Ex-minister detained in Zimbabwe

Former Minister of National Healing, Moses Mzila Ndlovu, has been detained by police following a confrontation involving livestock belonging to one of the invaders occupying his farm in Matobo district, Matabeleland South.

Ndlovu stated that on Wednesday morning, he drove away livestock belonging to one of the people who had occupied his land.

The incident escalated when one of the farm occupants allegedly brandished a gun at his 25-year-old son, Tjakalisa, in retaliation for driving away his cattle.

The former minister has been struggling to remove the illegal settlers from his property at Mapungubge Farm since last year. Speaking from Hlekweni police base in Figtree, Ndlovu said he and his son saw one of the occupants bringing cattle to graze on his land around 10 a.m.

"When a worker drove the cattle onto my farm, I chased them off, and the worker tried to run away. I apprehended the worker and told him to drive the cattle out, which he did. I then left for town, only to be informed that my son had been picked up by the police and taken to Hlekweni police base," Ndlovu said.

The former minister added that the worker claimed he was assaulted by a group of people at his farm, while the owner of the cattle allegedly pulled a gun on his son.

"When I arrived at the police base, the owner of the cows accused me of assaulting his worker. The police decided to arrest us on charges of assault. But the cow owner had pulled a gun on my son in the presence of the police, who did not act. My son had also been beaten up," he said, adding that his son was now detained.

Ndlovu described the situation as continued harassment, with the occupants now threatening his family.

"They must not come for my children because I will fight until the bitter end. They can do whatever they want to me because of my opinions, but my children have never expressed an opinion, so why should they be punished for being my children? Where have you ever seen collective punishment?" Ndlovu said.

He also lamented previous incidents where his children were arrested after encountering a poacher on the farm. Additionally, he mentioned that his workers' house had been vandalised, but police investigations had not made progress despite "useful leads we gave them."

"My farm fence has been pulled down, as well as a government fence running along mine. No one has been prosecuted for it. Our field perimeter fence is continuously stolen and part of it used to snare both livestock and wildlife. Cutting down trees and theft of property go on," decried the former minister.

Ndlovu's efforts to evict the occupants last year suffered a temporary setback this year after the High Court demanded that he add more settlers to his application for a spoliation order. In his application, Ndlovu stated that he has occupied the farm since 2004 and that in August last year, Johanes Zifudze and others invaded his property.

Ndlovu cited Zifudze, the Agriculture Ministry Secretary, the Agriculture Minister, the ZRP Figtree commanding officer, the Surveyor-General, and the Sheriff of the High Court as respondents.

According to the application, Zifudze and other settlers pegged stands on 200 hectares of his 3,603-hectare Hami Magazine Site Farm last year. Ndlovu said Zifudze intended to settle more people on the farm.