Online Reporter
Peter Matika
A BULAWAYO businessman is demanding justice and thousands in defamation damages after he was allegedly beaten up, humiliated, and accused of being an armed robber during a dramatic confrontation at Pottery Industries in Belmont.
Bekezela Moyo, a security mogul and director of Allied Security, is at the centre of a storm involving fists, false accusations and a US$250 000 defamation claim after a routine inquiry turned into a physical assault and public smear campaign, or so he claims.
According to court proceedings, Moyo visited Pottery Industries on 16 July to question why one of his employees had been barred from performing security duties at the gold processing plant.
In a violent twist, two employees at the factory, John Farley Pieterson (56) and his son Liam Farley Pieterson (28), allegedly pounced on Moyo, manhandled him, and pummelled him with fists before dragging him out of the company premises.
Prosecutor Busisiwe Sithole told the court that the assault was deliberate and intended to cause bodily harm.
“On the 16th of July 2025, at 17 Chester Road in Belmont, Bulawayo, Liam and John assaulted the complainant Mr Bekezela Moyo by pushing and hitting him with fists all over his body,” she said.
The pair were dragged before Bulawayo magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba and remanded out of custody to appear again on 8 August. They face assault charges and were released on free bail.
Moyo has now launched a fierce legal attack against a gold dealer, Mouhamed Daka, whom he accuses of spreading a highly defamatory voice note that circulated widely on WhatsApp. In the recording, Daka allegedly claimed that Moyo was not only violent, but also a convicted armed robber who had attempted to rob the place.
Through his lawyer Israel Masamvu, Moyo issued a formal letter of demand to Daka, accusing him of spreading lies and tarnishing his image and that of his security company, Allied Security (Pvt) Ltd.
“Our clients have advised us that on the 16th of July 2025, you recorded and widely circulated a voice note via the WhatsApp platform, directed at miners in the Matabeleland South region. The contents of the voice note are defamatory and injurious to our clients’ reputation,” reads the letter obtained by B-Metro.
According to the letter, Daka alleged that Moyo attempted a daylight gold robbery, that he attacked people with a fire extinguisher, and that he was linked to a rogue gang of extortionists claiming to be linked to influential politicians.
“You alleged that Mr Bekezela Moyo is a convicted armed robber who claims to be a security guy and that his company is just a front,” the letter states. “These claims are patently false. Our client has never been convicted of armed robbery.”
It was further alleged in the voice note that Moyo was involved in the attempted robbery of gold from Pottery Industries and that the incident resulted in injuries to Liam, who allegedly received stitches on his face and suffered cuts to his arm.
In the same voice note, Daka also made disparaging remarks about Moyo’s business practices, saying Allied Security should not be supported and that Moyo’s actions were completely unacceptable.
“You stated that our client just caused havoc. You even went as far as linking him to a criminal group from Harare that robs innocent businesses using political influence. All these statements are false, malicious and defamatory,” the letter stated.
Moyo is demanding that Daka publicly retracts and apologises for the voice note using the same WhatsApp account through which the recording was shared. He also wants the apology to explicitly state that the original voice note was false, unfounded, and had no factual basis.
To add salt to the wounds, Daka has been ordered to pay US$150 000 in damages to Allied Security and an additional US$100 000 in personal damages to Moyo himself.
The letter gave Daka five hours from receipt to publish the apology and seven days to make the payments. The letter warned that failure to do so would result in full legal proceedings being instituted against him without further notice.
“Our clients have suffered considerable reputational harm. They continue to receive calls from stakeholders and clients regarding the contents of your defamatory communication,” the letter reads.
Moyo insists that the entire incident at Pottery Industries was an unfortunate misunderstanding that turned violent and that he never instigated any of the chaos.
He said he acted only in self-defence and has denied all allegations made by Daka, calling them fabricated and malicious.
All eyes will now be on the court case resuming on 8 August and whether Daka will respond to the legal threat or find himself entangled in a separate legal battle of his own.
