By Moses Ziyambi in Jo’burg

Hundreds of Zimbabwean immigrants housed at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg are living in suspense following the lapsing of the December 31 2014 deadline of a directive to vacate the building.

The building has been sheltering desperate Zimbabwean refugees and asylum seekers for the past fourteen years.

Several refugees who spoke to Tell Zimbabwe said they did not have anywhere to go as they were homeless and unemployed.

“We have been told to leave but we don’t have else to go. For some of us, this church has been our only home for the past ten years,” said John Rutete.

He also said that some of his friends have already left the place although they did not have any definite place to go.

          Central Methodist Church in Jo’burg

“We are living in suspense because we have been told that force will be used to eject those who fail to meet the deadline,” he said. “The deadline has already passed and we don’t know what will happen.”

Other immigrants, however, vowed to stay put, saying they will not accept being chucked into the streets.

“If they don’t provide alternative accommodation, I won’t go anywhere. They failed to evict us in 2010 and they will fail again this time around,” said another immigrant who requested anonymity.

Under the stewardship of Paul Verryn, the church has provided sanctuary to thousands of mainly Zimbabwean homeless immigrants over the years.

Verryn, who has earned himself enemies in his church for housing the immigrants, is set to be promoted and transferred to a different circuit. Church trustees have ordered that when he leaves,  the building can also be restored to its primary purpose of housing worshipers.

“Many have already left the building and others are in the process of leaving,” a dejected Verryn told Tell Zimbabwe, imploring well-wishers to come on board and assist.

“It has not been an easy journey for me. I hope it’s not going to be a helpless situation for the people,” he added.

Previous attempts to evict the immigrants through the courts have been strongly resisted by Verryn, who argued that it was inhuman to throw poor people into the streets.Local

Tell Reporter

There was pandemonium in Zimhofu village under Chief Ndanga in Zaka when villagers woke up to see over 30 pythons coming out of a grave last week.

Over 40 people from Zimhofu village and surrounding areas who were visibly shaken were still at the scene when Tell Zimbabwe reporters arrived on Sunday. Officials from Parks and Wildlife Management were called but they only managed to capture 20 small pythons as their efforts to capture all the snakes were hampered by heavy rains.

 Village head Jeremiah Matumbike(center) is still in shock

Zimhofu village head Jeremiah Matumbike told Tell Zimbabwe that he was in shock since it was his first time to encounter such a situation. He said he was in a process of identifying people who are related to the person buried in that grave.

“I am shocked by this incident…it all started as a fairytale when people told me that there were about 10 pythons at a grave in my village. However, when we came here on Wednesday, we discovered that in fact the pythons were more than 30.

Some of the small pythons which came out of the grave

“Everyone is in shock and I am now in a process of identifying people who might be related to the person buried in this grave,” said Matumbike.

Matumbike said he could not rule out that there could be something mysterious behind the coming out of the pythons.

“We have never seen not even one python here so where are these ones coming from… I think this is mysterious and the relatives of the person buried here will assist us in mapping the way forward,” said Matumbike.

Officials from Parks could not be drawn into commenting.

Chief Ndanga said he was aware of the incident. Local.

Tell Reporters

Residents from all wards in Masvingo city have described their councillors as hardworking and responsible. Although some said there were areas which need urgent attention, it was unanimously agreed that the current crop of councillors have great potential in as far as local governance is concerned. When these councillors were elected in 2013, residents thought they were going to be the worst in the history of the city, however, they have proved otherwise.

Our team went out to get the views of the people concerning the performance of each councillor in 2014 and residents placed the 10 councillors in four groups.

Group one comprises of Godfrey Kurauone of ward 4, Lovemore Mufamba of ward 10 and Masvingo mayor Hubert Fidze of ward 6. The three were rated the most hardworking this year. The mayor has been described as the most improved politician in the council. When he was elected, he had no idea in terms of public relations and at times issuing statements that would turn against him. Initially people thought that there was a great blunder in voting Fidze to be the mayor. However, 2014 has groomed him to become a mature and fine politician who would be there for the people. In fact, our reporters were informed that Fidze is likely to be the best mayor in the history of Masvingo. Fidze is being praised for being there with the people. ” He is always communicating, he is good in giving feedback, he demystified the position of the mayor because we are always with him,” said another interviewee. Although he is the youngest in council, Kurauone’s performance this year was impressing – his contribution in the debates as well as influence on the final decision by the council cannot be downplayed. Kurauone therefore remained popular in his ward as he constantly engages the youths for feedback – his public relations strategy is not bad. 

Godfrey Kurauone is in Group 1

Councillor Mufamba has remained in touch with his ward. He is always there to assist the people in ward 10. With several projects in his ward and immense contribution in council chambers, Mufamba has remained a true representative of the people. 

              Lovemore Mufamba is in Group 1

Some people were saying Mufamba has a potential to deliver even if given a higher office. They were pegged at 76 %.

Mayor Hubert Fidze is in Group 1

Group two comprises of Councillor Gashia Mundondo of ward 1, Cllr Daniel Mberikwazvo of ward 5, Cllr Richard Musekiwa of ward 7 and Cllr Tasicio Mandava of ward 2. The four councillors have remained fairly visible in their wards. They are approachable and have potential to be in group one but sometimes they are not active in debates in council chambers. The four councillors are still popular in their wards but they also need to come up with initiatives that will see them having more interaction with the people. They were pegged at 65 %.

Group three comprises of Cllr Against Chiteme of ward 8 and Cllr Babylon Beta of ward 9. The two need to improve in making their voices heard in chambers. Residents said the two councillors are people shy since they are hesitant in meeting them for feedback. They are rarely heard in the press. However, they have been described as the only two who are unlikely to be involved in any scandal throughout their term. ” These two act like twins, they are very calm and innocent …however we want them to come to us with feedback,” said another resident. They were pegged at 51%.

Group four comprises of one man of his own class, Cllr  David Chiwara of ward 3. Ironically, Chiwara is the deputy mayor. A survey by Tell Zimbabwe revealed that 9 out 10 people in Masvingo think that the city does not have a deputy mayor. Chiwara remains the least known deputy mayor in the history of the city. His performance is pegged at 30 %. Residents said Chiwara’s new year resolution number one should be that of becoming a true representative of the people. Some said the council should reconsider giving Chiwara a vote of no confidence.

David Chiwara was rated the worst in 2014

“We don’t want placeholders, they must just give him a vote of no confidence and elect another deputy mayor for the city,” said another resident.

Do you want to tell us how you rate your councillor or MP? Send email to editor@tell.co.zw. Local

Tell Reporters in Gutu &Zaka

Days of using bush toilets for villagers in Gutu and Zaka are numbered as some traditional leaders in most parts of the two districts are now demanding a goat from any person caught red handed defecating in the open.

The move which has seen a sharp increase in the construction of blair toilets in areas such as Mataruse and Chiwara areas of Gutu as well as Chipinda in Zaka has been met with mixed feelings with some people praising traditional leadership for the initiative while others condemn the village heads for abuse of power.

Both Sabhuku Chiwara and Chikapwa of Gutu and Zaka respectively, said they did not see anything bad about the initiative. The village heads said they were only implementing what villagers agreed.

” It’s not our idea… villagers who want to promote hygiene in this area approached us and requested us to implement their resolution – we are just implementing. I am proud of my people because they have taken a position in promoting their own sanitation and hygiene,” said Sabhuku Chiwara.

However, Chiwara could not disclose number of offenders fined so far.

A villager from Gutu Mateyo Simango said the initiative helped villagers to see the need for constructing blair toilets.

” I am happy that offenders are heavily fined… thus the only way we can promote hygiene in our area,” said Simango.

A health expect Marasa Hamudi Gutukunuhwa praised the villagers saying before the initiative four (4) out of 22 had toilets at their homesteads but recent survey indicates that more than 70 percent of people had constructed toilets.Local

    …   as workers go for two months without salaries

By Moses Ziyambi

Masvingo City Council employees are in for a bad time this festive season as they have not yet received their November and December salaries, Tell Zimbabwe can reveal.

The City council is currently locked in a legal wrangle against some of its former employees over a $3,5 million debt owed to workers in a salary dispute dating back to 2008.

“It’s true we have not received our November salaries as yet. Most of us can barely survive as  we don’t have enough money for rentals and basic grocery,” said a municipal police officer who refused to be named.

“We are worried that we are approaching the New Year without any money. That means we would be owed two months salaries at the beginning of 2015 if we don’t get paid now,” added the employee.

Earlier this year, it was reported that council had blown nearly a million dollars on hired vehicles for its senior officials within a period of 17 months.

When contacted for comment, Masvingo City Council Mayor, Cllr Hubert Fidze confirmed the existence of outstanding salaries.

“We have always been behind with salaries for some time now. We are one month behind so we are currently working on November salaries,” he said.

He blamed the late payment of civil servants and delays in giving them their bonuses as worsening council’s financial position.

“Civil servants are not being paid on time so they cannot pay for their services and rates on time. This in turn affects our ability to pay our workers on time,” said Fidze.local

By Upenyu  Chaota

Beef producers were urged to take merit of the festive season to try and maximise the sales of their cattle since the prices will be favourable and there will be high demand of beef on the market.

This came after Masvingo experienced a harsh and difficult year in the history of beef production where there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease which led to the Veterinary Services banning the movement of cattle in the province and the closure of many abattoirs.

Farmers made huge losses after a cattle sales ban had been imposed for nearly 6 months and the chairman of the Masvingo Beef Producers Association, Robert Makado  is therefore urging all beef farmers to cover up for the losses during the festive season since the prices are high.

 In an interview with TellZimbabwe, Makado said the year 2014 was the worst in the history of cattle production in Masvingo since it was characterised by cattle diseases and a considerable number of cattle deaths were recorded across the province.

“We had one of the worst season characterised with diseases which led to a halt in cattle sales and farmers suffered severely as they could not sale their cattle because there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Now I call upon all the beef producers to put their cattle on the market because the price is very competitive”, said Makado.local