Tug of war between Home Affairs and ZEP lawyer turns bloody

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By Mpedzegwa Wamanava

The rancorous tug-of-war between Advocate Simba Chitando and Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi over the Cancellation of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) has turned bloody and nasty.

Lawsuits and criminal charges are flying back and forth between Chitando and Motsoaledi. Death deaths are hitting Chitando’s inbox daily from phony tweet accounts.

Apart from splitting from the courts into personal lives of the protagonists, the fight has also sucked in Chitando’s ex-wife Nosiphowo Jodwana who is accusing Home Affairs officials of forcing her to write an incriminating document against Chitando.

Jodwana who is a South Africa is not having any of that. She laid bare the humiliation and intimidation she suffered in the hands of self-proclaimed Home Affairs officials Isaac Makgopa and Emmanuel Meela. And she is not letting what she went through lie but is preparing to open sexual and kidnapping charges against Makgopa and Meela.

“I depose this affidavit after I was sexually harassed by Mr Isaac Makgopa of the Home Affairs department, during the unlawful detention by Mr Emmanuel Meela,” complained Nosiphowo Jodwana, former wife of Chitando in affidavit that was leaked to Zimbabwe Observer.

Jodwana accused Makgopa of forcing her to incriminate Chitando under the assumption that their divorce left bad blood between them. Instead, Jodwana professed her undying love for her former husband.

Jodwana revealed that she was physically kidnapped and detained by Makgopa and Meela without a valid warrant of arrest and was forced to write a document under duress.

“During this time, I was sexually harassed by Mr Isaac Makgopa. He told me that in the absence of my ex-husband Advocate Simba Chitando, I was now his woman,” said Jodwana.

The Sandton based lawyer accused the minister of witch hunting in a desperate attempt to create charges against him to hang on to.

“Those two officials from his office who interrogated my ex-wife, have no powers to do that. They have no powers of arrest, and this explains why she is opening a case of kidnapping against them,” explained the eloquently speaking advocate.

Jodwana lashed out at her tormentors for embarrassing her in front of her colleagues at Damelin College’s Menlyn Campus in Pretoria where she is employed as a student advisor.

“Mr Isaac Makgopa and Mr Emmanuel Meela approached me at place of employment without notice, claiming to be employed by the Department of Home Affairs in an intimidating manner. They refused to identify themselves to my satisfaction and my boss Govender. The individuals did not inform me of my rights before interrogating me and demanding incriminating evidence on my relationship with my ex-husband Advocate Simba Chitando, who is currently involved in high profile litigation against the department of Home Affairs,” said Jodwana. “The interrogation took place at my place of employment in front of my work colleagues and students, in a humiliating, dehumanizing and degrading manner.”

She continued: “I was not informed or afforded an opportunity to take legal advice before and after I was interrogated. I was instructed to write down the answers to the interrogator’s questions and at times I was told what to include in the written statement, even when I disagreed with what I was told.”

Motsoaledi threatened Chitando with a defamatory lawsuit recently after he publicly accused him of abusing millions of Rands which were paid by the ZEP applicants. The minister also demanded R200 000 compensation and asked Simba to delete the accusing tweets.

“I didn’t give him the R200 000 which he asked from me, and I never deleted those tweets and he never sued me,” said Chitando who dared the Minister to carry out his threat.

The law eagle however revealed that he was receiving death threats everyday adding that he might not make it to his court case against the Department of Home Affairs, scheduled for between 5 and 7 October 2022.

Below are some of the threats Chitando received.

“The death threats I am receiving are real and I might be killed anytime. It is common for lawyers to be murdered for pursuing court cases against high profile people. I know of four colleagues who were killed under similar circumstances that I am in,” said Chitando.

He also disclosed that a Brigadier from the hawks informed him that his life was at a high risk.

Chitando also told this paper that he has been granted police escort whenever he goes to attend court cases in Pretoria.

When asked to explain why he is not backing off from the case, Chitando said he was prepared to die defending Zimbabweans.

“I am prepared to die for Zimbabweans. I must finish this case for my people, and I can’t let them down by chickening out,” said Chitando who reigns from Gutu in Masvingo.

He also added that the only reason why Home Affairs shied away from deporting him is because he was granted a permanent residence then Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in 2008.

“I think the only reason why the Minister of Home Affairs is reacting the way he is doing to my court case and criticism on how badly he handled the ZEP issue is because I am on point in this case. I expect to win this case for my client,” said tough talking advocate.

Efforts to get a comment from Home Affairs were futile as they were not picking calls. Questions to various Home Affairs officials were not responded to.