HARARE – It’s game on between incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is Zanu PF’s preferred candidate and turns 76 in September, and youthful Nelson Chamisa of the opposition MDC Alliance, who turned 40 in February.

Zimbabweans go the polls on Monday 30 July to choose a new leader, new parliamentarians and local authority representatives.

Although there are 23 candidates vying for president it is a foregone conclusion that the real contest is between Mnangagwa and Chamisa.

As many as 5.5 million Zimbabweans have registered to vote in the first elections in four decades in which Robert Mugabe’s face is not on the ballot.

Deposed in November last year, the nonagenarian’s nemesis has taken the risk of trying to win elections in a depressed economy with a very high jobless rate.

On Saturday, Mnangagwa and Chamisa held final push rallies just 5 km apart from each other in the capital city, Harare.

The Zanu PF leader held his rally at the giant 64,000-seater National Sports Stadium, while Chamisa had his at the Freedom Square, a huge open space behind the Rainbow Towers Hotel.

The stadium was filled to capacity, but Chamisa drew an even bigger crowd at the edge of the city – it was a swathe of red as far as the eye could see. MDC Alliance supporters favour the red colour.

Speaking at his 83rd rally Saturday, Chamisa told his supporters that if Zimbabweans missed this opportunity on Monday, they would be doomed for life.

“On Monday, the people are voting for change, for the new, for the young and for genuine change,” Chamisa said to applause.

“Three-quarters of the people in the rural areas have now seen light. They want change.

In the past, Mugabe relied on unsophisticated rural citizens to beef up support for his Zanu PF.

This time around with Mnangagwa at the helm, Zanu PF is in uncharterred waters.

“There is not going to be a run-off in Zimbabwe. There is going to be a run-over of Mnangagwa.

“We’ve won already. A new Zimbabwe is coming on Monday.”

Chamisa said there were insiders in the elections management body, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), that were informing the MDC Alliance of possible schemes that could be employed by Zanu PF to rig the elections.

“There are those that are professional within Zec that want to see things being done right,” Chamisa said. “So we are always in the loop of what’s happening.”

IN PICTURES: Zimbabwe’s final election push

At the giant arena – opposite the liberation war heroes shrine – those who entered the stadium were given green t-shirts and umbrellas bearing the face of Mnangagwa.

Shortly afterwards videos circulated showing soldiers preventing people from leaving the stadium once they collected the party freebies.

They were only allowed to leave after Mnangagwa finished his speech.

Chamisa said when people walk out of Mnangagwa’s rallies it was a “symbolic gesture by the people of Zimbabwe” that they are no longer interested in rhetoric.

Zanu PF has been in power since 1980 – 38 of those years were under Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist.

Across town, Mnangagwa told his supporters that since he took over he had attracted investment worth billions of US dollars, created thousands of jobs, opened mines that had closed down and held several groundbreaking ceremonies of planned projects.

He, however, also threatened to deport international election observers, accusing them of meddling in electoral processes.

“To the observers, do what you are here for. Do not interfere,” warned Mnangagwa as he concluded his address.

“The airport is open, they will go back where they came from.”

READ: More staff at Beitbridge ahead of Zim elections

Last week, Zec accused election observers of interfering with the electoral processes.

The electoral body said it had received reports that some observers are confronting Zec officials seeking information on electoral material and specifically the ballot papers.

“The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is in receipt of reports that some observers are accosting its staff with regards to the distribution of electoral material including the ballot paper,” the election management body said in a statement then.

For their part, civil society is questioning the integrity of the final voters’ roll.

“If Zec failed to conduct a comprehensive de-duplication exercise, it creates the risk of multiple voting and people voting with fake identity documents,” electoral watchdog Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network said on Saturday.

“Biometric systems have been introduced to provide a unique identification for each voter. The automatic fingerprint identification system was explicitly procured to identify and eliminate the possibility of duplicate entries. For this to work, every entry on the register must be checked against every other voter entry.”
 

African News Agency

An unknown number of suspects blew up a cash-in-transit van on Friday evening in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, leaving three security guards injured.

Kraaifontein resident Francois Kellermann, who witnessed the aftermath of the heist, said he was eating dinner when he heard a massive explosion and the gunfire that followed.

When he went to investigate, he found several police officers and private guards from a number of security companies already on the scene.

“There was a big crowd and SAPS had already cordoned off the scene. They must have been there in minutes of the incident,” said Kellermann.

“The street was strewn with empty shell casings and parts of the van.”

He said that police officers were also securing the notes that had been strewn all over the road and that one of the G4S guards, who had been travelling with the van, was visibly traumatised.

ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said that paramedics arrived on scene around 19:30 and found what was left of the van in the middle of the road. He said three security officers who had been in the van were seated on the side of the road.

Apart from being visibly shaken, all three officers sustained minor injuries. They were taken to the Mediclinic Cape Gate Hospital for treatment. 

JOHANNESBURG – One of South Africa’s most wanted suspected cash-in-transit (CIT) heist kingpins, Wellington Bibi Cenenda has been arrested, police said on Friday. 

Cenenda is believed to be involved in a string of run-ins with the law dating back to 1993.

Cenenda was arrested in a crime intelligence-driven operation in Bloemfontein on Thursday assisted by the local tactical response team members according to a statement by the South African Police Service (SAPS). 

He was wanted by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) for alleged murder, attempted murder, possession of firearm and ammunition, possession of explosives, and possession of suspected stolen property.

The SAPS says Cenenda was wanted for a 2016 case where he and his accomplices were involved in a shootout with the police. 

“A twelve member group were conspiring to commit a cash in transit robbery in Mpumalanga.  Police received information about a planned cash heist along the Delmas road and a swift operation involving the Hawks, Crime Intelligence and the Task Force was planned.”

Cenenda appeared briefly at the Delmas High Court and will be joining his other accomplices on 20 August 2018 whilst in custody.

Further investigations to link him to other cases continue.

The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele has hailed the arrest of Cenenda as a major stepping stone in stamping the authority of the law in South Africa.

READ: Suspected cash-in-transit robber killed in Limpopo

“We will as the SAPS continue to ensure we put a permanent stop to the scourge of cash in transit crime. It is our responsibility and mission to protect and secure the inhabitants of the republic and their property and ensure criminals are brought to justice,” Cele said. 

“We are very serious about turning the tide, we will not rest until South Africans feel safe.”

eNCA

A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) forensic investigator has been suspended after the crime-busting entity became aware of his conviction for trespassing in the Kruger National Park with the intention to poach.

In a statement released by the SIU, chief governance officer advocate Mahlodi Muofhe said that the unit’s head advocate, Andy Mothibi, had suspended the investigator, Rabelani Ndou, with immediate effect on Thursday.

He added that Mothibi said a disciplinary hearing for Ndou should be held immediately.

Ndou was convicted for contravening the Firearms Control Act in the Makhado Magistrate’s Court in 2016. It was not clear which animal he had attempted to poach.

“He was found in possession of a firearm with the intent to hunt, trespassing in the Kruger National Park,” said Muofhe.

Speaking to News24, Muofhe said that Ndou’s conviction may have slipped through the cracks at the SIU because of a number of changes that were made at management level.

He added that those who ought to have taken action against Ndou at the time may have left the unit, so the matter could have been overlooked.

“As soon as we discovered this thing, Advocate Mothibi said: ‘No, not in my unit’.”

Muofhe said that the SIU would not tolerate any person who committed crime at the unit.

Ndou is expected to be sentenced in August.