THE granddaughter of the late nationalist and national hero Jason Ziyaphapha (JZ) Moyo was arrested at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport on Sunday for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the pictures of Nkomo and the late former South African President Nelson Mandela. LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI OWN CORRESPONDENT
Prudence Mpofu confirmed to Southern Eye yesterday that she was arrested together with her colleague Albert Gumede for simply wearing T-shirts with Nkomo and Mandela’s pictures and carrying a banner inscribed “People of South Africa we are crying with you, just know we are with you throughout”.
Mpofu said they were charged for being a public nuisance and detained overnight at Bulawayo Central Police Station and released yesterday afternoon after paying admission of guilt fines.
Mpofu told Southern Eye that she was disappointed by the conduct of police officers who arrested her while she was going to the airport to meet his grandfather’s best friend President Robert Mugabe.
Mpofu, who is also a member of the Mthakwazi Youth Joint Resolution, said she was disappointed by the conduct of the police and accused them of parochial thinking.
“I think these people did not understand what we meant and they interpreted it in their own way.
“They harassed us emotionally and we ended up engaging in a serious debate with them until they took us to Central Police Station where we slept,” she said.
“When I was in detention, I listened to the president saying that he missed my grandfather whom he worked with.
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“When he said that, I cried because I was attending the function in good faith, only for a few individuals who don’t understand our past to decide that I was there to cause chaos.
“I believe their thinking is very parochial and one-sided. They think that Mthakwazi is a political party, but the truth of the matter is that we are activists who are championing the interests of the people from this region and whatever we do, we do it for a good cause,” Mpofu said.
She said the problem was that the police officers who detained them did not know that Mthakwazi was not a political party, but a pressure group that seeks to uphold the culture and values of the Ndebele people.
Efforts to get a comment from police were unsuccessful yesterday as Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo was said to be out of the office.
Mugabe told guests at the ceremony that the late JZ Moyo was his best man when he married his first wife Sally.
