Matabeleland South Senator Sithembile Mlotshwa (MDC-T) yesterday described Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa as intolerant, as she blasted him for his remarks that the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo lost the 1980 elections because he served white interests.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Contributing to a motion on the Presidential Speech in Senate, Mlotshwa said Zimbabwe should respect Nkomo’s contributions to the independence of the country.
“I am even questioning why we have Unity Day when we do not respect the work of other people, and when we have individuals disappearing into thin air and are never found,” she said.
“We need to see tolerance from the ruling party (Zanu PF) for everyone who has opposing views because that is what we call democracy.
“For example, for someone to say the late Vice-President was a sell-out shows there are some people who do not respect the views of others.
“Nkomo was a founder of the liberation struggle, and it is unfortunate that the negative statements on Nkomo came from the Vice-President of this country.”
Mnangagwa has been in the eye of a storm since he reportedly claimed the late former Rhodesian leader Ian Smith told him President Robert Mugabe won the 1980 elections, while Nkomo lost because he served white interests.
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The Vice-President has shied away from the subject since, although he has attracted widespread condemnation and rebuke.
Mnangagwa was recently due to hold consultative meetings in Bulawayo, but he gave the province a wide berth, with officials claiming he was busy, yet he visited Matabeleland North and South, with analysts speculating it was because a storm over his remarks was still brewing in the city where Nkomo is revered.
Mlotshwa then turned to consumer rights, saying people and shops selling libido-enhancing herbs were spreading in the country.
“The Consumer Council Bill, which the President said was going to be brought before Parliament, should look at the many libido herbs being sold and consider the rising rape cases in the country,” she said.
“The issue on why people are taking those tablets should be looked at because it might be due to economic stress that there is a boom in the number of people who buy those tablets.”
Never too far from controversy on sexual matters, Mlotshwa once proposed an audacious plan, suggesting people should have sex once a month and that men must be injected with drugs that reduce their libido, to curb the spread of the HIV virus.
She also called for prisoners to be given sex toys to quench their sexual appetites.
Mlotshwa also encouraged girls to participate in sport, as this would help market them when they were ready for marriage.
