They kidnapped the driver and the distribution assistant, bundled them into two vehicles – a
Toyota and an Isuzu pick up truck. They were driven to isolated spot in
Mandamabwe, near Masvingo, where they were forced to move the newspapers to
the back of the truck and sprinkle petrol all over them.
The truck’s tanks were drained of diesel which the men decanted into their
vehicles. The men then fired a volley of shots into the back of the truck,
setting the newspapers on fire.
The driver, Christmas Ramabulana (a South African national), and
distribution assistant Tapfumaneyi Kancheta, a Zimbabwean, were then
severely beaten with rifle butts and dumped separately in the bush.
Kancheta’s passport was confiscated and burnt, but Ramabulana was allowed to
keep his. All their clothes, shoes, blankets and groceries were taken.
After wandering about for a few hours they found each other and made their
way to the main road. They said the men who kidnapped them had been wearing
surgical gloves so as not to leave any finger prints.
BACKGROUND
The 14-tonne truck containing 60,000 copies of today’s edition of The
Zimbabwean on Sunday has been found this afternoon near Chivi – burnt out.
The driver, Christmas Ramabulana (a South African national), and
distribution assistant Tapfumaneyi Kancheta, a Zimbabwean, were stopped 67
km from Masvingo last night and forced to drive along the Chivi-Mandamabwe
Rd for 16kms before they turned off into the Mandamabwe Rd where several
bullets from AK47 assault rifles were pumped into the South
African-registered truck before its contents were set alight. The two men
were badly beaten by their kidnappers and abandoned in the bush. They made
their way to Masvingo where they arrived this afternoon and contacted our
Harare office. For what its worth, a report has been made to the police in
Masvingo.
Kancheta said his head was badly swollen from the savage beating, and the
driver was having problems breathing. An ambulance has been dispatched to
take them to hospital. They were both in severe shock and unable to give any
other details of the attack.
The Zimbabwean on Sunday was launched in February this year as a sister
paper to the popular weekly The Zimbabwean, which since last year has become
the largest selling newspaper in Zimbabwe – selling 230,000 copies a week at
its peak during the run-up to the landmark 2008 elections.
The Zimbabwean on Sunday quickly established a reputation as the country’s
leading Sunday paper.
Mugabe’s senior henchman, Emmerson Mnangagwa, recently blamed The Zimbabwean
for Zanu (PF)’s electoral defeat. Mnangagwa heads the Joint Operations
Command responsible for the atrocities being committed in Zimbabwe since the
aged dictator lost the March 29 elections to popular MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The Zimbabwean was established in February 2005 to stand against Mugabe’s
media blackout. It exploits a loophole in Zimbabwe’s draconian anti-press
legislation by being published and printed in South Africa and trucked into
the country.
Despite frequently being harrassed and denounced, until this weekend every
issue had made it safely to Harare, from where it was distributed throughout
the country and devoured by a population starved of accurate information and
fed a daily diet of the coarsest government propaganda.
We condemn this barbaric attack against our staff and the newspaper and vow
to leave no stone unturned until the perpetrators of this atrocity are
brought to book.