Stop Smuggling Weapons Into Tsholotsho:Gaule

The Senator for Tsholotsho Believe Gaule has made a passionate appeal to young men in his constituency to stop smuggling weapons from South Africa saying their actions could give police and army an excuse to
crackdown on the entire Matabeleland province.

Speaking to Radio Vop from Tsholotsho, the senator said the smuggling of guns into the district has become a serious cause for concern and should be stopped.Tsholotsho district has a history of violent crime dating
back to the colonial era.

" Please stop bringing in weapons from South Africa because you will put the lives of your parents and other villagers at risk.Zimbabwe is not like South Africa.If you commit crimes here, you will get arrested and
punished, " Gaule told Radio Vop.

The senator,s appeal comes in the wake of recent discovery of weapons in some homesteads near the business centre.The weapons were found during surprise raids by police and security agents in homesteads belonging
to Zimbabweans working in South Africa, affectionately known in Matabeleland as Injiva.

Gaule also confirmed the deaths of three youths who were allegedly beaten to death by suspected agents of the central government.The youths were buried in their villages two weeks ago.

" As a leader I don't condone crime no matter who is committing it.If the youths in the district commit crimes they must be arrested and tried in our courts but unfortunately I am told there are some youths who
were arrested and never taken to court for trial, " said Gaule who is also a senior provincial leader of the MDC formation led by Arthur Mutambara.

He said the information he got later was that the suspects were dead.According to villagers who spoke to Radio Vop by phone, the deceased were abducted from their shack in Diepsloot township north of
Johannesburg.The kidnappers were suspected to be agents of the Zimbabwe government.The abduction was carried out with the help of another youth from Tsholotsho who was a friend of the deceased.

Radio Vop also spoke to neighbours in Diepsloot who confirmed the abduction but the matter was not reported to the South African police.The deceased lived together in their shack until the day they were
abducted.The abduction, according to friends was carried out just before midnight when most of the residents in the township had gone to bed.

 " What I know is that the people who abducted the youths were driving two Mercedes Benz vehicles.No one saw the number plates, said a neighbour in Diepsloot who only gave his name as Hadebe.

The youths were active members of the South African based Matabeleland Freedom Party (MFP).

"I can confirm that three of our youth league members were abducted here in Johannesburg by suspected Zimbabwean agents and we have received information from home that they are all dead, " said David Magagula, a
senior official of the party.

 The party is advocating for autonomy for Matabeleland but it is meeting resistance from many people in the region who are in favour devolution of power than autonomy.Radio Vop was not able to get a comment from
the police in Tsholotsho or Bulawayo about the three youth robbery suspects who were abducted from Johannesburg, driven back to Zimbabwe and allegedly beaten to death.A police officer who answered the phone in
Tsholotsho refused to talk referring all enquiries to Bulawayo police spokesman.