Riot Police Called In After August 1 Shootings Hearing Turns Violent In Bulawayo

Riot police armed with assault rifles and water cannons had to be called in yesterday when violence broke out at Rainbow Hotel in Bulawayo during hearings conducted by the commission of inquiry investigating the post-election shootings that occurred in Harare on August 1.

Several people were arrested after chairs were thrown at the commissioners led by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe. Violence broke out after one witness, Taurai Kundishaya, blamed the MDC Alliance for the killings. Kundishaya, who claimed to have been a taxi driver in Harare, but resides in Bulawayo and witnessed the August 1 shootings, was adamant that the MDC Alliance was responsible for the violence.

Some activists questioned why government was investigating the August 1 killings during which about seven people were killed, but had not done so with the 1980s Gukurahundi mass killings in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.