Hwange colliery workers have now gone for three years without pay. What
was more infuriating was that people were receiving eviction notices for failing
to pay rentals yet the company was not paying them. Social ills like
prostitution, poaching and theft were on the rise as a result of increasing
poverty.
Midlands
On 3 July, Davis Moyo* a teacher at Zhomba High school in Gokwe Kabuyuni
was reportedly assaulted by Stainley Bhija (Zanu PF) at Chitekete Bar. Dondo
was drinking beer at Chitekeke Business Centre when he was approached by
Bhija and one Maxwell Gaba. The two accused Moyo of being an MDC-T
member. It is alleged they dragged Moyo to a secluded place and while there,
Bhija threw a brick that smashed Dondo’s face causing facial injuries. Moyo
received medical treatment but is yet to recover fully. The incident was
reported to the police who by end of July were still to complete investigations
thus depriving the victim of early justice.
In a case of political intolerance, on 14 July, Charles Moniwa* (Zanu PF) of
Svisvi village Gokwe Nemangwe was allegedly expelled from Zanu PF after a
report was tabled at a District meeting that Moniwa had defected to MDC T. It
is alleged that Moniwa was participating at a Heal Zimbabwe workshop and
the perception was that he was now sympathetic to the opposition party. The
common misconception is that opposition politics and civic society are one.
Freedom of assembly and access to information were denied when a
Zimrights workshop organized to educate people on their civic rights was
allegedly disrupted on 25 July in Mvuma by Councillor James Masara. The
councillor who was among the participants surprised everyone when he
allegedly approached Zimrights staff claiming that he had received
instructions from his superiors that the workshop should be cancelled.
Councilor Masara claimed that the workshop was a political gathering
disguised as civic education. Masara confiscated the workshop register
making it difficult for the workshop organizers to reimburse participants’ bus
fares.
Freedom of assembly and the right to demonstrate were on 16 July reportedly
denied when more than 200 MDC-T women who were demonstrating against
economic hardships were pelted with stones by Zanu PF members in
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