Back to Index

Members to spend second night in custody
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
July 04, 2012

All nine members arrested in Bulawayo on Monday night, including the missing two were located at Bulawayo Central police station. On 3rd July they were formally charged with Criminal Nuisance Section 46 schedule 2a (vi) any person dislodges or disfigures any property and were expected to be taken to court on 4th July but this did not happen so they will spend the second night in custody.

Indications are that the Police Law and Order department have refused to deal with the case and have referred it to the Homicide Department. Officers of the Homicide Department visited the home of a member who lives near Western Commonage police station demanding that she attend the Homicide offices in town by 9am on Thursday 5th July 2012.

Sibongile Lumbile, one of the arrested members was last night rushed into hospital as she became unwell due to the horrific conditions in Bulawayo Central police cells. She was having breathing problems and was very cold as there are no blankets and it is mid-winter.

In a separate incident at 11pm on Tuesday 3 July 2012 four police officers arrived at the home of a member Shingirai Mupani who lives in Pumula suburb in Bulawayo. They demanded that she accompany them telling her that they only wanted her to take them to the homes of Williams and Mahlangu to arrest them for the graffiti painting spree in Bulawayo. She refused to accompany them. One of those police officers is 'Brian'. He was responsible for beating members with thorny trigs in a sit in protest 2 weeks ago. It seems the police officers objected to one of the messages painted calling for the firing of the police commissioner Augustine Chihuri.

On Saturday 30 June 2012, the dogs of Magodonga Mahlangu were poisoned. She rushed them for urgent medical attention but could not save one of the dogs. She has reported the matter to the police but has had to insist they open a docket. WOZA is concerned that this was not a normal criminal incident as her home is highly secured but just vindictiveness by state security agents.

Visit the WOZA fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP