Mphoko, who confirmed he was leaving South Africa, flatly refused to speak to The Zimbabwean on why he was recalled, but sources inside the Embassy said he was removed after a spat with Mugabe.
The rift is said to have come after some members of the Central Intelligence Organisation reported to Mugabe that Mphoko had under-hand dealings with the Mthwakazi Liberation Front, considered by Zanu (PF) to be a terrorist tribal grouping.
“There were days when the ambassador even stayed away from work in frustration over the allegations, which he kept trying to deny with no success,” said a source within the embassy.
One source said Peter Mabwe was acting ambassador as of Monday last week, pending the deployment of a new envoy. Tensions were said to be still so high that even the future of Mabwe himself and the rest of the staff was also uncertain.
“We are all under strict monitoring at the moment. Even the little money that we use for our everyday use, like buying sugar, tea leaves and toiletries has to be cleared by Harare first,” said another source.
Security guards who used to man the embassy are also said to have left their jobs due to the tension, leaving one lady in charge of providing security to the top office. “The accusations are that we have betrayed Zanu (PF) and cannot be trusted anymore,” said the source.
“The CIO said that on five occasions, the ambassador had held secret meetings with MLF,” said one source, mentioning a mini-restaurant in Hillbrow, which closed down soon after the rift started.
He was also accused of entertaining the MLF officials inside embassy offices while the directive was that they should not be allowed anywhere near the property.
Zanu (PF) is also said not to trust its own links with South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, whose leader Jacob Zuma was Mphoko’s junior in the Zipra/Umkhonto Wesizwe alliance during the liberation struggle.
Mphoko has apparently been under strict CIO monitoring since May 2011, when he was nearly caught up in the storm that swept away former consular-general in South Africa, Chris Mapanga, on allegations that he was becoming too close to the MDC-T.
At that time, Mphoko was being linked to the opposition Zapu party, of which he is a former member. He survived because of his close links with Zuma, which apparently could not save him this time round.
Post published in: News