High Court dismisses ZAPU bid to halt Gukurahundi hearings

The
hearings,
which
were
meant
to
start
on
26
June,
are
part
of
a
long-delayed
national
effort
to
address
the
atrocities
committed
in
the
1980s,
during
which
thousands
were
killed
in
a
military
crackdown
in
the
Matabeleland
and
Midlands
regions.

ZAPU
had
argued
that
the
process,
led
by
traditional
chiefs
under
the
National
Council
of
Chiefs,
lacked
legal
legitimacy
and
impartiality.
However,
High
Court
Judge
Justice
Munamato
Mutevedzi
dismissed
the
application.

“The
case
has
been
dismissed.
The
judge
said
the
matter
was
not
urgent,”
ZAPU
legal
advisor
Vuyo
Mpofu
told
journalists.
“He
argued
that
since
2019,
we
knew
that
the
President
and
the
Matabeleland
Collective
had
come
together
and
that
this
was
the
agreed
approach,
but
we
didn’t
act
at
the
time.”

President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa,
the
Minister
of
Local
Government,
and
the
National
Council
of
Chiefs
were
among
the
respondents
cited
in
the
case,
which
was
filed
over
the
weekend.

In
the
court
papers,
ZAPU
president
Sibangilizwe
Nkomo
challenged
the
legality
of
the
outreach
programme,
arguing
that
traditional
leaders
should
not
be
tasked
with
leading
a
national
process
of
such
sensitivity.

“The
Chiefs
are
unlikely
to
be
impartial
and
unbiased
in
the
conduct
of
the
process,”
Nkomo
argued
in
the
affidavit.

“We
believe
the
agreement
between
the
President
and
the
Matabeleland
Collective
has
no
legal
foundation
and
does
not
represent
the
victims
of
Gukurahundi.”

Outside
the
court,
Nkomo
said
his
party
would
continue
to
seek
justice
for
victims
of
the
Gukurahundi
atrocities.

“It
did
not
matter
that
we
didn’t
get
what
we
set
out
to
achieve,
stopping
the
hearings
but
we
will
continue
finding
other
ways
to
bring
this
matter
to
closure,”
he
said.

“We
want
justice
for
people
who
were
killed,
women
who
were
raped.
As
a
peace-loving
organisation,
we
seek
an
amicable
resolution.”

Tensions
were
high
at
the
court,
with
police
deployed
to
monitor
the
proceedings.

Nkomo
was
briefly
prevented
by
police
from
addressing
the
media
near
the
court
premises.

The
outreach
hearings,
originally
scheduled
to
begin
on
26
June,
were
delayed
amid
confusion.

Chief
Mtshane
Khumalo,
President
of
the
National
Council
of
Chiefs,
told CITE that
the
process
was
disrupted
by
another
official
event
attended
by
President
Mnangagwa
in
Bulawayo
on
the
same
day.
Some
local
chiefs
also
reported
they
had
not
yet
received
the
necessary
resources
to
begin
the
hearings.