FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD
Posted on 01/12/2003 7:24:46 AM PST by Clive
Zimbabwe's propaganda chief, Jonathan Moyo, spent nearly two weeks in South Africa on a holiday shopping spree while millions of his countrymen face starvation.
The controversial minister of information, who wants to be the next president of Zimbabwe, booked into the Mercure Hotel in Bedfordview from December 27 to January 8 with four children and his wife, Betty.
While there, he went on a shopping spree - surrounded by his bodyguards - and bought thousands of rands worth of food to take home to Zimbabwe, where more than two- thirds of the population of 11.6 million are desperate for something to eat.
It was just one year ago that Moyo, referring to South Africa, said: "It is you people who have Mandela squatter camps all over the place, not us. In fact, the average black person in Zimbabwe is better off than the average black person in South Africa."
He bought a big-screen TV and a home theatre system. When he ran out of packing space in his luxury vehicles - a Pajero (registration number 752-098X), a Mercedes-Benz car (registration 752-082E) and a bakkie - Moyo filled a trailer (registration HYF 394 GP) with cooking oil, canned food , rice, sugar, mealie meal, polony, macaroni and bread.
Just days before Moyo's shopping jaunt, Zimbabweans were bracing themselves for a miserable Christmas without basic goods like fuel, milk and fruit. They are forced to queue for hours just to buy a loaf of bread.
The Sunday Times booked into a room in the Mercure Hotel directly opposite rooms 804 and 806, where Moyo's family were staying .
H is bodyguards and children were seen packing groceries into the vehicles on Tuesday afternoon and again at 4.20am on Wednesday before leaving at dawn to go home.
After Moyo had departed, escorted by bodyguards, the Sunday Times went inside room 806 and found five staff cleaning up the mess.
The family had been enjoying appetising holiday takeaways. Bits of uneaten food were lying on the floor. Empty bottles of beer were scattered about and at least four unopened dumpies of Moyo's favourite beer had been left behind. Two trolleys were needed to remove the garbage.
The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, said he was horrified.
"This man has no shame at all. He goes to South Africa to buy his food while Zimbabweans are struggling to buy salt and bread.
"Where did he get the foreign currency when we do not have any in Zimbabwe? [President] Robert Mugabe is ordering food from London and Moyo is shopping in South Africa. These people are hypocrites."
The Sunday Times tried repeatedly to reach Moyo, calling his office, his cellphone, the Zimbabwean high commission - and even Mugabe's office.
A secretary said: "Professor Moyo is on leave and cannot be reached as he is in his rural village where there are no telephones. His cellphone is broken."
Zimbabwean government spokesman Knox Zenglu said: "I am told he has gone to his home village and there are no telephones there. I am sorry, there is nothing we can do for you."
Attempts to reach George Charamba, head of Zimbabwe's Communication Department, and Zimbabwe's High Commissioner in South Africa, Simon Moyo, were also unsuccessful.
I did appreciate the license plate numbers.
That may prove useful.
If his wife doesn't take revenge first. The following was also printed in the Sunday Times on the same day as the above story:
Moyo's wife flees fight in hotel room and calls police
By Mzilikazi Wa Afrika
Zimbabwean Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's wife, Betty, called police to intervene in a row in his Johannesburg hotel room on New Year's Eve.
The drama started when one of Moyo's children phoned a receptionist to report a fight in the room. The Sunday Times has established that a security guard was sent to the room to check if the hotel's property was being damaged during the row and to calm those who were fighting.
But the guard was stopped as he made his way to the suite by Moyo's wife, who ran out of the room. She warned him not to go into the room because her husband "was a senior politician and a government minister" who would never listen to a security guard.
"I want to see the police - please phone the police to come here," she was heard shouting.
Moyo's wife was taken to the reception area where she pleaded with the night staff to call the police or give her directions to the nearest police station.
Two police officers responded to the call but gave Moyo's party only a verbal warning. No assault case was opened.
"The receptionist said police must rush to room 806 because of the fighting, which might damage the hotel property," said Sam Baloyi, an official at Bedfordview police station. "I don't know what was discussed. I have never seen any report but I can confirm that no case was opened."
The hotel confirmed that the incident took place but refused to comment further
I don't think "domestic disputes" are taken with quite the severity in that part of the world. And I would expect that, just as in this part of the world, the elites get a kiss-off from the coppers.
Mrs. Moyo's actions betrayed her as an abused woman.
More loathing from this corner for Comrade Minister Moyo.
Safest policy in response to attempted political influence is to go ahead and charge. Sometimes that means that a someone who might otherwise have been let off with a warning would find himself being charged just because he tried to pull rank.
And in a domestic dispute or a sexual assault, your arse is covered if you make the occurrance because of current policy (which was not always the policy in the past) that the decision to charge is no longer the onus of the victim.
Make your occurrance and let the Division Inspector or the Chief Constable or the Crown Attorney decide whether or not to bury it.
That is why they get better pay than the people on the bricks.
Hotel Mercure Bedfordview
33, Bradford road - Bedfordview
Johannesburg 75825
South Africa
120 Rooms
Local Map
ID: 111269
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.