ZAPU has refuted the claims made by Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist Sengezo Tshabangu, who claimed to have engaged the party’s president, Sibangilizwe Nkomo, and his sister, Thandiwe Nkomo, in discussions about forming a Government of National Unity (GNU) with ZANU PF.
In a statement, ZAPU National Spokesperson, Richard Gandari, said Tshabangu made false claims on the VOA Studio 7 Ndebele bulletin which aired on 7 May 2024. Said Gandari:
The truth of the matter is that our President, Cde Sibangilizwe Nkomo, casually met Mr Tshabangu by chance, during Chief Dakamela’s traditional function in Nkayi on the 7th of April, 2024.
It was a mere handshake and photo opportunity at Mr Tshabangu’s request. Out of civil courtesy and ubuntu, President Nkomo obliged and spent at most a couple of minutes interacting with Mr Tshabangu.
Apart from cordial greetings and casual pleasantries, nothing of political substance was ever discussed. For the record, it was our President’s first time meeting the infamous Mr Tshabangu in person.
Gandari said his party does not want to be associated with Tshabangu’s “tattered brand”. He also suggested that CCC’s contested interim secretary general is mentally unstable. He said:
Today, we find ourselves with the unenviable task of defending our good name from Mr Tshabangu’s tattered brand. Association with his acerbic name has badly affected the dead and the living in equal measure.
He is a radioactive entity, and unfortunately, hard to avoid during a public function. We believe Mr Tshabangu is a drowning man, desperate to clutch at any straws for personal survival and political relevance.
While we are not medically privy to the state of his mental faculties, it would be naïve to consider him stable, unless his mischief knows no bounds.
Furthermore, we are greatly appalled by the poor journalistic standard used by Studio 7’s Sithandekile Mhlanga, who gave wings to Mr Tshabangu’s flight of fancy.
Whether by mistake or design, Sithandekile casually stated that Sengezo Tshabangu held talks with senior ZANU PF officials before attaching a voice clip of Mr Tshabangu claiming to have talked with “Thandi and Bangilizwe Nkomo.’
This amounts to misinformation with the danger of misleading the public into believing that our ZAPU leader is a ZANU PF official.
We expect better standards and ethics from Studio 7, a respectable station that has given a voice to the voiceless masses of Zimbabwe at home and in the diaspora.
Tshabangu has been at the centre of controversy within the opposition political landscape of Zimbabwe. In October 2023, Tshabangu claimed to be the interim Secretary General of the CCC, a political movement then led by Nelson Chamisa.
He wrote letters to the Speaker of Parliament and the Minister of Local Government, purporting to recall several CCC MPs and councillors stating that the named individuals had ceased to be members of the CCC.
Among those recalled by Tshabangu included two Harare mayors, the Mayors of Norton and Masvingo and the chairperson of the Epworth Local Board.
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