The Sunday News
Tinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
A ZIMBABWEAN national is battling for life at a hospital in central Durban, South Africa, after his manhood was skinned like a banana by unknown assailants using a sharp object in what is believed to be a xenophobic attack, the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa confirmed. Zimbabwean ambassador to South Africa Ambassador Isaac Moyo told Sunday News yesterday that the man, identified as Timothy Vincent Mutekede of Renco Mine in Masvingo Province, also suffered countless stab wounds all over his body from the attack.
Ambassador Moyo said Mutekede, who was attacked and left for dead on 3 April by unknown men, had been in a coma for almost two weeks but had since regained consciousness and was steadily recovering at the Durban hospital.
He described the attack as one of the most gruesome and heinous attacks he had ever witnessed since the start of the regrettable episode of xenophobic attacks.
“Embassy officials visited him (Mutekede) yesterday (Friday) and he had recovered from a coma he had been in for some time. He is now conscious and is recovering well.
“This is one of the most gruesome attacks I have witnessed so far where a man has his manhood skinned. The attackers peeled off the skin on his mahood using sharp objects before stabbing him all over his body. Hospital officials say he sustained countless stabs. His attackers left him for dead but fortunately he survived,” he said.
Ambassador Moyo said the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa had not yet notified Mutekede’s next of kin of their relatives’ fate, but a Zimbabwean woman based in South Africa who claimed she was from the same village as him had visited the hospital and said she would notify Mutekede’s relatives of the incident.
He said another unidentified Zimbabwean who had been in hospital after suffering a broken arm and several stab wounds was discharged from hospital last week and was recovering from home.
On the number of Zimbabweans killed so far in South Africa as a result of the xenophobic attacks, Ambassador Moyo said the embassy only knew of two deaths of a man and woman in Durban, with reports of a third death still unclear and yet to be confirmed.
“So far in terms of deaths we have only heard of two in Durban where a man and a woman are said to have been murdered. Those two are the most clear cases we have heard. There are allegations of a third death but we are yet to get clear information on that. We couldn’t really get close enough to the case that we can confirm it,” he said.
Meanwhile, repatriation of Zimbabweans who were displaced by the xenophobic disturbances is now complete with the last batch of 483 people having arrived in the country on Friday.
This brings to 891 the total number of Zimbabweans that have voluntarily been repatriated.
Ambassador Moyo said the number of Zimbabweans who have returned home in the wake of the xenophobic attacks could be higher as some people might have found their way to the border.
He added that other Zimbabweans who were at refugee camps and refused to return home had since been reintegrated back into mainstream society.
“We can say so far the repatriation of displaced Zimbabweans who volunteered to come back home is now complete. The reception facilities in Johannesburg have since been dismantled and those other Zimbabweans who opted to stay back have been reintegrated back into society.
“The first batch that arrived in Zimbabwe had about 408 people while four buses left South Africa and arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday (Friday) with 328 people. The last batch of 55 people from Johannesburg also arrived yesterday.
“We have been working with South African Home Affairs on the documentation process. We have documented everyone according to our own procedures. The documentation process is now complete,” he said.
Thousands of African nationals, among them Zimbabweans, in South Africa have been displaced, hundreds others injured and others have been killed in the wake of Xenophobic attacks in the neighbouring country as natives are pushing for the eviction of foreigners.
According to South African police about 100 people have been arrested in connection with the Durban disturbances.
