Beitbridge Town To Lose Thousands Of Dollars Fixing Damage Caused By Protesters
Published: 2016 July 03 11:37:09 (7488 Views)
BEITBRIDGE Town is likely to lose thousands of dollars in reparations following the Friday demo which left public and private property at the border damaged.
Angry protesters ran riot and reportedly destroyed property worth thousands of dollars prompting the Zimbabwe government to deploy the army with helicopters and canons to calm the situation.
The uprising was sparked by the government decision to ban the bulk importation of certain commodities that are also manufactured local through Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016.
But it is Beitbridge Town Council (BTC) which will pay heavily for the consequences of the uprising.
BTC chair Showa Moyo told the local press that the town would have to meet the cost of repairing damaged property although the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was not remitting anything to the town.
“The point is we will have to use ratepayers’ money to fix that damageHowever, we don’t even get a grant from the money at the border post. We are worried these criminals are not even residents of this town and only came to create mayhem,” Moyo said.
State Security Minister Kembo Mohadi also shared similar sentiments and condemned the demonstration saying vandalism was not the best form of civic engagement.
“What do you want to achieve by burning infrastructure and private property?
"Since time immemorial, that’s not how we solve grievances in the town", Mohadi said.
Mohadi also claimed that the protesters were not from the border town.
"We suspect a third hand was involved in all that chaos.”
He also lashed out at the Zimbabwe Republic Police for failing to contain the situation.
“The police should have contained the situation on time. They had vital information which they could have used to prevent this from happening," he said.
So far 71 suspects have been arrested in connection with the chaos but authorities believe a pressure group called "Tajamuka" is the force behind the Beitbridge demonstration.
According to reports, some characters in the fiasco were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the hashtag “Tajamuka”, while others had professionally printed banners condemning the controversial imports ban policy.
The same T-shirts have been reportedly seen at street demonstrations led by opposition political parties in recent months.
- Zim Metro
Angry protesters ran riot and reportedly destroyed property worth thousands of dollars prompting the Zimbabwe government to deploy the army with helicopters and canons to calm the situation.
The uprising was sparked by the government decision to ban the bulk importation of certain commodities that are also manufactured local through Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016.
But it is Beitbridge Town Council (BTC) which will pay heavily for the consequences of the uprising.
BTC chair Showa Moyo told the local press that the town would have to meet the cost of repairing damaged property although the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was not remitting anything to the town.
“The point is we will have to use ratepayers’ money to fix that damageHowever, we don’t even get a grant from the money at the border post. We are worried these criminals are not even residents of this town and only came to create mayhem,” Moyo said.
State Security Minister Kembo Mohadi also shared similar sentiments and condemned the demonstration saying vandalism was not the best form of civic engagement.
“What do you want to achieve by burning infrastructure and private property?
"Since time immemorial, that’s not how we solve grievances in the town", Mohadi said.
Mohadi also claimed that the protesters were not from the border town.
"We suspect a third hand was involved in all that chaos.”
He also lashed out at the Zimbabwe Republic Police for failing to contain the situation.
“The police should have contained the situation on time. They had vital information which they could have used to prevent this from happening," he said.
So far 71 suspects have been arrested in connection with the chaos but authorities believe a pressure group called "Tajamuka" is the force behind the Beitbridge demonstration.
According to reports, some characters in the fiasco were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the hashtag “Tajamuka”, while others had professionally printed banners condemning the controversial imports ban policy.
The same T-shirts have been reportedly seen at street demonstrations led by opposition political parties in recent months.
- Zim Metro
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