Langa faces the whip as Grace heads for Gwanda

MATABELELAND SOUTH provincial chairperson Andrew Langa could face a major humiliation from the unrepressed First Lady Grace Mugabe who heads for Matabeleland South provincial capital today for her meet-the-people tours.

Following her stinging attacks on unnamed party chairmen in Gweru last week, there are fears that chairmen in Matabeleland will be in for an acerbic remark, from the so far unrestrained Grace.

Sources revealed this week that among those in the firing line could be the Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Langa, who has reportedly had a fallout with the provincial youth wing.

Langa is accused of meddling in youth affairs, an issue Grace and her husband, President Robert Mugabe have been vocal about.

However, Langa rubbished the reports, saying he had a cordial relationship with all the party's wings in the province.

"I cannot discuss hearsay and rumours; that will not build the party," he said.

"What I know is that I have a cordial relationship with the all wings of the party and we have not crossed swords."

There is reportedly bad blood between Langa and the provincial Zanu PF youth chairman and this could be high on Grace's agenda when she visits Gwanda today.

A source suggested Grace could perform a similar unifying feat to the one she had done in Harare between provincial chairman Amos Midzi and his youth counterpart, Godwin Gomwe.

Zanu PF has traditionally underperformed in elections in Matabeleland, although their showing improved in last year's elections. The three provinces, Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South are increasingly under the radar and uncertainty has spiked ahead of Grace's visits.

In a bid to be seemingly politically correct, Bulawayo, a hotbed of Zanu PF factionalism, took out advertisements in the local media announcing the First Lady's visit, an unprecedented move.