Simbarashe Mhaka

BULAWAYO – Two Zimbabwean born body builders are preparing to fly the country’s flag high at the biggest World Fitness Federation (WWF) international bodybuilding event dubbed Mr and Mrs Universe on June 24 in Brazil.
Twenty-nine-years-old Simbarashe Mhaka and 26-years-old Nigel Maphosa, who both command bodies that look like statues of Greek gods, became finalists to represent the country in the international event.
Mhaka will be contesting in the fitness category and Maphosa will be contesting in the senior men bodybuilding. They qualified for Mr Universe after they became finalists in the Pretoria Classics which was held on May 13 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Based in Harare and working out at Oxygen Gym, Mhaka has achieved a lot in the bodybuilding sector both nationally and internationally.
He told TellZim News he won several titles among them Mr Ironman Zimbabwe three times, Mr Zimbabwe two times, Mr Ironman Botswana and the 2017 Mr Pretoria Classics.
“I started working out professionally and competing in 2014 and have been doing well but qualifying for Mr Universe is the greatest achievement in my life as a body builder so far,” he said.
Maphosa, who is currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa, working as a fitness trainer for Gym Company, is also excited about his qualification to the Mr Universe titles.
He too has impressive achievements in the bodybuilding field such as Mr Harare under 21, Mr Botswana under 21, Mr Gaborone senior men, Mr Zimbabwe lightweight, and he took third place at Pretoria Classics 2017.
Maphosa credits dedication and hard work for his successful bodybuilding career.
“I believe in myself and am a goal getter. In 2014, I was told that South Africa had stiff competition and I said to myself I will go find out and I came out tops in my first competition there. I believe nothing beats hard work and faith in God,” said Maphosa.
Mr Universe is a platform for bodybuilders from all over the world and is a dream for many bodybuilders to reach there.local

Shumirai Zhou

GWERU – Polite Tekwane (22) of Marere village under Chief Mukoka, Gokwe appeared before Gweru High Court Judge Justice Martin Makonese facing charges of culpable homicide following the death of Zanele Ngwenya in a bury alive game.
Tekwane, whom the State had chosen to charge with culpable homicide instead of murder, pleaded guilty and said he did not intend to kill the girl since they were playing.  He was sentenced to four months in prison which were wholly suspended on condition that he does not commit any crime involving violence for the next five years.
Prosecutor Tafadzwa Mpariwa told the court that Tekwane and the deceased were pupils at Muyambi Primary School. On September 12, 2010 the two were among other pupils sent home from school for non-payment of fees.
On their way home, they passed through Mandisarara River to play the sand burying game; taking turns to bury and exhume each other.
Tekwane dug a shallow pit in the sand and got hold of the deceased who was only eight-years-old and buried her. He laid the deceased on her stomach, sat on her back and started covering her body, including the head, with sand. 
The young girl tried to free herself but failed as Tekwane would press her head down until she was too weak to keep trying.
Another pupil noticed that Tekwane had buried the girl’s head and decided to rescue her but was threatened by the accused who later left the scene leading to the victim’s death due to suffocation.
The deceased’s body was discovered by other school pupils who then made a report to the police leading to Tekwane’s arrest.
On November, 15 2010, Dr E. T. Manyarara examined Ngwenya’s body and concluded that the cause of death was suffocation.local

Elliot Jinjika

CHIVHU – In a stranger than fiction case, a 27 year-old man shocked many when he was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell his eight-year-old daughter for US12 000.
The man fell for a trap and disposed of his daughter to police detectives whom he thought were genuine body parts traffickers engaging in some juju-driven business practices.
It was heard in the Chivhu Magistrates Court that on March 27 this year, Tapiwa Vhutani contacted Obert Juru, a Chivhu businessman, through phone messages asking him if he would want to buy children for use in rituals to grow his business.
Vhutani was not asked to plead but was placed on remand pending trial at the High Court where he will face charges of conspiracy to commit murder after full investigations by the police
Led by prosecutor Nicholas Mabvongodze, the State alleged that Vhutani kept on pestering Juru about the matter saying he was in dire need of cash.
The businessman decided to alert the police and a trap was set against Vhutani. It was heard that Vhutani was then told that prospective buyers from South Africa will be in Chivhu in two days’ time and he was misled into believing that he could finally sell his daughter.
Vhutani allegedly travelled from Kadoma to Chivhu in order to meet the said prospective buyers.
Upon his arrival in Chivhu, intelligence details from the police were introduced to Vhutani as the prospective buyers and they agreed on the $12000 buying price.
In no time, Vhutani departed to Yuli farm, his rural home in Wedza, where he took his daughter and brought her to Chivhu.
Vhutani allegedly surrendered the child to the ‘buyers’, telling her that one of them was an uncle who was going to stay with her for some time.
He was then handed a brown envelope with US$50 inside but was marked $12 000 and, as he left the scene, was subsequently arrested by other detectives who were hiding close by.
It was disclosed that Vhutani had seen Juru’s South African-registered vehicle and thought he could make a deal with him out of conviction that body parts business was good in the neighbouring country.local