Eddie Cross acquitted of racial slur charge

via Eddie Cross acquitted of racial slur charge | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda on Friday, January 24, 2014

The MDC-T MP for Bulawayo South, Eddie Cross, was on Friday acquitted of charges of racial slurs and contravening the Posts and Telecommunications Act, by a Bulawayo magistrate.

The 73 year-old politician was dragged to court by the party’s provincial administrator, Nkululeko Ndlovu, who accused Cross of insulting him over the phone by saying that black people shall never run this country properly.

Ndlovu alleged that Cross offended him by suggesting that he was stupid and talking “crap.’

The veteran politician strenuously denied the charges, saying the charges were politically motivated. The two fell out when Cross asked Ndlovu to reconcile money that he had been given by the party for election campaign purposes. The MP accused Ndlovu of misappropriating about $5,000.

Magistrate Gladmore Mushove dismissed the charges against Cross and told the court that the judiciary should not be burdened by such trivial cases which should have been settled at party level.

However, the ruling did not satisfy Ndlovu who told our correspondent in Bulawayo, Lionel Saungweme, that he is going to approach the civil court and file a case against Cross. He said he will sue the MP for tarnishing his image and will be seeking redress in the courts.

Cross said he was not worried by the threats because they had all the facts and evidence that Ndlovu had abused party funds.

‘If he’s got the money to approach the courts that’s fine with me but he should know that I was not put to my defence in this case, so if he wants to give me an opportunity in court to prove that he stole money I will gladly accept the offer,’ Cross said.