Posted on 04/04/2007 6:35:54 AM PDT by Clive
Johannesburg - Young women used iron rods to beat pleading grandmothers and called them whores, while a policewoman shouted "Now go for the heads!"
This is how a prayer meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, turned into an "orgy of violence", says William Bango, 53, a senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) member and spokesperson for party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Bango told Beeld from his Johannesburg hospital bed how he, Tsvangirai and other MDC members were beaten with "unheard of cruelty" by Zimbabwean police on Sunday March 11.
Bango described seeing a grandmother, 64-year-old Sekai Holland, repeatedly hammered with a pole by young women who called her "one of Blair's whores".
He was admitted to Netcare Milpark hospital with internal injuries on March 25, after flying into South Africa the previous day to attend a meeting, and nearly collapsing shortly afterwards.
Internal injuries
With 27 shiny metal stitches holding his stomach together, he gave his account of his brutal assault and how doctors had to carry out an emergency operation to examine his internal injuries.
The assault took place at the Machipisa police station, where Bango and other MDC activists were taken after police banned a prayer meeting in Highfield township.
"We were ordered to lie on the ground. Then the orgy of violence began, with the usual accusations that we were the puppets of Tony Blair and the whites, and that we wanted to give our land back to the colonialists.
He was still wearing a drip attached to his left arm, despite being moved from the hospital's high care unit two days before.
Bango said he phoned Tsvangirai, who arrived 20 minutes later. By that time, about 45 MDC members had been assaulted on a plot of land near the charge office.
"The beatings lasted for three-quarters of an hour. They even dragged Tsvangirai from his idling car, and began hitting him. The woman in charge shouted: "Now the ribs! Now the buttocks! Now go for the heads!"
'There are certain things you don't do in Africa'
Referring to the assault of Holland and another woman, Grace Kwinje, both of whom were being treated at Milpark, Bango said: "There are certain things you don't do in Africa. To beat grandmothers like that is crueller than anything I've ever seen in the films, or in fiction."
He and 11 other activists were kept in a single cell with 30 young criminals in the city's central police station for two days, without food or water.
His wife was not allowed to visit him.
Bango said President Robert Mugabe and his nationalists had "served their purpose, but it's time to hand over power, not necessarily to the opposition, but to their own people".
Ironically, Zimbabwe was sliding back steadily to the "iron age" just as South Africa was getting ready for 2010 Soccer World Cup, he said.
"But South Africa can't exist as a supermarket in the desert. The entire tournament will suffer if there's a thug in the neighbourhood."
-
Sounds like a Zimbabwean version of the Red Guards.
The devolution of Zimbabwe/Rhodesia is nearly complete.
I’m gonna have to re-think my vacation plans to that place.
No one culture is superior to another, they are just different. Who are we to judge them?
< / multi-culti>
Eventually, someone is going to have to do a 500 metre “reach out and touch someone” on Mugabe. Faster, please.
Zimbabwe is a progressive country, doncha know.
Historically sub-saharan Africa is a place that all outsiders have tried something and failed there. The land is inhospitable, the people are incorrigible, and the general struggle for life makes any endeavor impossible. Africa is to be left alone to its own development. I think most World Leaders understand this. As horrible as that is, there is nothing even the US could do to change it. Killing Mugabe will not even phase the system. Zimbabwe is finished as a former colony, and darkness is again beginning to shroud itself across a once enlightened land.
Someone wrote a book about this part of Africa suggesting its lack of development was related to a lack of good ports.
Yes many books have been written on why Africa and all endeavors thereof failed. Of course it’s difficult to build ports when there isn’t enough food to go around. Strange that a continent with so much in the way of resources cannot get stood upright.
Can anyone list the African countries that have been a success following colonial rule?
This is what the liberals of the world wanted when they ran out the White Government. I hope they enjoy what they see.
This is what they want now for America and Europe under Shia law.
If they keep cutting the military and letting the Muslims get stronger ,it will happen all the sooner.
Lack of good ports??? snort!! Lack of good ports does not cause EVIL to be celebrated. Poverty does not cause crime. etc.
South Africa, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, Sudan, and in particular Zimbabwe are those that are sinking in terms of quality of life and stability from even a few years ago.
Individuals have never had property rights. This could be the main reason.
Murders in Philadelphia are already up to 104 for the 1st quarter.
The traditional customs die hard.
The liberal’s/conservatives/ruling classes sole purpose is to gain total control of populations. If they use sharia law in the interim to do that then so be it. Be advised as soon as sharia law becomes a direct threat to them (the ruling elite) Moslems will be on the endangered list. Make no mistake Sarge, your government is not on your side. It is on the side of the wealth controlling entities. All ruling figures throughout history have conducted national business in this manner - except a very few, for example the Founding Father’s.
Africa on the other hand has never been fully conquered or unified in any way. Trying to do that would take generations of wealthy families in Africa. Africa’s best hope for a brighter future in my opinion is for American Blacks to start pouring money into the place. And slowly begin to unify countries. To many scofflaws of means are exploiting the place, and they need to be reigned in first (by elimination).
But South Africa has already started down the same path, so you can see a replay in slow motion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.