Mixed reactions to Moyo’s father reburial

THERE was an outpouring of sympathy for Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo’s family over the heinous murder of his father Melusi Job Mlevu during the Gukurahundi era in the 1980s.

Source: Mixed reactions to Moyo’s father reburial – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 6, 2016

BY OBEY MANAYITI

The family has sought permission from Tsholotsho district administrator Gloria Raundi to allow them to exhume the remains of the former Zapu councillor so as to accord him a decent burial at the family shrine.

Commenting on the story on NewsDay online, one Lobengula said: “Jonathan is one of the very few who have done good within the Zanu PF government. I see no wrong in doing the reburial. Let them honour the dead.”

Sagitarr said: “What good can one do in this cruel government? I’m surprised this Moyo chap can actually rub shoulders on a daily basis with his father’s murderers or rather the authors of that sad chapter.”

Shepherd said: “If this is true, then one wonders the motives of Jonathan Moyo siding with the murderers of his own father. He defends Mugabe so many times in spite of him being guilty of all these thousands who lost their lives. Your father will never forgive you (Moyo) for selling out the people’s cause with gold and silver.”

Some expressed sadness that government was failing to acknowledge the atrocities which left over 20 000 civilians dead and make peace with the families of the victims. Others expressed scepticism over the move by Moyo’s family, saying it would likely trigger internal wars in Zanu PF.

Others warned the nation never to trivialise the agony that the surviving victims of Gukurahundi were going through.

Habakkuk Trust director Dumisani Nkomo said evidence should be collected to make those responsible for the mass killings accountable.

However, former War Veterans minister Chris Mutsvangwa, who has been entangled in a bitter fight with Moyo claiming he is Ndabaningi Sithole’s son, dismissed the planned reburial as a public relations stunt.

“It’s a fatuous public relations stunt by an exposed war deserter-turned-traitor who now hides under the cover of unexplained patronage at the apex of power in Zanu PF, the party of the revolution. He wants to use unfortunate latter-day events to whitewash his sordid record of cowardice, treachery and ignominy,” he said.

But asked if he still maintained Moyo was Sithole’s child, Mutsvangwa retorted: “Please that is neither here nor there on this matter. He is still the son till he goes for a DNA test. Whichever way, he will still be an adopted son because all his life revolves around Sithole.”

Although the reburial was reportedly set for this weekend, it was not clear anymore on the actual date amid reports that the event had been postponed to a later date.