Zimbabwe - Julius Malema’s security crew allegedly attacked journalists from a Harare Sunday newspaper when they tried to interview him at a restaurant on Saturday.
The journalists, working for the Sunday edition of The Daily News, reported this to police and have a case number.
According to the journalists, Bhethule Nkiwane, a photographer, was manhandled by three heavily built men as he tried to take photos of Malema and his entourage of about 12 people as they went into a restaurant.
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) group editor Stanley Gama said he witnessed the incident. In the heat of the five-minute “scuffle”, the bouncers took away Nkiwane’s photographic memory card after forcing him to delete photos of Malema.
Gama said his young photographer had also lost other valuable photos from the weeks prior to the “mad and unprovoked assault”.
“Malema seemed calm and appeared interested in talking to my colleagues after exchanging pleasantries and greetings. But after the introductions, the goons pushed him aside and told our reporter to go to hell. It was sudden and unexpected,” Gama said.
At the eatery, Malema’s team spent R1 400 on food.
The Daily News on Sunday reported that hours after he arrived in Harare on Friday, Malema attended a lavish party hosted by a top Zanu-PF official in the leafy suburb of Highlands.
Malema told Independent Newspapers that he had travelled to Harare purely to attend the wedding of a Zanu-PF official, but his spokesman, Floyd Shivambu, had put out a statement last week, saying the main purpose was to engage with Zimbabweans to advance “economic freedom”.
Independent Foreign Service