BEIJING – Zimbabwe opposition leader Job Sikhala has reportedly been arrested in South Africa after being found with explosives in his car.
According to the information provided by human rights activist Jacob Ngarivhume, the outspoken Sikhala was nabbed while “at a meeting last night” as “one of his hosts asked to check something in his car”.
“l have been informed that Job Sikhala has been arrested in South Africa,” Ngarivhume posted on his social media pages.
It is said that the person who held Sikhala hostage took the keys and then went away without sharing any details.
“He returned after thirty minutes and asked that they all leave the meeting for it was getting late.
“Job then got into the car he was using. As they were on their way, police stopped them and searched their car.
“They found planted explosives, and he was arrested and is in Pretoria at a local police station,” he added.
Ngarivhume revealed that lawyers have been dispatched from Zimbabwe to help him on the case while South African lawyers are already on the case.
Sikhala detention history
Sikhala is not new to prison life after spending almost a year in detention for allegedly inciting the Nyatsime June 14 violence.
The former Zengeza West lawmaker was also previously arrested on allegations of disseminating false information.
The charges against Sikhala stemmed from a Facebook post alleging that a police officer had fatally struck a baby with a baton stick while enforcing COVID-19 lockdown regulations in Harare in 2020.
The post came in the wake of viral images depicting a motionless infant strapped to her mother’s back, with the mother confronting a uniformed police officer, accusing him of causing her baby’s death.
However, subsequent investigations revealed that while there was a confrontation between the woman and the police officer, the baby was alive.
