Five men from from Farm 15 Hippo Valley, Chiredzi fatally assaulted a 30-year-old man from the same area while his accomplice escaped after they caught the two skinning a goat they had stolen on March 2, 2025. Masvingo Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed the death of Rutendo Ncube (30) at the hands of Wayne Makosi (27), Decent Munguni (26), David Muwadzanira (24), Leavas Mushava (18) and Panashe Simbi (19) and urged members of the public to not take matters in their hands but report to the police. “I confirm the death a Chiredzi man who was assaulted for stealing a goat. I urge citizens not to take matters in their hands and punish criminals but rather report to the police,” said Inspector Dhewa. It is alleged that on the fateful day at around 0500 hours, Ncube and a male accomplice arrived at one Tanyaradzwa Mhari’s barn and started slaughtering a goat. Mhari discovered the intrusion and alerted Makosi, Munguni, Muwadzanira, Mushava and Simbi who advanced towards Ncube and his partner who both attempted to flee. However during the chase, Ncube fell into a pit which was one meter deep and five meters wide while his partner escaped. The five now accused caught up with Ncube and started assaulting him with fists and switches until he became unconscious and died on the spot. Ncube had two cuts on the back of the head, bruises from his back and bleeding from the mouth and nose. Mhari was later informed and he reported the matter to ZRP Chiredzi and the five were arrested. Ncube’s body was taken to Chiredzi General Hospital Mortuary for post mortem
A Chivi man appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Innocent Bepura on allegations of raping his 16-year-old daughter twice. The accused, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim appeared in court on March 4, 2025, pleading not guilty and was remanded in custody to March 11 for continuation of trial. It was the state’s case as presented by Prosecutor Liberty Hove that on November 19, 2024 the accused approached his daughter who was washing plates outside and asked her to get into the kitchen. He then ordered the complainant to undress herself and raped her once. On the second count it is alleged that on December 27, 2024 in the evening the complainant was in the kitchen with her two siblings. The trio were sleeping in the kitchen while waiting for the homemade bread they were baking to be ready while their mother was in her bedroom as she was not feeling well. The accused then went into the kitchen and raped the complainant once. On the following day the complainant’s sibling reported the incident to their mother, which led to the matter being reported to the police after which the accused was arrested. In his defense, the accused told the court that his wife and children fabricated the story because they had marital issues, adding that his wife had always told him that children had their own rights. He further said his wife threatened him that she was going to force him out of their marital home. He added that he worked hard for his family and was expecting his daughter to excel, therefore he could not abuse her.
A cunning drug smuggling syndicate of four men was busted with a massive shipment of cough syrup worth $25 000 from South Africa with fake funeral documents and an empty coffin.
Their plan was foiled by alert police at roadblock on March 6 at the 110km peg along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway.
The suspects, identified as Charles Bhebhe (the driver), James Sibanda, Nevson Nhamo, and Sifelane Nkiwane, appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Arafat Khozanai on March 8 where Bhebhe pleaded guilty and exonerated his co-accused.
The other three denied the charges and they were released while Bhebhe was remanded in custody and is expected to appear in court today (March 10) for continuation of trial.
The four were traveling in a white commuter omnibus towing a trailer branded with Clairmont Funeral Parlour stickers. When stopped at the police checkpoint, they presented a fake burial order in an attempt to avoid a search.
However, when officers inspected the trailer, they found an empty coffin. A thorough search of the vehicle revealed large quantities of cough syrups stashed under the seats and some under the empty coffin.
The recovered drugs included 2,400 bottles of Benylin cough syrup, 2,250 bottles of Broncleer cough syrup, 480 bottles of Astrapain cough syrup, and 100 bottles of Adco-Salterpyn cough syrup. Authorities seized the drugs, vehicle, trailer, burial order, and empty coffin as evidence.
Masvingo Pool league (MPL) kicked off in style last weekend with 18 teams battling for honors this season. It was a thrilling start to the pool league, which started on February 29 and stretched to March 1, 2025. Speaking to TellZim News, Masvingo District Pool Association Technical Development Officer Phillip Pfundo said the league commenced on a high note and said they decided to name the league after their sponsor Funamel. “The league commenced well and appreciation goes to our sponsor and to show our appreciation we are naming the 2025 Pool season after the sponsor. “Masvingo pool league will be called Funamel Pool League, to appreciate the US$3 060 sponsorship we got from Funamel Investments owned by a local businessman and Chairperson of Masvingo District Pool Association Promise Funani. However, we still need more sponsors as weekly tournaments are on throughout the year,” said Pfundo.. 18 teams will battle it out for the championship this season namely Bobs, Superstars, Hiri Hiri, Hillthru, Vic Range Snipers, Manhede Bulldogs, Mamula, ZPCS, Spinners, Aminas, Cue Masters, Yeukai, Soweto, ZRP, Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Missiles, New Horizon and Phoenix ZRP. Match day 1 was highly competitive, with all the teams from all over the district gathering to showcase their skills in different venues across Masvingo In the opening matches, Tarven boys (Bob’s) won 11- 5 against Hillthru at Bobs Tavern Bar whilst Hiri Hiri won 6-9 against Spinners. Phoenix ZRP players were looking strong, but they were no match for Manhede’s powerhouse team, Manhede Bull Dogs, which won the game 11-5. ZRP dominated their match against Soweto winning 12-4. Aminas won 11-5 against Rujeko Snipers. Cue Masters posted an impressive win of 11-5 against Mamula while Yeukai drew 8-8 with Superstars. The GZU Missiles match against ZPCS was postponed as GZU players were on semester break and the match will be played on their return. The match between New Horizon and Vic Range Snipers was also postponed after a miscommunication. Phoenix ZRP and Spinners joined the league for the season while Bhuka, Eastvale Rangers, and Lion Stars who were part of the league failed to make it this time. The pool league was off to an exciting start, with plenty of twists and turns expected every week throughout the season.
Government has revealed that Masvingo Province has a seven months’ supply of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) HIV medication in stock amidst growing concerns of availability of the critical drugs following United States funding cancellation by American President Donald Trump. This was revealed by Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa during a press discussion organised by TellZim News on March 5. Dr Pazvakavambwa urged the public to remain calm saying government was working on modalities to close the gap after the seven months. “When we checked together with Minister Ezra Chadzamira (Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution) to find out whether the people who are on ART are safe given this predicament we found ourselves in, the answer we got is that we have seven month supply in stock which I think is a good breathing space whilst government works on alternatives,” said Dr Pazvakavambwa. His statement comes at a time when people who are taking the special drugs were uncertain of their supply following the funding cancellation. Dr Pazvakavambwa also acknowledged government’s efforts in improving health service delivery saying drug supply in the province averaged 55-57 percent. In February 2025, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said Zimbabwe had enough stocks of ARV for the coming six months. “We already have supplies of the ARVs for the next six months and procurement process to get drugs that will last until the end of year are already under way. We were doing everything to ensure that we don’t reverse the gains we have made in the fight against HIV and Aids,” said Dr Mombeshora. The government of Zimbabwe has however showed reluctance in providing sufficient funding for the health sector following successive years of not meeting the requirements of the Abuja Declaration which it is a signatory to. In the 2025 budget, the health sector was allocated ZiG276.4 billion equivalent to US$7.5 million.
A mother and her four-year-old daughter’s decomposing bodies were found at their home in Makurumidze Village, Chief Gutu in what is suspected to be a gruesome murder, TellZim News can report. Masvingo Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe confirmed the death of Mery Chirume (33) and her daughter, Fadzai Machote (4) and encouraged members of the public with information on whereabouts of the murderer. “I confirm the death of Chirume and Machote who were found murdered at their home in Gutu on May 4. The police is appealing to the public to bring information which may lead to the arrest of the murderer,” said Dhewa. Circumstances are that, on March 1, 2025 Chirume and her minor daughter Machote visited her sister in law Cecilia Mavhima who resides in the nearby village at 2000hours and returned to their home the following day at around 1400hours. On March 4, 2025 Mavhima sent her daughter aged 16 to Chirume’s house to confirm when she was returning to her home as per her promise. The child found the doors locked and knocked but no one responded. She then opened the kitchen hut and found Chirume’s body in a pool of blood. The girl notified Josephine Utaunashe (56) who resides in the same village with Chirume and she went with other villagers to see for themselves. They found Chirume in a pool of blood while the toddler was missing and they reported the case to the police. The police came, searched for the little girl and found her body floating in a disused open well which is about 1, 5 meters behind the kitchen. The bodies were taken to Gutu Mission Hospital for postmortem. In another case of murder in Chivi, Proper Chimatsi (28) of Chivasa Village Headman Gororo, Chivi stabbed Wellington Bako (24) of the same area accusing him of insulting him during a football match. Allegations are that on March 4, at around 2300hours Bako and Chimatsi were watching football at TT Dube Bottle Stole, Gororo Business Centre in Chivi. During half time, Chimatsi approached Bako who was standing by the door and asked why he was insulting him during the match. Bako denied the accusations and an altercation arose leading to Chimatsi stabbing Bako once on the chest and once on the shoulder. Bako fell down bleeding and Chimatsi vanished from the scene. Bako was taken to Gororo Clinic by well-wishers and died upon arrival. His body was taken to Chivi District Hospital mortuary for postmortem. On March 5 at 0000 hours police were alerted and Chimatsi was arrested.
Masvingo City ward 2 councilor Benson Hwata recently hosted a soccer tournament which he said was aimed to provide entertainment while raising awareness on drug and substance abuse. The event attracted spectators from across the entire city to witness a showdown between Pudo Crackers FC and Runyararo West Football Club. Pudo Boys thrashed Runyararo West with a whopping four goals to one. Hwata, a devout soccer player and fan told TellZim News that he used the platform to encourage residents and youths to make better decisions about their lives and refrain from abusing drugs and substances. “The whole idea behind the tournament was to provide a platform for entertainment for residents and youths alike. However the most important message I wanted to relay to the youths was to refrain from drug and substance abuse. I encourage youths to find other things to occupy themselves and not drugs,” said Hwata. Although the match was the first of its kind, Hwata promised residents many more to come, reinforcing his commitment to using sports as a tool for social change. Drug and Substance abuse has become a cause for concern especially among youths due to economic hardships, unemployment and easy access to illicit drugs. Commonly abused drug and substances include crystal meth, broncleer and marijuana.
In a shocking case of murder, a man from Jackson village, Chief Tsovani, Chiredzi killed a farm employee at Hippo Valley Farm 3 during a dispute over Wi-Fi on March 2, 2025. Masvingo Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed to TellZim News the incident where Moment Mavasa (22) murdered Ask Ndlovu (19) from Nambekwa Village Siyabuwa Binga who worked at Hippo Valley farm 3 in Chiredzi and said members of the public should respect the right to life as enshrined in the constitution. “We have a report where Ndlovu was killed by Mavasa over a Wi-Fi dispute. I urge members of the public to respect the right to life, solving their disputes without the use of violence,” said Dhewa. Sources said on March 2, at around 2000 hours Ndlovu and his colleague Peter Mutapati (24) were at work. They saw Mavasa and his friend Tafadzwa Mafuta (23) using Wi-Fi at their work place without permission. Ndlovu and Mutapati approached Mavasa and Mafuta and told them that the Wi-Fi was for Farm 3 employees only. They ordered them to leave and they had an argument resulting in Mavasa picking a stone and striking Ndlovu on the forehead. Ndlovu sustained a deep cut and fell unconscious while bleeding. Mavasa and Mafuta then fled from the scene. Mutapati told their employer Tawedzerwa Muzvedziwa about the incident and they took Ndlovu to Chiredzi ZRP. They were referred to Chiredzi District Hospital where the now deceased was admitted. On the following day at around 0700 hours Muzvedziwa found Ndlovu dead at the hospital and his body was taken to the mortuary for post mortem. Mavasa was subsequently arrested.
….New details emerge, nurses getting US$5 per referral
….Doctors admitting private patients, Hospital losing lots of cash from scheme
By Brighton Chiseva
New details have emerged in the kickback scandal rocking Masvingo Provincial Hospital (MPH), with sources revealing that nurses were allegedly receiving US$5 for each patient referred to private clinics for services available at the hospital. The scandal has sparked widespread outrage, with calls for accountability as the Ministry of Health and Child Care has already instructed the hospital authorities to carry out investigations. In trying to dig more on the kick back issue, TellZim News established that the scheme has been ongoing for months, with nurses allegedly working in cahoots with private clinic owners to exploit patients and get paid. “Some clinics and labs pay US$5 per referral. This is the new norm and the practice happens across Zimbabwe and cannot be stopped easily as nurses are benefiting from it. “So what happens is, the charges you get when you want to do the test is not the normal charge as the private clinic or lab add an extra US$5 to cater for the nurses. What the nurse does is to simply record the name of the patient and would go anytime to collect his or her ready cash,” said the source. The sources claim that the nurses would often advise patients to seek medical attention at private clinics, even when the hospital was equipped to handle the procedures. Sources further revealed another shocking scheme involving doctors working at MPH who have private surgeries and clinics working in cahoots with selected nurses. According to the sources, these doctors would admit their patients at MPH off the record, without booking them in the hospital database since most of them cannot admit patients at their clinics. However, this means the patients will use hospital facilities but will not pay a single cent. The hospital loses a lot of money through the scheme which has a chain that involves the accounting department. “There is a scheme involving doctors where if a patient needs to be admitted, they will use the hospital facilities. The scheme involves nurses on duty who would see the patients and when the doctors do rounds, they prioritize their patients. “The scheme is well knotted and it involves the accounting department and the patients brought through the scheme will then be discharged without paying and it’s difficult to trace since there will be no record of them ever being admitted there,” said source. In return, the nurses would bring their own patients to the doctors and ask them to provide treatment. The nurses would then get paid for all the services provided. However, the hospital would not receive a single cent as well. “It’s a win-win situation for the doctors and nurses, but the hospital loses out big time. The scheme has been going on for a long time, the reason being that almost everyone is involved somewhere somehow so they protect each other because every department has its owns corruption scheme. Other sources said the practice of referring patients to private clinics and labs was not peculiar to MPH but was done across the country, with district hospitals also doing the same. “Go to any private laboratory here in town and sit there observing, there are lots of referrals from hospitals like Ndanga, Msiso, Silveira, Chibi, Gutu, Mwenezi and Chiredzi District Hospitals. “You would see blood samples being delivered by a Probox and other pirate vehicles,” said a source.
Masvingo Provincial Medical Director Dr Amadeus Shamhu said investigations were being done internally, and no outsider had been deployed, saying they were trying to find ways to curb the corruption. “No investigation team has been sent yet, however there are internal investigations being done currently. The hospital has since placed notices around the institution to warn people against such and to report anything suspicious,” said Dr Shamhu. He went on to say they were looking into introducing a system to ensure that it had to be ascertained first that the needed service was not available at the hospital first before a patient could be referred to a private facility. He said it could be poverty forcing people to engage in such practices but they would put measures to stop the practice and restore sanity at the hospital. “We are trying to find ways to combat the practice and we will make sure that there is a mechanism in place to make sure that all tests, scans or any other service that are referred outside are not being done within the hospital,” said Dr Shamhu.
Speaking at a press discussion organized by TellZim News at Chevron Hotel on March 5, Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa said they had received a report on the matter from higher offices and they were doing what they could to establish the truth and find solutions. “We received those allegations at a very high level, so we are putting measures in place but I cannot divulge them here. We want to make sure that we have proved beyond doubt, that what is being alleged is true, however, we cannot ignore when the citizenry has said something so investigations will be carried out,” said Dr Pazvakavambwa. Speaking at the same meeting, Masvingo Provincial Health Services Administrator Samson Nyoni said the power challenges at the Hospital would soon be a thing of the past as there are plans to install a more powerful backup system as the one in use can only be used for lighting. “There are plans to install a more powerful backup at MPH as the one being used can only be used for lighting,” said Nyoni.
Ministry of Health and Child Care Provincial Health Administrator Samson Nyoni
CHIREDZI-Embattled Chiredzi Town Council (CTC) recently resolved to engage debt collectors in a bid to recover an accruing ZIG 54 million in rates arrears. This was resolved in a full council meeting recently held at the Council boardroom TellZim News can report. The local authority, which was enforcing debt payments through water disconnections changed strategy and decided to engage debt collectors to recover the excess amount to promote service delivery. Speaking during the full council meeting, CTC Town Secretary, Engineer Wesley Kauma said the local authority had set targets for the Financial Department to increase revenue collection to at least 75 percent and engaging debt collectors was one of the strategies. “We have set targets for the Finance Director that we need revenue collection to shoot to 70 percent and these are some of the measures that are being put in place and engaging debt collectors is one of the strategies,” said Kauma. CTC Finance Committee Chairperson, Councilor Vimbai Ushe said her committee found it suitable to engage debt collectors in order to recover what the local authority was being owed by residents in refuse collection, sewer and rates. “We resolved to engage debt collectors to recover what the local authority is being owed in rates, sewer and refuse collection and we are confident that this will be helpful” she said. However, Ward 7 Councilor, Brighton Mahiya was against the idea. He blamed the Finance department for failing to find other ways to persuade residents to honor their debts. “Have you separated the bills, because I understand these bills are just sent as a single unit to the residents? “Have you exhausted all other avenues to persuade residents to honor their bills as engaging debt collectors will be more damaging as the debt collector will require at least 10 percent of the owed amount from the debtor, who is already failing to pay the council not because he/she does not want to but will be failing to raise the amount,” said Mahiya. Ward 7 councilor, Costain Mombe said house owners were to blame for not paying to the local authority despite having been paid by tenants. “Landlords are being paid by tenants but they are not bringing the money forward to the local authority and it will be hard for the tenants to follow up,” said Mombe. Finance Director, Llyod Chimusasa said the local authority was being owed ZIG36 million in water, ZIG 39 million in rates, ZIG6,3 million in sewer reticulation and ZIG8,7 million in rentals
