Magwegwe Club owner in trouble for illegal meetings

Chronicle Reporter

A NIGHTCLUB owner from one of Bulawayo’s oldest suburbs, Old Magwegwe has attracted the wrath of the police amid allegations that he has been using his premises to organize illegal gay parties.

Dumisani Wandi, who owns Emasofeni Nightclub in Old Magwegwe which over the years has transformed into a popular spot in the city has been implicated in for holding illegal gathering to perpetrate public violence.

According to the police, Wandi used the popularity of his nightclub and diversified to hosting ‘gay’ parties targeting the LGBTI community in the city.

The parties were reportedly exclusive, invite only events.

Nevertheless, they attract the wrath of the police after residents complained that the parties were since causing a public nuisance and had not got any clearance.

This eventually led to the opening of an arrest warrant against Wandi who sources say has since gone into hiding after protesting his innocence.

According to allegations against Wandi, he organized one of the gay parties at his nightclub on 1 November 2021, which was initially labelled as a workshop.

“On 1 November 2021 Dumsani Wandi unlawfully organized a gathering at Emasoleni night club in Magwegwe Bulawayo in the disguise of a training workshop. The aim of the training workshop was to promote homosexuality and to strategies a way forward and on spearheading a host of civil disobedience in Zimbabwe,” reads part of a police statement.

However, Wandi has since gone into hiding with his colleagues revealing that he had confided in them that he feared for his life.

“Wandi’s argument is that for him this was merely a business transaction where his venue was hire by an organisation to host a workshop and as a business that does not prejudice they accepted the hire but only to be later targeted by residents and police that they had hosted a gay party.

“His fear is now that he might unfairly be prosecuted for just conducting a business which has nothing to do with the LGBTI community,” said the source.

Zimbabwe is one of the least accepting countries in the world for gay, lesbian and transgender people. A 2006 revision to the country’s criminal code expanded the penalty for sodomy to include acts that “would be regarded by a reasonable person as an indecent act”.