Online Reporter
Ronald Mpofu
PLUMTREE has been thrown into confusion and fear after two prison officers were taken in for questioning over the dramatic escape of convicted rapist and murder suspect Cabangani Mike Mathe.
The breakout reportedly happened in the early hours of Saturday, 15 November at around 2AM, and six days later, the dangerous fugitive is still on the run.
Police in Plumtree seized the officers’ smartphones as part of widening investigations into how one of the region’s most feared men managed to slip out of a secure facility without raising alarm. Speculation is swirling among inmates and residents who believe this was no ordinary escape.
Mathe had served only eight months of his 20-year sentence for rape, handed down on 29 August. He was also due in court on 19 November for a physical abuse case and later for a murder trial.
His legal troubles were piling up, yet he somehow managed to vanish in the dead of night.
According to sources inside the prison, Mathe allegedly used a hacksaw blade to cut through the window burglar bars before slipping out.
Guards launched an immediate search but found nothing. Inmates who spoke to B-Metro said the entire story did not add up. One prisoner said it was unbelievable that a man of Mathe’s profile was held at Plumtree instead of a maximum security facility.
“They were waiting for this to happen. Everyone knew Mathe is dangerous. Keeping him here was asking for trouble,” said an inmate who asked not to be named.
Another claimed he heard prison guards saying Mathe climbed on top of other prisoners to reach the window. He said inmates screamed and banged on doors but no guard responded. The noise from hacking metal would have been enough to raise the dead, he said, yet somehow no one heard it.
Another source insisted the bars may have been cut after Mathe escaped. He said the story of cutting them in a matter of hours was impossible.
“Someone wanted it to look neat. It was too quiet. I do not believe he did that alone. Mathe has a history of getting help from authorities,” said the source.
What is clear is that Mathe sliced open the window, squeezed out and disappeared into the darkness. He is believed to have cut through a razor wired fence near the dog yard, then fled through the officers’ residential gate. He has not been sighted since. The escape has rattled Plumtree, Bulilima and Mangwe. Residents say they cannot sleep knowing a man accused of rape, torture and murder is back on the streets.
For years Mathe moved around like an untouchable figure. He reportedly boasted that police could never arrest him and many victims were said to be too afraid to speak.
His conviction in August shocked the town. Court documents detailed how he forced a female employee into icy water, dunked her until she fainted, raped her and ordered her to work the next morning as if nothing had happened.
Other pending cases include allegations of abusing a minor and tying up a woman with handcuffs before beating her.
His name is also linked to the Judas Cop saga involving a rogue officer accused of removing a woman from protective custody and handing her over to Mathe. The woman was later murdered in Botswana. With Mathe free once again, the fear from those years has returned.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Meya Khanyezi, said security teams were deployed immediately after the escape. She did not respond to questions about the circulating theories by the time of publication.
Residents are hoping for answers soon. Plumtree remains on edge as one of its most feared men continues to roam free.
