adminorganised by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition here yesterday.
Zanu-PF Johannesburg district chairperson Cde Ndabezinhle Nyoni and political commissar Cde Abednego Nyoni were beaten up by MDC-T activists at Devonshire Hotel.
A report was filed at Hillbrow Police Station while the pair is receiving medical attention after sustaining varying deg-rees of injuries.
Like other Zimbabweans living in Johannesburg, the Zanu-PF officials had attended the Press conference on political developments at home.
The theme of the conference was “Sadc: Set Out Clear, Time-bound and Enforceable Zimbabwe Elections Road-map” and meant to tell the world that conditions were not conducive for the holding of elections.
On realising the presence of Cdes Ndabezinhle and Abednego, the rowdy MDCT-activists became unsettled, as any false claims they would make on Zimbabwe would not go unchallenged. They then pounced on the pair and chucked them out of the Press conference.
So tense was the atmosphere at Devonshire Hotel that The Herald failed to gain entry.
“On entering the venue of the Press conference, a man approached me and asked who I was. I said I was a Zimbabwean but he further asked me which party I belonged to.
“I told him I was Zanu-PF and by then a group of about 15 other MDC activists had surrounded me. They started pushing me out of the hotel and hitting me all over my body in the process,” narrated a dejected Cde Ndabezinhle.
The activists accused Cde Ndabezinhle of stalking MDC-T supporters wherever they were with the intention of harming them.
“I do not understand why they are doing this. My belief was that as Zimbabweans we were coming together to discuss national issues. I attended the Press confe-rence because I wanted to defend the values of
Zanu-PF, as a party in my capacity as the party’s chairperson here in Johannesburg,” he said.
Added Cde Ndabezinhle: “This has shown that MDC-T is violent but I want to put it clearly that we are not going to be intimidated by them.
“We are going ahead with our programmes.”
Cde Abednego said MDC-T activists accused him of killing MDC-T supporters in Zimbabwe.
He had a swollen face after the activists head butted him and his clothes were shredded during the skirmishes.
“I am very bitter and it is unfortunate that this is happening in a foreign country but I would want to say a measure of revenge should be exercised on these people,” Cde Abednego said.
This is not the first time that MDC-T activists in Johannesburg have attacked Zanu-PF officials and supporters.
Last month, scores of Zanu-PF supporters sustained serious injuries after MDC-T activists assaulted them during an anti-sanctions march in Johannesburg
Again the matter was reported to the police but no arrests have been made as yet. There is a culture of violence within the MDC-T itself and its leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has openly acknowledged the rowdy nature of his supporters but has done nothing about it. Intra-party violence manifested itself in the run-up to the party’s national congress held in Bulawayo two months ago. But Mr Tsvangirai blamed it on Zanu-PF and claimed that his party had been infiltrated.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition used yesterday’s press conference to claim that Zimbabwe was not ready for elections in 2011.
It cited the “recent alleged bombing” of Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s house as one of the reasons why elections should not be held in Zimbabwe.
Minister Biti’s house was “bombed” under suspicious circumstances with political observers and police investigators suspecting an inside job as part of the grandstanding ahead of the Sadc weekend summit on Zimbabwe.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition also demanded the deployment of African Union and United Nations peace-keeping monitors three months before the holding of elections to prevent alleged State-sponsored violence and “guarantee peaceful transfer of power to the eventual winner of the elections”.
Online Reporter