Online Reporter
Peter Matika
Bulawayo Bureau
A BULAWAYO businessman is demanding US$250,000 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, the 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 July 16 to ask 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 mine, 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.
The pair appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba and they were remanded out of custody and wil retrun to court on August 8.
They are facing assault charges.
Moyo has now launched a legal challenge 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 mine.
