FO Zapu is a Zimbabwean registered trust led by Retired Colonel Ray Ncube, the party’s expelled Bulawayo provincial chairman. The new organisation had booked the Yeoville Recreation Centre for the launch, but war veterans aligned to Dumiso Dabengwa’s faction of the fractured party blocked the activity.
The launch was eventually held secretly at the Time Square, about 200 metres from the original venue. Further revelations made this week are that Dabengwa, facing strong revolt from within the party due to allegations of cronyism and dictatorship, made the order to block the meeting through an overnight telephone call to his trusted lieutenants.
Zipra veterans told The Zimbabwean that had the launch been held at the scheduled venue, there would have been “bloodshed” because they were armed with guns and explosives.
“We had really prepared ourselves because this Ray is being used by Zanu (PF) to try and destroy Zapu,” said the war veterans. “We had to quickly do something to stop the launch of an organisation that is meant to confuse our members. FO Zapu is a breakaway party that we will not allow to be launched here. They must go and launch in Zimbabwe, where their President Robert Mugabe is, not in South Africa.”
Other war veterans confirmed that they had sourced explosives from their members who work in the SA security sector. “There were hand grenades, pepper sprays and pistols that we were ready to use and those boys did well by leaving the venue,” said one. Mlungisi Tshabalala, a party youth who helped organise the launch, bemoaned the intolerance from the war veterans.
“Those people showed us that they are not different from the Zanu (PF) they claim to be fighting against. If they really believed in themselves, they would have allowed us to explain ourselves to the people, who would then make a decision on whether to be part of this initiative or not,” he said.
Party spokesman, Busani Bhalagwe rubbished the allegations and said Zapu was not a violent party. “We have no problem with any movement and would not carry arms against our own people just because they subscribe to a different political school of thought. That is not true and Zapu did not have anything to do with the aborted launch,” he said.
Post published in: News