20 but made a U-turn back to Zvishavane when it was very close to us. We arrived at Mushaya and started our meeting. An hour into the meeting an old Green AVM 8-tonne lorry roared up and stopped 100 metres from us. The lorry held 150 attackers, all ZANU-PF members. They included street kids, schoolchildren, ZANU-PF supporters, war veterans and other men who might be mistaken for mentally deranged people on Zvishavane’s streets. They were all out of the lorry in less than one minute and descended on 60 MDC supporters. Mr Pearson Mbalekwa did not get down. He went back in the lorry immediately after all ZANU-PF attackers had alighted. At about the same time, the CIO drove to the scene in a Mazda B1000, 690-310Q. The driver was a well-known CIO officer called Bonyongwa. He brought in other attackers like Mr Mpofu and Constable Madiro of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Mr Bonyongwa, Mr Mpofu (a ZANU-PF supporter), Mr Masiraha Mugabe (a Gresham Primary School teacher), Constable Madiro (of Zimbabwe Republic Police), Blessed Mapako (a Zvishavane Town Council security guard) and D.K. (the self-styled war veteran) directed one of the most brutal attacks ever experienced in this constituency. Mr Bonyongwa of the CIO had a gun and a walkie-talkie. He was reporting all the proceedings live somewhere. Masiraha Mugabe, a teacher, wielded a machete, D.K. had an axe. Mr Blessed Mapoko had sjamboks (whips with leather thongs) ‘borrowed’ from Zvishavane Town council. ZANU-PF attackers approached us from all directions. Those who could run away did so but about 40 MDC supporters were caught. They ordered us to remove our MDC tee-shirts. Without waiting for responses, people were brutally assaulted with axes, machetes, sjamboks and logs. After an hour of indiscriminate violence they zeroed down to a few MDC leaders they had apprehended. I was lucky, I hid in a dilapidated Blair toilet and none of the attackers could imagine that I was hidden in such a shaky structure. Before my eyes, Blessed Mapako, D.K. and Teacher Masiraha Mugabe brutally and heartlessly pounded Mr Mafusire (MDC vice chairman for Zvishavane district) with axes, hoe handles, machetes, iron bars, stones and logs. I saw Masiraha Mugabe inflicting two compound fractures on Mr Mafusire’s leg and D.K. inflicted one. Mr Mafusire passed out and was left for dead. He bled profusely. I saw D.K., Masiraha Mugabe and Constable Madiro leaving the scene. They all went home with blood on their feet. Mr Mafusire’s blood. They trampled on him and stepped in his blood. D.K. also robbed Mr Mafusire of his driver’s licence, ZCTU badges, money and an MDC banner. As they searched him, teacher Masiraha Mugabe accused Mr Mafusire (who was already unconscious and bleeding) of selling Zimbabwe to the whites and squandering the money alone. They left for Zvishavane after seriously injuring fifteen other people and leaving Mafusire for dead. As they left, I got out of the Blair toilet and fled to a nearby mountain. As the attackers got into a CIO pick-up to go back to Zvishavane, they were heard saying loudly that MDC supporters must die as instructed by President Mugabe. By 2pm all the ZANU-PF supporters who had attacked us were back in Zvishavane. There was an orgy of violence in Highlands Township and Mandava. This time the attackers had more guns, to kill MDC supporters. But although guns were fired, no-one was shot. They only used screwdrivers, knives, knobkerries, sjamboks and machetes. Madiro the police officer also participated. Our district secretary D. Moyo and an MDC member were seriously injured, but the police watching did not intervene. In the evening, we went to report our cases at Zvishavane police charge office. Madiro was now one of the officers taking our reports (under Case Record Number 664/4/2000-Zvishavane). Meanwhile, some good Samaritans - who also picked up his bone marrow - picked up Mafusire. He was taken to Shabani Mine Hospital. On arrival Dr Mataka referred him to Mater Dei Hospital, Bulawayo without delay. The ambulance cost Z$7 000. In Bulawayo, Mafusire underwent three major surgical operations and so far has paid Z$60 000. More bills are still to come. However, AMANI Trust: Organised Violence and Torture in the June 2000 General Election in Zimbabwe