HARARE – A pro-democracy activist who recently gave testimony to the Motlanthe Commission has been attacked in Harare by a group of men.

Makomborero Haruzivishe had just walked into a bar at Angwa City, a mall in central Harare, when he says the men confronted him and began assaulting him with no words exchanged.

The incident took place on Monday evening, he told ZimLive.

“I was coming from an interview with some journalists at the Causeway building in the company of Ashley Pfunye, the Zinasu secretary general. We went into a bar at Angwa City and I was talking to a man I found there when this group of men barged in,” Haruzivishe said by phone from Harare.

“You could just tell they meant trouble. I’m security conscious so I decided to move to the other side of the bar and then I saw one of the guys point at me and say ‘that’s him’. Before I knew it they were attacking me. The others had sticks but the guy in front was unarmed and he’s the one who started punching me.

“I escaped through a back exit and jumped over some steel rails to safety.”

Haruzivishe said he had no visible injuries, although he was feeling some head pain.

The men turned on the patrons who questioned why they had attacked Haruzivishe, and several were badly beaten.

Haruzivishe said when he went to file a police report at a nearby police post, he found six others who had also been attacked. Police referred them to the Harare Central Police Station where Haruzivishe said he filed his complaint.

The assailants reportedly left in a white Subaru Forester with registration mark ACK 2677.

Haruzivishe was a witness on October 19 in an ongoing inquiry into the August 1 post-election violence which left at least six people dead on the streets of Harare.

The inquiry is led by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe. Haruzivishe said he had no idea if the attack on him was related to his testimony.