BULAWAYO – Witnesses and audience members who turned by for the Motlanthe Commission hearing in Bulawayo on Friday were left distressed after they suffered heckling and harassment by state security agents.

One witness and three other men were arrested after skirmishes broke out.

Former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe is leading a probe into an August 1 street massacre in which soldiers opened fire on opposition protesters, killing at least six people.

The first witness Taurai Kundishaya – who lost in Zanu PF primaries to stand for MP in Epworth – told the commission he had a home in Bulawayo but worked as a taxi driver in Harare.

Motlanthe had said the foray by the commission to Bulawayo and other major cities out of Harare was to afford individuals who were in Harare on that day, and were affected, to testify.

Kundishaya told the commission he saw MDC Alliance youths taking substances such as BronCleer, a cough syrup that contains the drug codeine, a painkiller similar to morphine. He said the youths carried stones and were menacing, which justified a heavy-handed response by security forces.

His testimony was interjected by heckling, with some in the audience accusing him of being a paid actor from Harare.

The commission was confronted by angry Mthwakazi activists who demanded a separate commission to investigate the 1980s Gukurahundi atrocities.

Participants shouted from the floor that no action was taken by the government to atone for more than the 20,000 people who were reportedly killed by the Fifth Brigade in south-western Zimbabwe.

Violence erupted when the fourth witness, Siphamandla Mafu, said he was an orphan and alleged that his parents were killed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during the 1980s disturbances.

A heckler suspected to be a Zanu PF member interjected, asking Mafu: “Did you see him kill your parents?”

This did not go down well with some other members of the audience who in turn confronted the heckler and that degenerated into a fist fight.

Chairs flew in the air as anti-riot police stormed the room to secure the commissioners and quell the disturbances.

The meeting was halted and four people were arrested.

During the break, pro-Zanu PF activists squared off against the radical Mthwakazi activists.

Mafu was back on the witness stand when the commission reconvened, and urged the commission to make a comment about Gukurahundi when its report is prepared, although this is not I its terms of reference.

Mafu was arrested by police after his testimony, as the commission was accuse of failing to protect witnesses.

The commission also heard testimony from Patrick Ndlovu, 73, who said that he was a liberation war fighter who fought alongside Umkhonto WeSizwe. He said he wanted to give “background” when the prosecuting advocate, Thabani Mpofu, tried to stop him.

“I too fought for this country and during the liberation struggle, when we were at Luthuli House (ANC headquarters in Johannesburg), Felix Rice and Emmerson Mnangagwa came to attack us there. We need to talk about such things because these killings reflect every attack that has occurred since 1980,” Ndlovu said.

“In 1985, when Ruth Chinamano won against former President Robert Mugabe, who was Prime Minister then, in the Highfield constituency seat, a battalion was sent next day to deal with people. This is not new yet you say we now have a new dispensation.”

Ndlovu’s sister, an elderly and blind, Agnes Moyo, who had to be assisted to the witness stand, narrated that during Gukurahundi her son worked for the government but was killed by the same authority.

“When Welcome was in Grade 7, he left for Zambia and when he returned he studied for his O’ Levels and afterwards became a teacher. He started working in January at Mzola 8 at Nono School and on February 25, 1983, Gukurahundi began. My son was shot dead and left there to rot. Later my homestead was also burnt down, now I have nothing. This is painful for me because the government that was supposed to protect us since both my son and husband were working for it, is the same that destroyed my family. I need assistance,” she said.

This prompted Motlanthe to express condolences to Moyo for her loss and pledged to assist her through other channels.

“Thank you for sharing with us with your experiences and we have heard your plight. Through other channels we will see how we can assist,” he said.

Crackdown … Police arrested four people accused of disturbing the peace

Other witness who gave accounts included Zanu PF Youth League national deputy secretary for administration, Mabutho Moyo and losing candidate for Bulawayo Central Mlungisi Moyo who blamed the MDC Alliance leaders for inciting their supporters leading to the post-election violence.

Thokozani Khuphe-led MDC-T provincial spokesperson Felix Magalela Mafa accused the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of causing the violence and said it delayed announcing presidential election results from Harare.

He said ZEC must be disbanded forthwith and that the Police Commissioner General, Godwin Matanda, had to be held to account because police officers “stood akimbo while soldiers butchered people.”

The last witness, Sengezo Tshabangu, said the state was responsible for the killings as it equipped with an army.

Tshabangu also claimed that Mnangagwa was innocent, saying his decision to establish the commission supported his conclusion. He however claimed Mnangagwa was not in full control of the government, and was hated by his own Zanu PF party members.

“They tried to kill him in Gwanda using ice cream and on June 23, a bomb exploded at a Zanu PF meeting at White City. Some people in his party are working with powerful state actors to discredit him,” he claimed.