the whereabouts of Alfa Mpetsheni as his family in Gauteng have been informed that their son is being detained.
This latest information comes after the Chinese Embassy in South Africa claimed he boarded a flight to Bangkok, Thailand.
Mpetsheni has been studying in China and his mother Nokuthula last spoke to him on WeChat on January 18, while his friends last saw him on January 15, his father Thulani said.
Following their worrying over his whereabouts, his family reached out to the authorities and according to the embassy, Alfa boarded a flight.
In new developments this week, Thulani said the Department of International Relations (Dirco) emailed them on Friday to tell them that he was found in Shanghai.
“Dirco informed us that the South African Consulate in Shanghai found that Alfa was detained by the Shanghai Security Bureau.
“The consulate was given a chance to speak to him on the phone and apparently Alfa told them he was instructed to tell them what charges he faced,” he said.
Thulani said the family was concerned because they did not know whether he was imprisoned.
“I don’t know what is really happening, something is just not right.
“In the initial stages of the search, there were rumours that he was detained in prison.
“We requested the consulate to investigate and the authorities in China allegedly informed them they had no South African in custody.
“So where was he before?
“The consulate will write to Shanghai authorities to request that they see him because we are worried about his well-being,” Thulani said.
The embassy did not respond to questions.
Dirco spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said they could neither confirm nor deny that Alfa was detained.
“The only people we can share information with regarding Alfa Mpetsheni is his family, and we are in constant communication with them.
“It is up to the family to share our findings with the media or public.
“There will be no statements issued by Dirco. We are trying to resolve this issue the best way we can,” said Ngqengelele.
POLITICAL Actors Dialogue (Polad) partners have upped the stakes on President Emmerson Mnangagwa, threatening to walk out on him if his government does not withdraw the Constitutional Amendment Bill gazetted by Justice minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi early this year.
Chairperson of the Polad’s gvernance and legislative agenda subcommittee, Lovemore Madhuku, said his committee had recommended to the group to have the Constitutional Amendment Bill withdrawn.
He said the recommendation was adopted as a resolution, meaning Mnangagwa should now instruct his minister to withdraw the Bill.
Madhuku warned that if Mnangagwa did not enforce the resolution, it would be a clear sign that the platform was not effective and would therefore not need to continue.
“Given that the recommendations on the Constitutional Amendment Bill are unanimous, a refusal by government will be a disbanding of Polad. There will be no Polad to talk about. Zanu PF is part of Polad. It runs the government. If it is sincere in being part to the Polad recommendations, it has to influence the government to accept the Polad position,” Madhuku said.
Parties in Polad are increasingly under pressure from their supporters to record some wins and stop behaving like they were owned by Zanu PF.
Madhuku said apart from recommending the withdrawal of the Bill, the committee also said there was no need for government to change the terms and conditions of judges.
“We found that the Bill has areas that you would accept, they are very few but many of the areas that are in the Bill, we feel they are unacceptable and not to be debated further,” he said.
“I need to say here the one which is of interest to the public, which has come out of Polad is the area related to the Judiciary. All the proposed changes to the Judiciary which are contained in the Bill we totally recommended a rejection of those proposals, so that we remain with the current constitutional provisions of the Judiciary, meaning that there must not be a change to the retirement age of 70. There must not be that provision which is suggesting yearly extensions up to five years for judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, which we have made clear.”
Polad said it would also write its own Bill on electoral reforms, making it the third such effort after Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (Zesn) which has since submitted a draft to Speaker of the House of Assembly Jacob Mudenda and the MDC which said it’s in the process of coming up with its own Bill.
Zanu PF representative in Polad Paul Mangwana was not immediately available for comment as his number was unreachable, while Ziyambi was not picking calls.
Prime minister Thomas Thabane and his wife Maesaiah Thabane at a public function recently
AFP|Lesotho’s ruling party gave its embattled prime minister an ultimatum to resign by Thursday after his wife was charged in connection with the murder of her rival.
Thomas Thabane’s current wife Maesaiah Thabane, 42, appeared in court Tuesday over the murder of the prime minister’s previous wife, who was gunned down two days before the premier was sworn into office in 2017.
The supreme decision-making body of Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) party met on Monday and agreed on a deadline for the 80-year-old Thabane to step down.
“We… have decided that the PM should leave office by Thursday,” Montoeli Masoetsa, the party spokesman said.
“We cannot afford to have him any longer in office and we think it’s only for the best,” he told AFP.
The party had last month urged the premier to resign, after police investigations linked his mobile number to communication records from the scene of the murder of his estranged wife.
Lilopelo Thabane, who was 58, was gunned down by unknown assailants on the outskirts of the capital Maseru in June 2017.
The prime minister promised to leave on grounds of advanced health, but did not give a timeline for his resignation.
“This is no longer about waiting for him to give us a date but it’s the decision of the (party) that he should go by 20 February,” said Masoetsa.
The prime minister was also questioned by police last month over his estranged wife’s murder.
The long unresolved murder of the prime minister’s previous wife has stunned the small southern African kingdom surrounded by South Africa.
Opposition parties in the country of 2.2 million people, also want Thabane gone.
Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai with former President Robert Mugabe.
Kwekwe and Mutare town councils have proposed to rename some of their streets after Zimbabwe’s former Prime Minister, the late Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
The local government authorities say that the renaming of roads after Tsvangirai will be in recognition of his contribution to democracy in the country.
Speaking to the Southern Eye, Kwekwe Deputy Mayor, Mr Shadreck Tobaiwa said that the proposal to name some streets after Tsvangirai will be on the next council’s meeting agenda where a resolution is expected to be made. He said:
“We expect a resolution to regularise the naming of one of our streets after Morgan Richard Tsvangirai to be made at our next full council meeting expected at the end of this month. The proposal or motion to that regard was made at our last council meeting and it was unanimously adopted by the councillors. No councillor opposed the proposal.
Mutare town council is also reportedly mulling the same.
The development comes three weeks after Kwekwe renamed Robert Mugabe Way to Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Street.
Analysts have however argued that there should be no contest or competition between the central government and local authorities over such a matter but they should be pushing to modernise the same roads they are scrambling for.
Following the recent announcement by Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube that the Government had offered civil servants a 100 percent pay hike, I received an e-mail from a worker in industry, asking why the Government had not increased the salaries of workers in the private sector as well.
“We are suffering due to poor remuneration. Our employers say they cannot increase our salaries because production levels are low and they are not making any profits due to persistent power outages. Why does the Government not increase our salaries as it used to do in the past?” reads the e-mail in part.
It is true that soon after independence, the Government determined salary increments for most workers in the country, including those in the private sector, through the Minimum Wages Act which was introduced in July 1980.
The Act allowed the Labour Minister to set national minimum wages for workers in all sectors of the economy.
However, the Act was revoked and the responsibility of determining salary increments for workers in the private sector is now in the hands of employers and trade unions.
In the public sector, salary increments are determined by the Government and workers’ representatives through their umbrella body — the Joint Negotiation Council. As can be seen, currently there exist two different systems of collective bargaining and wage/salary determination in the country — one for the public sector and the other for the private sector.
Through hindsight, it can be seen that when the Government gave employers and labor unions the mandate to determine salary increments for workers in the private sector, labour unions across the length and breadth of the country hailed this as a progressive move that would usher in a rich socio-economic harvest for workers in the private sector.
Workers began to envision a scenario where industry would be transformed into the biblical Garden of Eden with decent emoluments for all workers, improved working conditions and respect for workers’ rights. But alas, this has turned out to be mere wishful thinking.
Truth be told, since employers and labour unions assumed the responsibility of negotiating salary increments for workers in the private sector, workers in industry have toiled for wages/salaries that have remained characteristically pathetic and far below the alleviation of poverty stratum.
The Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL), commonly referred to as the Poverty Datum Line (PDL), for an average household of 5 persons stood at ZW$2 191.62 in September last year, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat). The PDL reached $3 700 last November, a 15,7 percent rise from October’s $3 160. This means an average household required that much to buy both food and non-food items for them not to be deemed poor.
The heart-rending reality is that the average worker in industry today toils for a measly ZW$300 a month, according to one survey.
This scribe’s views and perceptions are based on experience. I joined industry in 1985 after a 5-year stint in the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). In industry, I became involved in trade unionism as a workers’ representative for several years.
As a workers’ representative, I attended a plethora of wage/salary negotiations at both company and National Employment Council (NEC) levels.
One pertinent observation I made during the salary negotiations I attended, is that employers in industry always bury their heads in the sand like ostriches when asked to increase the salaries of their workers. They always contend that they cannot hike workers’ salaries because their enterprises are in the doldrums in terms of productivity and profitability.
The tragic irony is that they use the same tired mantra today to keep hordes of workers in industry in the death-trap of economic destitution.
Shockingly though, the same employers pay company executives hefty salaries that, according to some well-placed sources in industry, exceed ZW$17 000 a month when allowances are factored in.
These company executives drive ostentatious German car models and own grandiose, mountain-side palatial mansions in exclusive suburbs.
Some of them spend their lucrative, company-sponsored annual holidays in Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park, Great Zimbabwe, Nyanga and various other holiday resorts. Others fly out of the country to spend their holidays on the ski-slopes of Europe.
It is quite heart-breaking to note that while company executives in industry live like Hollywood stars, ordinary workers are literally scrounging around to eke out a living. They foot or cycle to and from work daily — even during the middle of the night when they are on night shift.
These workers are so impoverished that they often fail to travel to their rural homes to be with their families during their annual shut-down. It is really sad.
While workers blame employers for their economic woes, I think it would be naivety of elephantine proportions to exonerate labour unions, as they are equally to blame.
If what is currently happening in industry is anything to go by, it would not be totally incorrect to conjecture that the struggle for economic justice in industry is now a lost one. Alas, it is a struggle that has failed ignominiously to yield the expected bumper harvest of decent remuneration for the generality of workers in industry.
This is primarily because the struggle has been hijacked by opportunism, hypocrisy, self-aggrandisement and an insatiable appetite for instant riches by some union leaders.
It is no secret that labour leaders in industry have, for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver, abrogated their role of serving the interests of workers and are conniving with employers in sanctioning policies that perpetuate the economic subjugation of the very workers whose interests they are supposed to serve. What a shocking paradox!
Parting point: With all due respect, my submission is that in order to bail workers in industry from the searing poverty that are in, the Government should revert to its previous role of negotiating their salary increments.
Employers in industry are generally motivated by greed and avarice, and to expect them to pay workers decent salaries without being compelled to do so by some form of legislation is a naïve expectation that can only be found in a utopian world which does not exist.
Cuthbert Mavheko is a freelance journalist living in Bulawayo.
Dear Editor|FEBRUARY 14 marked exactly two years after we lost the founding opposition MDC father Richard Morgan Tsvangirai.
His death shocked the whole nation. He was an iconic leader of the democracy struggle who fought a brave war for the democratisation of the nation.
He will always be remembered as a great father and leader, with his works in the struggle bearing testimony. When it comes to action, Tsvangirai was steadfast and he urged everyone else to be strong. He was a person who was not self-centred because he did not want the party to be a one-generation movement, reinforcing his desire to pass the baton stick to younger generations.
The veteran trade unionist urged us to support an alliance of hope, vigilance, positive action, a brighter future and active youth engagement.
While he was on his death bed, he said replacing the late President Robert Mugabe with his then deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, without the fundamental reforms to transform the institutions of governance was just a waste of time. Tsvangirai didn’t just talk words which did not come to pass. He was just like a prophet.
He also said the introduction of bond notes was a way of trying to rig the economy and stealing from the people.
What he said is exactly what the country is now experiencing. Mnangagwa is holding us to ransom, ruling this great nation with an iron fist. He is worse than Mugabe. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has been stealing our money through his policies. While Tsvangirai predicted all this, he urged us to be strong and fight because freedom will not come on a silver platter.
Own Correspondent|Government has announced several measures that will be put in place in a bid to clear the backlog of passport applications one of which is to her staff at the passport processing office to work night shifts.
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage minister Kazembe Kazembe made the remarks at a post-cabinet briefing in Harare last night.
“Printing two thousand passports a day will not clear the backlog but we are working to raise capacity to 8 000 passports a day. To be on the safe side, we need up to around mid-year to clear the backlog once we get all the consumables.
“We even have the capacity to have our manpower work night shift to have work done,” he added.
He also announced that ordinary and emergency passports fees have been revised upwards in order for government to acquire material to process the passports.
The Government has also approved for the use of foreign currency by those with the currencies to get their passports processed even quicker.
Kazembe said his ministry is only waiting for Finance minister Prof Mthuli Ncube to come up with a Statutory Instrument governing the approval.
“Clearing our passport backlog that currently stands at 400 000 is not going to happen soon. However, as government we are subsidising the issuance of passports because it is a basic right for citizens to have the identification documents.
“We have revised upwards our ordinary and emergency passport fees application from RTGS$53 and RTGS$253 to RTGS$150 and RTGS$650, respectively.
“Because we are subsidising the production of passports, cabinet has also approved that citizens can make their applications using foreign currency. We are just waiting for Finance Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube to come up with a Statutory Instrument,” said Kazembe.
Among other interventions announced by Minister Kazembe in clearing the passport backlog, the Finance ministry is providing a USD$1 million debt settlement facility, which “will be maintained.”
SELF-EXILED former minister and Zanu PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo is seeking to apologise to Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga after accusing him of using a ghost writer for his doctoral thesis.
On July 11, 2017, four months before Chiwenga led a coup that toppled long time ruler, the late Robert Mugabe, Moyo alleged that the then Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces did not write the thesis for his doctorate from the University of KwaZulu Natal. Chiwenga sued and demanded $5 million in defamation claims.
But yesterday, Moyo’s lawyers confirmed the two parties were in touch over the matter with the hope of concluding it cordially despite it being before the courts.
Moyo’s lawyer, Chris Mhike of Atherstone and Cook said legal representatives of the respective parties were “still mutually and amicably seized with the matter, with a view to concluding it cordially.”
“It is highly regrettable that correspondence which was designed to be strictly private and confidential has been widely publicised on social media, apparently for mischievous and malignant reasons,” Mhike said.
“It must be noted that the High Court case remains pending, and is therefore sub judice. We are therefore unable to meaningfully comment on the issue. The furthest we can go at this stage, in terms of commentary, is to confirm that the legal representatives of the respective parties are still mutually and amicably seized with the matter, with a view to concluding it cordially.”
Chiwenga’s lawyer, Wilson Manase was not picking his calls yesterday.
Moyo and Chiwenga were embroiled in vicious clashes during the height of factionalism in Zanu PF between a faction aligned to then Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa under the moniker, Lacoste and another better known as G40 that coalesced around the former First Lady Grace Mugabe.
While Moyo was a key G4O proponent, Chiwenga was said to be the power behind the Lacoste faction led by Mnangagwa.
Chiwenga accused Moyo of being a war deserter who fled from the liberation struggle, a claim that angered the former Information minister.
Moyo snapped back on Twitter:
“Finally, I’m happy that Chiwenga wants pre- and post-independence disclosures about who was who, who did what and so forth. That’s good.
“Meanwhile, I take that to mean he wants the disclosure of who contributed what to his doctorate and who really wrote his KZN PhD. Again, the Shona wisdom that kunyarara kurinani panekutaura, applies. #Handeitione,” Moyo said in the statement that triggered the lawsuit.
Moyo is now in exile after escaping the crackdown by the army during the coup that led to Mugabe’s ouster.
The murder trial of the wife of Lesotho’s prime minister, accused of murdering his previous wife, is set to start next month, a court official said yesterday.
Maesaiah Thabane was arrested and charged earlier this month for the murder of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s estranged wife Lipolelo, who was shot dead near her home in Lesotho’s capital, Maseru, on June 14, 2017.
Maesaiah Thabane, who denies the charges and is on bail, appeared in the court briefly yesterday.
The magistrate court set March 17 as the date for the start of the trial, a spokeswoman for the court, Mampota Phakoe, said.
Lesotho police claim Maesaiah Thabane hired assassins to kill Lipolelo and was not actually present at the shooting herself.
Thomas Thabane took office two days after the killing, then married Maesaiah two months later. Lipolelo had reportedly refused to grant her husband divorce after he started a relationship with Maesaiah.
The case has stunned citizens of Lesotho, an independent kingdom of two million people lying in the middle of a South African mountain range.
Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli told Al Jazeera the prime minister ordered he be sacked for pursuing the investigation. A court later ruled that his job be protected.
“We were facing some difficulties in that people were not ready to talk or give us information or evidence, but of late people are coming in droves to give us intelligence,” Molibeli said.
Fahmida Miller, reporting from Maseru, said a woman who was travelling with the victim and was wounded in the attack has fled the country, fearing for her safety.
“It’s a very complex case for people in Lesotho trying to understand how their first lady could possibly be involved in such a controversial scandal, and ultimately one that could see the prime minister, Thomas Thabane, charged as he’s also been implicated in this murder,” said Miller.
But Thabane’s daughter, Mabatsoeneng Hlaethe, defended the prime minister.
“He is not the kind of guy to plot a killing, I still stand to be corrected. But I have different convictions as far as his new wife is concerned,” she said. — Al Jazeera.
Former Zanu PF Youth League deputy secretary Lewis Matutu and his associates have been barred by the High Court from entering or occupying a farm in Kwekwe belonging to Mr Onsimo Zhavairo.
Justice Pisirayi Kwenda recently handed down a final order interdicting Matutu and his associates after he granted an interim interdict and spoliation order in December last year.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement was cited as the second respondent in the application by Mr Zhavairo after his farm was invaded by Zanu-PF youths led by Matutu who was the first respondent.
Justice Kwenda ordered that Matutu and his associates should not enter subdivision 7 of Bezuidenhouts Kraal in Kwekwe and refrain from being violent towards Mr Zhavairo, his family and employees.
Mr Zhavairo, in his court papers, said he had been living on the farm for the past 14 years and had an offer letter issued in November 2015.
The invaders allegedly slaughtered a pig and four goats before harvesting butter-nuts.
They allegedly went ahead to chase away Mr Zhavairo’s workers, forcing them to sleep on the road.
TWO men have each been sentenced to 10 years in jail for stealing copper cables worth $28 000 from a National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) railway line.
Tafadzwa Wafa (26) from Kwekwe and Tinashe Tafadzwa (22) from Bulawayo appeared before Gweru Provincial Magistrate Mrs Phathekile Msipa each facing a count of cutting, damaging, destroying or interfering with any apparatus for generating, transmitting, distributing or supplying electricity.
Wafa and Tafadzwa pleaded guilty to the charge. Mrs Msipa sentenced them to 10 years each in prison.
Prosecuting, Mr Kelvin Guvheya told the court that on February 20, Wafa and Tafadzwa together with a Panashe, who is still at large, connived and proceeded to Gweru-Kwekwe railway line at Nala area.
“They started digging armoured electricity copper cables using a digger and a shovel. After digging, they cut the cables into pieces of different sizes using a hacksaw,” he said.
The court heard that Wafa and Tafadzwa burnt some of the electric armoured copper cables and retrieved copper wire which they stashed into a sack.
The trio then decided to put up for the night but at a distance away from their loot.
“While the three were asleep, an NRZ security guard who was on patrol with his tracker dog saw them and sought assistance from people who were passing by to apprehend them. Wafa and Tafadzwa were apprehended while their accomplice disappeared into the night,” the court heard.
The court heard that a sack of burnt copper wire, rolls of copper cables, a hacksaw, a hacksaw blade, black polythene plastic paper and a mattock handle were recovered.
The recovered electric copper cables weighed 46 kilogrammes and the copper wire weighed 24 kilogrammes.
The value of the stolen property was $28 000 and it was all recovered.
THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) has issued a final warning to two fuel firms who risk losing their licences without a hearing if they wantonly increase fuel prices in future based on fake news from social media.
Zera acting chief executive officer, Mr Eddington Mazambani, said this in an interview here on the sidelines of the ongoing annual general and annual conference of the Regional Energy Regulatory Association of Southern Africa (RERA).
The companies concerned, which Mr Mazambani declined to name, immediately increased the fuel price to $23 for diesel on Sunday following the generation and circulation of the fake news report on social media.
“Without giving names, yes, there was one or two outlets which had increased prices of fuel based on social media fake news, which was circulating,” he said.
“But they managed to correct the prices in a short period of time after we engaged them. This is the second time that it is happening and we have spoken with the outlets concerned that any future indiscretions of that nature, will result in us revoking the license without us entering into any negotiations.
“Normally, what we do when someone has broken the regulations, we give them what we call a compliance order, which gives them time to correct whatever wrong they would have done. But we have said to these guys that this is the final time they have done this. Any indiscretions in future we just cancel the license without affording them any opportunity to comply.”
On Sunday, many service stations stopped selling fuel when doctored messages, allegedly from Zera, started circulating warning of a massive price increase of $23 from $19,55 per litre for diesel. Many motorists rushed to service stations supposedly to buy the product before prices were adjusted, resulting in unusually long queues in most parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the RERA conference went into full swing yesterday with side events, which are specific topics of interest to the energy sector that are discussed by the membership. Two key topics on gender mainstreaming and the creation of a regional energy regulatory authority were discussed. Presently, RERA is an association, made of regional energy regulators but they now want to set up an authority. In terms of gender mainstreaming, a presentation was done on the impact of energy to women since they are the ones who do most of the social work at home, such as looking for energy sources and food preparation. Discussions also centred on electricity tariffs, especially in so far as they affect low income earners, since the rich will migrate to alternatives such as solar and gas.
Today, Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi is expected to officially open the conference, a development described by Mr Mazambani as indicative of Government’s commitment to energy issues.
Energy Deputy Minister Magna Mudyiwa arrived yesterday while Permanent Secretary Dr Gloria Magombo sat through most of the discussions yesterday.
The conference started on Sunday and ends of Friday with an AGM.
STANBIC Bank Zimbabwe says it will close its Beitbridge and Chitungwiza branches next month as it adopts a digitisation strategy, which allows clients to conduct transactions and other services online.
The bank will be closing the two branches with effect from March 31, 2020, to pave way for a digitisation strategy, said the bank. Stanbic Bank chief executive, Mr Joshua Tapambgwa, said the digitisation strategy would leave the financial player with a physical footprint of 17 branches across the country.
He said Stanbic Bank views the digitisation drive as a futuristic move necessitated by technological advancements that have taken over the sector worldwide.
“The model we are following has been adopted by many financial and non-financial institutions in other parts of the world but very few in Southern Africa.
“The new banking technologies we are introducing continue to bring ease of banking to our customers, which gives us the confidence to move to the next level of banking,” he said.
Mr Tapambgwa reassured customers with accounts being maintained at these two branches that their accounts will be safely migrated to Southerton and Bulawayo Joshua Nkomo Street branches, with the option of visiting any one of their 17 branches should they need service from physical branch facilities.
“In order to make this strategy a reality, Mr Tapambgwa acknowledged the need for great innovation, which is why the bank has seen it fit to re-deploy staff members from these branches to digital banking innovation-related and sales roles within the bank. All our staff members currently working in these two branches will be redeployed to other departments of the bank, which are driving the digital bank strategy, that way, we retain our talented employees and continue to move our business forward for the benefit of our customers,” he said.
Mr Tapambgwa expressed satisfaction with customer migration towards adopting the digital banking platforms.
The bank’s head of personal and business banking, Mr Patson Mahatchi, has pointed out that the institution was making strides in its journey towards becoming a digital bank for the utmost customer convenience.
“We remain compliant with consumer protection laws as we continue to implement digital technologies set to enhance the customer experience,” he said.
Mr Mahatchi noted that one technological milestone realised last year was the bank’s remote on-boarding functionality, which enables new customer accounts to be opened at the customers’ preferred location, allowing them access to digital banking facilities instantly.
VICTORIA Falls Mayor, Councillor Somvelo Dlamini has been slapped with a $300 000 lawsuit by a local resident accusing him of engaging in an adulterous relationship with his wife.
Mr Shaktya Nyathi, is accusing Clr Dlamini, who is also MDC Alliance councillor for Ward 9 in the resort town, of having a love affair with his wife Mrs Sithabile Nyathi (nee Sibanda).
Mr Nyathi said their marriage was solemnised in terms of Chapter 5:11 of the Marriages Act before a priest at St Kizito Roman Catholic Church in Victoria Falls. The marriage date was however, not stated in court papers.
Mr Nyathi, through his lawyers Ncube Attorneys, filed summons at the Bulawayo High Court under case number 351/20, citing Clr Dlamini as a defendant.
In papers before the court, Mr Nyathi said his wife has since deserted their matrimonial home following his discovery of the illicit affair. He alleged that on various occasions and at different places, Dlamini and his wife Ms Sibanda committed adultery.
“On various occasions and at places not known to the plaintiff, the defendant and the plaintiff’s spouse committed adultery and a result of that, the plaintiff suffered contumelia damages, loss of comfort and his wife has deserted him due to wrongful and intentional actions by the defendant,” said Mr Nyathi’s lawyers.
He is seeking a total of $330 000 in damages for contumelia, loss of the comfort, society and services.
“Wherefore plaintiff claims judgment against the defendant for an order for payment of $180 000 for loss of consortium, $150 000 in damages for contumelia as well as payment of five percent interest on the total amount calculated from the date of summons to the date of full and final payment,” read the summons.
Mr Nyathi also wants the court to direct Clr Dlamini to pay the legal costs he incurred.
Clr Dlamini is yet to respond. He was recently arrested by Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) for alleged abuse of office.
He is accused of forging title deeds of a housing stand in 2013 before illegally selling the stand for US$ 20 000.
Clr Dlamini acquired the residential stand for US$7 962 in Aerodrome area when he was first elected as a councillor in 2013.
He then allegedly sold the stand to one Ms Memory Sithole for US$20 000 in September 2017 without first paying for it at Victoria Falls Town Council.
He had bought the stand at 40 percent discount, but sold it to Ms Sithole at full charge.
Investigations established that at the time Clr Dlamini sold the stand to Mrs Sithole in 2017, there was no development and the accused had corruptly acquired a title deed which was used by the buyer to obtain a loan from CABS.
Clr Dlamini was remanded to February 25 on $1 500 bail.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is planning to raise US$4,7 million to boost the country’s preparedness and response to Covid-19.
Speaking at the National Preparedness Case Management workshop held at Wilkins Hospital on Monday, the ministry’s deputy director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Dr Andrew Phiri said a national budget was drafted in line with the preparedness and response plan to Covid-19.
“About US$4,7 million is needed for the Covid-19 national preparedness. This will be used for surveillance including contact tracing, rapid response team activation and training at all levels, laboratory readiness and sample collection,” he said.
Other activities covered under the response strategy are physician order entry readiness for detection of the new coronavirus, infection prevention and control and risk communication and community engagement.
More than 60 nurses and doctors from across the country attended the workshop, which was aimed at equipping them with skills on how to treat patients affected by the Covid-19 virus.
Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Dr Portia Manangazira, said partners such as the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had come on board.
“WHO has chipped in to assist with resources for national co-ordination of meetings and the budget has also been forwarded to the Ministry of Finance, which is willing to support the programme.
“What we have also done is to draw up long-term requirements, for example refurbishment of some hospitals so that they are well-equipped to deal with infectious diseases,” she said.
Dr Manangazira said the ministry is also focusing on training health practitioners on patient management.
“In line with the preparedness towards the Covid-19 the Ministry of Health also trained health practitioners who will be on the frontline of treating patients, detecting the virus and the actual management of patients,’’ said Dr Manangazira.
State Media|CABINET yesterday approved strategies to clear the passport backlog which will see the fees going up and those with free funds being allowed to pay in foreign currency. A Statutory Instrument is being crafted to allow payment in foreign currency.
With immediate effect, fees for an ordinary passport go up from $53 to $150 while an emergency passport will cost $600, up from $253.
The move seeks to clear the backlog of 400 000 passports in the next six months and cater for new applicants.
Briefing journalists in Harare after yesterday’s Cabinet session, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Government had approved a huge budget towards the clearance of the passport backlog.
“Cabinet considered and approved the strategies to clear the passport backlog at the Central Registry as presented by the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage,” she said.
“The strategies are as follows, that the costs of ordinary and emergency passports currently pegged at $53 and $253 respectively, be increased to ZW$150 for an ordinary passport and ZW$600 for an emergency passport.
“That Treasury avails US$6 796 500; 580 200 Euros and ZW$11 781 900 towards meeting the cost of clearing the passport backlog.”
Asked why the Government was not allowing those with free funds to pay for their passports in foreign currency, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said: “That has been approved by Cabinet and we are waiting for the Statutory Instrument to be in place. We have received requests from various people with free funds and we are waiting for the Statutory Instrument to be in place then we can allow them.”
Minister Kazembe said the current backlog would be cleared in six months, adding that the procurement of consumables took at least 16 weeks to complete.
He said access to travel documents was a basic right and Government was subsiding them to ensure they were affordable.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fidelity Printers to acquire 600 000 securitised inner passport papers, enough to clear the current backlog.
Secretary for Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Mr Aaron Nhepera signed on behalf of the ministry, while Fidelity Printers was represented by its general manager Mr Fredrick Kunaka.
Said Mr Nhepera: “The contract involves the acquisition of about 600 000 securitised inner passport papers, which will be enough to clear the backlog and also provide enough material to cater for the new applications until the end of the year.
“We are going to get 600 000 consumables from Fidelity. It’s going to be an ongoing process, but this is just an initial batch we are getting, but we will be working with Fidelity going forward in that regard. We do have contracts with other suppliers to supply other consumables that are required in the production of passports.”
Said Mr Kunaka: “We promise to do the job to the best of our ability to ensure that we deliver to the benefit of our nation.
“The MoU basically is meant to ensure that we produce the feedstock for the production of passports as per the order required by the Registrar-General’s Office. This is going to be an ongoing exercise and they will always be giving us additional.
“The initial figure we will start with is 600 000 and there will always be an additional as per requirements, given the uptake of the consumables.”
State Media|Grain Marketing Board (GMB) senior executives were yesterday accused of allocating subsidised maize to millers who are allegedly diverting it to the black market and countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In the last National Budget, Government switched from subsidising maize to roller meal actually milled and distributed to ensure that markets continue to operate properly for farmers and importers.
But in hearings, legislators heard that some trucks plying the Sadc region had been ferrying Zimbabwe’s subsidised maize allegedly issued through a named senior GMB executive who was allocating grain to some millers beyond their plant capacities.
The millers were giving evidence before Parliament’s Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Resettlement Portfolio Committee chaired by Gokwe Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena (Zanu-PF).
The committee heard that trucks, upon offloading copper in South Africa from DRC, would return and be cleared at the Zimbabwean border ostensibly carrying maize only to pick the grain in Harare before heading for Kinshasa.
The committee sought to understand how a US$27 million wheat import facility from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was used.
a miller, Mr Wayne Moss of Mr Brands, said he had seen subsidised maize being sold on the black market in several areas and in Mozambique.
“The abuse is rife. It is so serious that it has to be dealt with. There is abuse within GMB which you are already dealing with on who gets what allocation. People are using roller meal maize to process other commodities. There is maize going to DRC,” said Mr Moss. “I have been in Mozambique, in Mutare if you go to a retailer and I have evidence, there is (10kg) mealie-meal which is being sold at $110 transfer. I have got the receipt.
“If you are in the milling industry, if you are importing maize, you cannot sell it at $110. It can only be subsidised maize, which is for roller meal, and not super refined.”
Another miller, Mr Davies Muhambi of United Milling Company said some millers were getting maize allocations from GMB beyond their plant capacities and would offload the excess on the black market.
He said excess maize would either be sold to bigger millers or exported to neighbouring countries.
“GMB would inspect your plant and they had ratings of the plant and they would give you a certain rating of capacity and that was supposed to be used to allocate maize.
“The guy with the biggest capacity should get the biggest allocation because he can utilise it, and a smaller guy should get proportionately less.
“From the list of allocations I saw, I realised that certain millers with a plant capacity of milling, say 200 tonnes per week, would get 600 tonnes per week.
“This is where you need to inquire. Where was that balance going because every week, you have to submit returns to justify the next allocation?” said Mr Muhambi.
“That list was controlled by Lawrence Jasi of GMB. This is what led the Government to change the whole scenario of the subsidy programme. We hear so many stories that some of the maize would be sold to bigger millers who would use it for other processes like stockfeeds, porridge and remember the subsidised maize is cheap.”
He said trucks were carrying subsidised maize to DRC after buying the grain for a song.
“That was the maize that was then being loaded to DRC. Trucks that carry copper from the north which is Zambia and DRC, going to South Africa, they come back empty. But at the border they are stamped to have cargo which is maize from South Africa. They come through Harare, pick up that maize, exit Chirundu with Zimbabwean subsidised maize. This is what has been happening. But we are not an investigative arm. If I go to those organisations involved and ask for certain documents I will not get, so it will be hard to have evidence. But if you give us a team, we will give you leads,” he said.
National Foods group chief executive officer Mr Mike Lashbrook said the millers’ relationship with the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) led by Mr Tafadzwa Musarara was helping millers in lobbying to get good terms from Government for their business.
He was responding to suggestions that GMAZ had been captured by big millers with a huge financial muscle who were benefiting at the expense of smaller and struggling millers.
Earlier on, some smaller millers had indicated that they were getting a raw deal from GMAZ which they said was being run by huge milling businesses.
ZDRAVKO “Loga” Logarusic says the Warriors will be brutally tested at the 2020 CHAN finals but has challenged them to prove they deserve to battle with the best teams on the continent.
The Warriors will face hosts Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Mali in Group A at the CHAN finals in April.
It will be Loga’s first assignment with his men.
Cameroon and Burkinabe clubs have failed to make an impression in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup while the two nations failed to win a match at the last CHAN finals.
“First, we are not looking for any excuse, but l think our group is the toughest one,’’ said the Croatian gaffer.
“The draw is complicated but if you want to be champion, you have to beat the champions, that means our job is to go there and produce results.
“In those games, you never have favourites, because every team can produce results in one game.
‘‘For us, I think, it’s also a fantastic opportunity for Zimbabwean players to showcase themselves because this is a first game.
“First game, everyone will watch and so it is a fantastic opportunity to show to Africa how good Zimbabwe is.
“I am a bit unlucky, because we haven’t got season started.
When you check Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso, their position on FIFA rankings are around 53, 56 and 59 (respectively).
‘‘But Zimbabwe are a bit far at position 111, that means their league and the national teams are much better ranked but that doesn’t mean anything.
“Football is not always just ranking, it’s not always the name.
“Mali players, most of them are big and most of them are strong, it’s a different physical structure, but we have our advantages and they have their advantages and let’s see which advantages will win.’’-State media
Former Zanu PF Youth League deputy secretary Lewis Matutu and his associates have been barred by the High Court from entering or occupying a farm in Kwekwe belonging to Mr Onsimo Zhavairo.
Justice Pisirayi Kwenda recently handed down a final order interdicting Matutu and his associates after he granted an interim interdict and spoliation order in December last year.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement was cited as the second respondent in the application by Mr Zhavairo after his farm was invaded by Zanu-PF youths led by Matutu who was the first respondent.
Justice Kwenda ordered that Matutu and his associates should not enter subdivision 7 of Bezuidenhouts Kraal in Kwekwe and refrain from being violent towards Mr Zhavairo, his family and employees.
Mr Zhavairo, in his court papers, said he had been living on the farm for the past 14 years and had an offer letter issued in November 2015.
The invaders allegedly slaughtered a pig and four goats before harvesting butter-nuts.
They allegedly went ahead to chase away Mr Zhavairo’s workers, forcing them to sleep on the road.-State media
Businessman Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure was yesterday granted $10 000 bail by High Court Judge Justice Erica Ndewere after spending two weeks in remand prison.
Kadungure was represented by Advocate Sylvester Hashiti and Mr Keith Kachambwa of Venturas and Samukange Legal Practitioners while prosecutor Fortunate Kachidza appeared for the State.
Justice Ndewere ordered Kadungure to reside at his house in Domboshava, surrender the title deeds of his Borrowdale house and his passport to the Clerk of Court.
He was forbidden from interfering with State witnesses and must report to the police once every two weeks on Fridays.
Kadungure appealed to the High Court after Harare magistrate Mr Chrispen Mberewere had denied him bail.
He is facing fraud charges for allegedly undervaluing excise duty for a Bentley Continental GT to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).
He paid US$81 000 instead of US$139 665, allegedly prejudicing Zimra of US$58 665.
High Court Judge Justice Webster Chinamora subsequently ordered Kadungure to pay an additional US$58 000 which he agreed to pay.
Meanwhile, Kadungure faces trial in another case expected to start on February 28 at the Harare Magistrates Court.
Allegations are that Kadungure and his company declared to Zimra that they made total sales of $3 194 329,47, including VAT, yet they had made $24 187 026, prejudicing Zimra of $2 512 149 in VAT.-State media
A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy died after he was hit by a commuter omnibus while attempting to cross a street in Bulawayo.
The incident happened on Monday at around 4PM at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Fort Street.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident but could not reveal the identity of the deceased as his next of kin have not been formally notified of his death.
He said the commuter omnibus, a Toyota Hiace, failed to stop as the driver was turning right into Fort Street.
He then struck the deceased who sustained serious head injuries and body bruises.
“I can confirm that we attended to an accident involving a pedestrian and a motor vehicle where a nine-year-old boy died on the spot after being hit by a commuter omnibus.
The incident happened on Monday afternoon and the deceased was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are still investigating the matter,” said Insp Ncube.
He called for sanity on the roads, saying most accidents in the Central Business District are a result of human error.
“We appeal to motorists to drive with caution.
That area has a lot of school children who will be crossing from McKeurtan and Robert Tredgold schools.
“It is one of the busiest intersections in town and motorists, especially drivers of public service vehicles, are in the habit of speeding along that road, especially when they cruise through the Lobengula Street robots along 3rd Avenue and make a sharp turn into Fort Street. It’s very dangerous behaviour and will continue to cause loss of life if it is not addressed,” he said.-State media
The Officer Commanding
Harare Suburban
Harare Central Police
HARARE
Dear Sir/Madam
NOTICE OF PROTEST MARCH TO PARLIAMENT TO HAND OVER PETITION ON GRADE 7 AND ‘O’ AND ‘A’ LEVEL EXAMINATION FEES HIKES BY ZIMSEC
We write to give notice that The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe shall be marching to Parliament to handover a Petition to seek urgent Parliamentary intervention to reverse/reduce the recent astronomic Grade 7 and ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level examination fees hikes by ZIMSEC.
It is our belief that the duty and obligation to defend and protect the rights of children squarely rests on us as teachers and parents.
The march shall be on Thursday 27 February 2020.
We shall proceed from Harare gardens via Julius Nyerere, through 2nd street to Nelson Mandela and then to Parliament, Building.
The march shall happen between 1 pm – 2 pm.
Expected number of marchers is plus or minus 500.
You may attend if you so wish
Yours Sincerely
Raymond Majongwe
PTUZ SECRETARY GENERAL
The Officer Commanding
Harare Suburban
Harare Central Police
HARARE
Dear Sir/Madam
NOTICE OF PROTEST MARCH TO PARLIAMENT TO HAND OVER PETITION ON GRADE 7 AND ‘O’ AND ‘A’ LEVEL EXAMINATION FEES HIKES BY ZIMSEC
We write to give notice that The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe shall be marching to Parliament to handover a Petition to seek urgent Parliamentary intervention to reverse/reduce the recent astronomic Grade 7 and ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level examination fees hikes by ZIMSEC.
It is our belief that the duty and obligation to defend and protect the rights of children squarely rests on us as teachers and parents.
The march shall be on Thursday 27 February 2020.
We shall proceed from Harare gardens via Julius Nyerere, through 2nd street to Nelson Mandela and then to Parliament, Building.
The march shall happen between 1 pm – 2 pm.
Expected number of marchers is plus or minus 500.
You may attend if you so wish
Yours Sincerely
Raymond Majongwe
PTUZ SECRETARY GENERAL
Farai Dziva|A senior government official has claimed political dialogue in Zimbabwe does not require an external mediator.
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, quoted by Daily News last week said:
“Why would he (Mnangagwa) need to invite President Mbeki? Who wants President Mbeki to mediate?
I don’t know about the South African embassy because that (Mbeki) is their national. They can expect him in the country anytime.
What would be wrong is for anyone to create an impression that the political dialogue in Zimbabwe requires external mediation.”
“That position has been made clear to all and sundry, including local players and well-wishers.
The former president of South Africa is aware of that position by the government of Zimbabwe.
He is also aware of the standing arrangement of interaction among parties which is called POLAD and that there won’t be any other.
As for the claims that President Mnangagwa did not make a call, or did not receive a call from or to President Mbeki, the truth of the matter is that there was no need for a call from either side.
If anything, the two met on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) strictly from a position of camaraderie … briefing a colleague about political developments in the country, economic developments … but more critically … about sanctions,” added Charamba.
Two pedestrians have died, one on the spot and another later at Chinhoyi Provincial hospital after being hit by a truck which veered off the road in a bid to avoid a pothole along the Harare-Chirundu Highway near Vuti Secondary School.
The accident was confirmed on Monday by Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson Inspector Ian Kohwera who said that four passengers, who were aboard the truck, were injured and ferried to Karoi District Hospital for treatment and were discharged.
He said:
The truck driver tried to avoid one of the two potholes on the highway when the accident occurred. The truck veered off the road before hitting two pedestrians which saw one passing on on the spot. The truck went on to hit a tree and rolled once before landing on its roof. One of the accident victims was affected when the tree was uprooted.-Credit :NewsDay
Two pedestrians have died, one on the spot and another later at Chinhoyi Provincial hospital after being hit by a truck which veered off the road in a bid to avoid a pothole along the Harare-Chirundu Highway near Vuti Secondary School.
The accident was confirmed on Monday by Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson Inspector Ian Kohwera who said that four passengers, who were aboard the truck, were injured and ferried to Karoi District Hospital for treatment and were discharged.
He said:
The truck driver tried to avoid one of the two potholes on the highway when the accident occurred. The truck veered off the road before hitting two pedestrians which saw one passing on on the spot. The truck went on to hit a tree and rolled once before landing on its roof. One of the accident victims was affected when the tree was uprooted.-Credit :NewsDay
Five family members were struck to death by lightning in the Muzvezve area of Sanyati District.
Tragedy struck when the family, which was tending their maize field, sought refuge under a tree when it started raining yesterday afternoon in Village 6, Muzvezve 1.
A lightning bolt hit the tree. The five who died went under one tree while three other family members who survived went under another nearby tree.
Sanyati District civil protection unit officer, Mr Amigo Mhlanga confirmed the development saying the unit has since been activated to offer assistance.
“Five members of the same family have died after being struck by lightning while being sheltered under a tree. The district CPU has been activated and we are going to the area to assess the situation while also looking at how the family can be assisted because of the magnitude of the tragedy,” said Mr Mhlanga.-State media
Five family members were struck to death by lightning in the Muzvezve area of Sanyati District.
Tragedy struck when the family, which was tending their maize field, sought refuge under a tree when it started raining yesterday afternoon in Village 6, Muzvezve 1.
A lightning bolt hit the tree. The five who died went under one tree while three other family members who survived went under another nearby tree.
Sanyati District civil protection unit officer, Mr Amigo Mhlanga confirmed the development saying the unit has since been activated to offer assistance.
“Five members of the same family have died after being struck by lightning while being sheltered under a tree. The district CPU has been activated and we are going to the area to assess the situation while also looking at how the family can be assisted because of the magnitude of the tragedy,” said Mr Mhlanga.-State media
TEAM Zimbabwe UK have shown the way by presenting Warriors legend Peter Ndlovu with an Award of Excellence in honour of his trailblazing football career in Europe and the tremendous contribution to the game in Zimbabwe.
The former Warriors skipper was honoured in absentia during the Team Zimbabwe UK victory celebrations held in London at the weekend.
The award was received by his brother Brian, the youngest sibling in the legendary football dynasty that also produced former national team players Madinda and the late Adam.
“As an organisation we saw it befitting to give an Award of Excellence to Peter Ndlovu to honour him for his outstanding achievements in football,” said Team Zimbabwe UK CEO Marshall Gore.
“We are giving this to him to honour him as the greatest ever Zimbabwean player in the last 40 years, most capped (100 caps) and the country’s all-time top goalscorer (38 goals).
“As Zimbabwe captain, we felt that Peter demonstrated true leadership both on and off the pitch. His outstanding performances were also felt here in the UK.
“We felt he deserved to be honoured because of his contributions to the communities and to the national game itself.
“So it’s only befitting that we honour our legend as it will also help inspire the new generation of players coming up to be motivated knowing that if they do good they will also get rewarded by the community.”
Ndlovu, who remains one of the rare talents to emerge from the country, holds the distinction of being the first African player to feature in the English Premiership when he joined Coventry City in 1991 from Highlanders.
As a raw teenager, the forward had stars written all over his future after he burst onto the domestic football scene and became the youngest player ever in the history of Zimbabwe to win the Soccer Star of the Year award in 1990, albeit in an unprecedented tie with George Nechironga.
But he went on to win it again the following year and could have bagged the award multiple times had the English Premier League not opened its doors for him in 1991.
Ndlovu was scouted by John Skillet while playing for Bulawayo giants Highlanders and English football legend Terry Butcher facilitated his signature for the trailblazing move to Coventry City in July 1991.
History was to be made on Wednesday August 19, 1992, when Ndlovu officially became the first African footballer to feature in the English Premier League in a match against Tottenham, although he played for only 20 minutes.
The Flying Elephant, as he was affectionately known, later played alongside legendary striker Micky Quinn, who joined Coventry City in November 1992, and their partnership was formidable.
In his debut season, the slippery forward made 32 appearances and scored seven goals at a rate of a goal every four games or so for his whole career average at Coventry, which spanned six years.
He scored over 90 goals during his 12 seasons, garnering about 338 appearances in the English leagues. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to emerge from Zimbabwe, earning 100 caps for his country and scoring 38 international goals.
Ndlovu captained the national side that made history by qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations for the very first time in 2004 after years of agonising near misses.-State media
The Warriors have learnt their opponents in the 2020 Chan competition to be held in Cameroon from 4-25 April 2020.
They will face hosts Cameroon in the opening match of the tournament. Other Group A opponents are Burkina Faso and Mali.
This will be the second time Zimbabwe will face the Burkinabes and the Malians in the Chan competition. The national team played against the two sides in 2014, winning in both encounters.
The 2020 Chan will be the first tournament for Zdravko Logarusic who was unveiled as the Zimbabwe national team coach a week ago.
Draw:
Group A: Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Mali.
Group B: Niger, Congo, DRC, Lybia
Group C: Morocco, Togo, Uganda, Rwanda.
Group D: Tanzania, Namibia, Guinea, Zambia- Soccer 24
“When people are brave and they stand up to it, guns will not work, the sound of the gun will not be heard.”
Nelson Chamisa, 14th February 2020.
Below is a side transcript of MDC leader Nelson Chamisa at Masvingo on Friday. Chamisa spoke at length saying his party is demanding a people’s government not one created by a constitutional court.
He also said he refuses to be forced into action by people with agendas. He said, “Some people I hear them saying Nelson Chamisa you must lead from the front, but this is the struggle; I have come a long way … but when we do our thing we will not be forced to do things.”
FULL TEXT: When people are brave and they stand up to it guns will not work the sound of the gun will not be heard.
You don’t debate about solidarity; we must go together, fight together, we weep together and we enjoy together. So now Mai Sikhala we want to thank you. Some of you do not know that for the struggle to move there are heroes, thank you very much. I thank you all, these are the people who when there are problems they are there. I saw them where the police were.
Excuse me our Secretary-General and all the leadership assembled here, the chair of the women and the youth.
I was once a youth and I used to refuse to be used. I would sing Hatidi zvekupihwa order nemasaskamu!
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
https://youtu.be/USi3zhzwa5U
I think you the whole standing committee…
We said this is not Valentine’s Day it is Morgan Tsvangirai Day.
The second thing we are gathered here; we are gathered here because one of our heroes had been arrested… another one will be appearing in court on the 28th of February. When you arrest one of us you have arrested all of us.
So we have come here for this party is now large. There is no party which is greater, larger than this one the whole of the African continent. It is a fact that the MDC has 28 out of 30 mayors in the whole of Zimbabwe. It is a fact that this party was voted in by more than 2.6 million people.
Some people I hear them saying Nelson Chamisa you must lead from the front, but this is the struggle; I have come a long way … but when we do our thing we will not be forced to do things.
I said for people to do what they should do they do it according to the right timing.
When I came here I found the police waiting and some of my people told me president if your go through this way you will be teargassed so I passed through the middle of them.
We will not allow police to be used for wrong things, a police officer has a badge of honour. That is why you see the police, their badge it says for the law, for the people, and for the country, so the police must not be used to assault us. Our people after throwing targas at me they don’t have a bag of tea, after throwing teargas at me they don’t even have an underwear to wear. After throwing targas at me, their shoe is still opened wide.
Mr Sikhala I saw your zvidobi. They are zvidobis of the struggle. Aaah Maiguru, are these the dobis you are getting at home? LAUGHTER.
The first thing is love the second thing is hope the third thing is sacrifice. This is the life of Morgan Tsvangirai.
Everywhere I go people are saying Nelson Chamisa Morgan Tsvangirai left you directions to the way.
I will not be misled.
Mnangagwa does not have a clue. Chiwenga has no clue.
Today as we speak what Morgan tsvangirai talk about hope he said no matter how difficult life becomes you remain holding onto hope you will get there. We will get there we will get there when we get there.
Tsvangirai represented sacrifuce. He used to eat bans and cream soda. He was a basic man. That is what I said no matter how broke we are we must never compromise the struggle.
Our only gift to the people is to lead them and deliver the struggle. Real love is to represent the people and to do what they want.
Yes, we will correct the problems of Masvingo party leadership. We want to ensure we get 26 out of 26 not what we saw in Mwenezi(sic). Can ZANU win over here?
Tsvangirai was a man of love and unity he told me to unite with Biti and Welshman. The vision has got nothing to do with too many people a vision is with one person. So to all those who follow when I say jump you must jump when I say run you must run. That is why you see soldiers are told to march left right left right.
We said that this year we have 5 critical zones:
Number 1 – the fight we have is that there must be a people’s government not this one of the constitutional court not this one of Emmerson Mnangagwa.
When people are brave and they stand up to it guns will not work the sound of the gun will not be heard.
Mnangagwa tells people that they must eat potatoes and vegetables while he himself is feasting on meat while he is on a private jet.
Number 2 – We are fighting for a people’s budget not the kind of life that we are seeing when people cannot afford basics we want our dignity returned to the people.
Number 3 – We want to address the problem of corruption. We are missing $3bln. Who is responsible Mr Biti?
Biti replies: it is Mnangagwa!
I said those people I will tell you myself. They know what we are doing.
The 4th thing – is the one that we have come here such as this one of Sikhala. We are struggling with this issue of Mashurugwi. We must not call them that. They are Mnangagwa’# people.
Number 5 – is the issue of the constitution Emmerson Mnangagwa is messing with the constitution; he is now possessed with the demons of Ian Smith and Robert Mugabe. Mugabe changed this 19 times, Mnangagwa wants to change it 27 times in one year.
So what is the way forward the way forward is for you and me where you are, looking at me, let us fix our country there is no one else with powers more than you as an individual, everyone let us fix the country we don’t want to get to May, June while we are in this problem, we can fix it. Until when will we drink from boreholes? While we use generators?
What kind of a country is that in which: school fees rtgs; a whole government forming a committee of roller meal! A whole government setting up a committee for mealie meal.
If you give us this thing we will not take a day before you start enjoying the country and getting suffocated with goodness.
I told Emmerson Mnangagwa why don’t we use the United States dollars while we fix the country? give the soldiers the US dollar give the police officers the US dollars so that people can survive, why do you want the people to live on rtgs dollars?
Let us not insult others. MDC let us be full of love.
My last words that I leave you the people of this province that one has been on this issue of dialogue. I told him I am ready to talk, I had been sent by our council. We want to give peace a chance and so I told Emmerson Mnangagwa let us agree, you stole the elections we are not going to go ahead to 2023 before we are clear that you stole the elections.
There will be no elections in this country until we resolve this issue. The elections must be respected. This year we have a right to fix the country all of us all of us all of us all of us all of us all of us.
Emerson Mnangagwa will not be able to run this country he is refusing dialogue. And now he is busy saying Nelson Chamisa is the problem. I am advising him that this country is burning. I am saying to him hear me so that we can fix this country before it is too late.
DURBAN – The ANC said on Tuesday that the sincerity of an apology made by former president FW de Klerk following offensive comments about apartheid would be visible through his actions.
This as the Nelson Mandela Foundation on Tuesday said it welcomed de Klerk retracting the statements that apartheid was not a crime against humanity.
De Klerk first made the statements during a television interview two weeks ago, which caused consternation at Thursday’s state of the nation address (SONA), with EFF MPs demanding that he leave parliament, where he was seated as a guest.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe: “The sincerity of Mr de Klerk’s apology will be tested by his posture to selflessly commit both in words and in deeds towards the advancement of the ongoing reconstruction and development project through nation building in his local community.
“The ANC has consistently maintained, in line with the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, that apartheid was and remains a crime against humanity,” said Mabe.
He said the convention adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1973 declared that apartheid was a crime against humanity, “and that inhuman acts resulting from the policies and practices of apartheid and similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination … are crimes violating the principles of international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the charter of the United Nations, and constituting a serious threat to international peace and security”.
Mabe said that “unfortunate and inconsiderate utterances” went against the spirit of unity that was trying to be fostered in South Africa, and were ” unhealthy for our young democracy”.
“It is therefore expected of our elders and statesmen to carry the moral duty of helping to unite and reconcile all of South Africa’s people with an unequivocal measure of humility.
“The callous brutality, oppression, indignity and destruction that apartheid brought to millions of black South Africans should never be trivialised by anyone in our country regardless of their political affiliation, beliefs, skin colour and station in life,” he said.
Any form of denying apartheid was a crime against humanity was an affront “to the lived reality of the majority of South Africans and a complete digression from the noble cause of social cohesion”, said Mabe.
“Our new democratic society is based on the values of non-racialism, national unity, and acknowledgement of the brutality and injustices of our past”.
Meanwhile, Sello Hatang, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, slammed de Klerk and called for dialogue.
“We believe that this kind of statement (the retraction and the apology) does not take us anywhere in terms of the nation-building, reconciliation path that Nelson Mandela put us on, but also in tackling the difficult systemic issues the nation is dealing with.”
“In terms of engaging with the FW de Klerk Foundation, we believe that that is the only way forward. The rise of racism and the rise of the denial of crimes such as apartheid is something that we see progressing.
“If we are to do anything right, it is to continue to engage those kind of voices with a view to ensuring that we can then transform our nation into one that [sees clearly],” he said.
De Klerk on Monday apologised for his reluctance to fully accept the classification of apartheid as a crime against humanity and said he concurred with the wording of the Statute of Rome, which describes it as such.
The climb-down came amid a furore after his eponymous foundation last Friday likened to “Soviet agitprop” the pressure on De Klerk over recent remarks where he, like in the past, appeared to take issue with the definition of the racial oppression of South Africa’s black majority as crime against humanity.
That statement came a day after the EFF disrupted the opening of parliament with a demand that South Africa’s last white president leave the National Assembly, terming him a “murderer” and apartheid apologist.
“I have taken note of the vehement reaction to our response to the EFF’s attack on me at the State of the Nation address on Thursday night,” De Klerk said.
“I agree with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation that this is not the time to quibble about the degrees of unacceptability of apartheid. It was totally unacceptable. The FW de Klerk Foundation has accordingly decided to withdraw its statement of 14 February unconditionally and apologises for the confusion, anger and hurt that it has caused,” De Klerk said on Monday.
He added that while apartheid was dismantled by 1994, when the Statute of Rome was adopted four years later, it was ranked as a crime against humanity and defined it as “inhumane acts …committed in the context of an institutional regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.”
“The FW de Klerk Foundation supports this provision,” De Klerk said.
The Bulawayo City Council has the powers to change street names in the city contrary to claims by deputy local government minister Marian Chombo that the local authority cannot effect the name changes.
Two weeks ago, Chombo, reacting to a report that BCC had changed street names, said the local authority had no authority to make the changes.
However, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has clarified that local authorities can change street names.
“The naming of streets name places is in two parts. There are those that are done by local authorities subject to approval and gazetting,” said Ziyambi in response top a question from MDC-T leader Thokozani Khupe who had asked who has legal powers to change street names.
Added Ziyambi Ziyambi, “Then there are some that are named by central Government subject to the relevant procedures and approval by Cabinet, gazetting and then the names will be changed or named accordingly.”
Some of the effected changes are as follows:
Leopold Takawira Avenue (from Samuel Parirenyatwa Street to Umguza River Bridge along Gwanda Road) which is now King Mzilikazi Road, Nketa Drive is now Queen Lozikheyi Dlodlo Drive, Athlone Avenue is Simon Vengai Muzenda Road and 23rd Avenue is Landa John Nkomo Road.
Lady Stanley Avenue is now Mama Joanna Mafuyana Avenue, Steeldale Road and Anthony Tylor Road is now Albert Nxele Road, Dunde Drive has been renamed Sikhanyiso Duke Ndlovu Drive, Fife Street is now Nikita Mangena Street and Fort Street has been renamed Lookout Masuku Street.
Old Khami Road is Sydney Malunga Road, Basch Street is Dumiso Dabengwa Road, Waverley Road is Jairos Jiri Road while Fairbridge has been renamed Erick Bloch Way.
Other roads renamed are Hillside Road which is now Sir Garfield Todd Road, Van Riebeck Road is Joseph Msika Drive, Connaught Avenue is Cephas Cele Avenue, Collenbrander Road is Daniel Madzimbamuto Road, Manchester Road is now George Nyandoro Road, Vera Road is now Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu Road, Birkenhead Road has been renamed Sikanjaya Muntanga Road and Doncaster Road is now Maria Msika Road.
Lobengula Street has been corrected to King Lobengula Street, together with Moffat Road in Hillside which has been corrected to Robert Moffat Drive and Leander Road in Hillside which is now Dr Leander Star Jameson.
A 22-year-old man from Plumtree was recently arrested after he robbed and raped his 71-year-old employer before fleeing the scene.
After he robbed his employer of some cash and cellphones, Justice Ndebele raped her before taking a rope which he used to tie her hands and legs before he fled.
However, his luck ran out when the police caught him.
National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident in a statement.
“Justice Ndebele alias Majority (22) of Dilankombe village, Plumtree was arrested on February 13 for armed robbery and rape. Accused attacked his employer, a female aged 71 years, stole some cash and two cellphones and then raped her before tying her hands and legs with a rope,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.
He said the granny managed to untie herself, went to make a police report which lead to the arrest of Ndebele and the recovery of the stolen property. After the arrest, Asst Comm Nyathi said it was discovered that Ndebele was on a police list of wanted people for various criminal cases.
