'Mugabe insulting' trade unionist joins ZANU PF to save job

Urban Councils Workers Union Gwanda chairman Sipho Ndlovu has left his coworkers stunned after he joined ZANU PF in an unprecedented move to save his job at the council.

Ndlovu has been on suspension from work without pay for the last two months following allegations by his employers that he had insulted President Robert Mugabe in a meeting between council and workers three months ago. The trade unionist has also been the Welshman Ncube led MDC National Youth Deputy Spokesperson.

Speaking at his public welcome to the ruling party in Gwanda on Thursday, Ndlovu said that he was leaving the MDC to join ZANU PF because the Professor Ncube led party had "lost direction" without explaining what he meant. In his speech Ndlovu did not make mention of his continuous squabbles with the ZANU PF controlled Municipality.

At a recent meeting between the workers and council, Ndlovu was almost punched by the Mayor of the town councillor Knowledge Ndlovu when the workers representative refused to let council pay workers five months outstanding wages using high density suburb stands.

In other media reports Ndlovu is reported to have said that members of the Central Intelligence Organisation had been monitoring his moves and were attending all workers meetings forcing workers to fail to raise their grievances.

Sources close to Ndlovu also indicate that in one incident unknown people broke into his car and tainted his packed lunch with an undisclosed poisonous substance. He is said to have noted the poison in the food before consuming it after noticing a break in to his car with nothing having been tempered with but his lunch tin.

A member of the workers committee who preferred to remain anonymous for "security reasons" threw away the whole defection incident calling it a non event.

"We all know for certain that Sipho has not joined ZANU PF but is just doing it to save his life and job, even Joshua Nkomo did it in 1987 and up to today it remains a non event," said the coworker.

"Now that he has joined ZANU PF and has been reinstated at work and all charges against him cleared it confirms that the council is running its matters on a political bias and one has to be ZANU PF in order to be protected at work" he added.

No comment could be obtained from Ndlovu whose phone went unanswered. His former party the MDC could also not give a comment on the matter but the party has called all other previous defection of its members to ZANU PF as nothing of a worry to them. Last week 97 MDC members in Gwanda North's ward 10 defected to ZANU PF together with their councillor.