Zanu-PF infighting sparks 'fist-fight'

Zanu-PF infighting took a nasty turn in KweKwe on Sunday when two MPs were involved in a vicious public fist-fight at Amaveni shopping centre.

The incident between the KweKwe central MP, Masango 'Blackman' Matambanadzo, and Gokwe-Kana MP Owen 'Mudha' Ncube, occurred in the late afternoon at the shop owned by Matambanadzo.

Hostilities between the two were evident on Friday when party stalwart Emmerson Mnangagwa addressed a meeting at the Queens sports club in the town. Matambanadzo was reportedly barred from attending by Ncube. This exclusion did not go down well with Matambanadzo.

Ncube is Justice Minister Mnangagwa's blue-eyed boy, while Matambanadzo allegedly belongs to Vice-President Joice Mujuru's camp. The two have not been the best of friends since Matambanadzo won the KweKwe central seat. In the primaries he defeated a candidate sponsored by the Mnangagwa camp.

According to local residents who witnessed the fight, the pair did not greet each other but launched immediately into an argument, followed by a brawl in which they traded punches and wrestled each other to the ground. They had to be separated by other members of the public, not before Ncube was punched and kicked senseless by Matambanadzo.

Others blame Ncube for provoking Matambanadzo by visiting him at his bottle store, when he knew he had played a big role is banning him from attending Mnangagwa's meeting.

One witness described the men as 'fighting like dogs' in the street. After the fight, the two of them separately drove to Amaveni police station to file reports.

A source told SW Radio Africa on Monday that hostilities between the Mnangagwa and Mujuru camp in KweKwe are very pronounced and they don't hide the fact they don't like each other.

'The feud between Mudha and Blackman is so serious I see them killing each other. The war between the two will only end when one of them is dead,' the source told us. The Matambanadzo-Ncube brawl has been the talk of KweKwe since the fight.