Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)

Zimbabwe: Tragedy Stalks Mugabe Family

Harare — PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's sister, Bridgette, is critically ill and is admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU), officials at the hospital confirmed on Saturday.

Bridgette, a younger sister to the late Sabina Mugabe who was declared a national heroine and buried at Heroes Acre in Harare last Sunday, was admitted at one of the country's largest referral hospitals on Tuesday, after she collapsed.

Bridgette's illness, it is feared, will take a heavy toll on the 86-year-old leader. "There has not been any change since she was admitted," said the official. "She is not even talking."

The officials said Bridgette is admitted in D-Floor, an expensive and well-equipped ward mainly for the elite and is heavily guarded by security agents to the extent that some doctors who work at the hospital are not allowed access to it.

Bridgette was ferried by ambulance to the hospital on Tuesday night after she collapsed at State House. Hospital officials said she is diabetic.

The officials said Mugabe has been visiting his sister since her admission.

Efforts to get an official comment from the hospital's chief executive officer Thomas Zigora were fruitless yesterday.

Bridgette's nephew, Patrick Zhuwawo on Friday confirmed to The Standard's sister paper, NewsDay, that she was not feeling well. He, however, would not disclose the nature of her illness.

Last Sunday, Bridgette collapsed at the national shrine as the body of Sabina was being carried to its final resting place.

Reports say after regaining composure, she started screaming and uttering incomprehensible words.

This was not the first time Bridgette caused a stir at the national shrine.

In 2000, she performed a ritual at the grave of Mugabe's first wife, Sally, who died of a kidney ailment in 1992.

Her actions at Sally's grave left many in the small crowd gathered at the shrine to pay their respects to Zimbabwe's fallen heroes shocked.

As Mugabe wound up his speech, Bridgette detached herself from the crowd and headed for Sally's grave.

She went straight to the grave and demanded from the departed Sally why she did not seem to realise that her husband, Mugabe, was now under siege, troubled by so many people, especially the MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai.

She asked why Sally had abandoned Mugabe. She acted as if she was in a trance and in direct communication with the spirit of her departed sister-in-law. Then, Bridgette was working in the Ministry of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation.

In May 2007, Mugabe lost his younger brother Donato. Bridgette is one of Mugabe's two surviving siblings. The other one is Regina.


Copyright © 2010 Zimbabwe Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 130 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.

Comments 1 to 5 of 18 Post a comment

  • George Warren
    Aug 17 2010, 15:32

    Well , what can i say, really, i'm sorry that this has happened, not nice at all, I hope she does get better and i'm not being sarcastic at all.

    Now that aside, Robert, he challenged God in many speeches has he not, He has stood up and said, Zimbabwe is mine and only God can remove me. He should never ever of said such a thing, No one should ever challenge God. My brother told me the same thing, there is only one thing to test God and that is giving of your money to God's kingdom. Now what happened to Pharoh in the old testament, Because he wouldn't do what God wanted him to do, God took his son away from him and sent misery and pain on the whole kingdom, see the paralels with Zimbabwe now. Bob was a Christian long ago, yes, but as time went on, the anger inside him and hate being driven into him changed him to being on the Side of the Evil one.Remember this Satan knows the Bible better than any Christian will ever and knows how to twist things to suit his own purposes. Yes he helped to free Zimbabwe, yes he helped the education system get all people educated, but then he got greedy, remember the DISIRE for money is the root of all evil, and this is what happened. Hence why God is now taking everything away from Robert one by one in the hope that he would turn away from his wickedness.

    The choice is his. Live with it or change.

  • takunya_ndebvu
    Aug 18 2010, 03:59

    George_Warren;

    All along I did not know that you are not only foolishly idiotic but unrepentantly satanic, diabolic, devilish and evil. You are Satan walking on his own two feet. Remember I said this to your brother, (in crime) Zungairwa, before?

    How can you openly celebrate the death and misery of other people? Just like your late 'brother' (in crime) - who prayed for the death of President Mugabe - you are happy to see people suffering and you rejoice at the mention of illness or death of those you love to hate.

    Why can you not accept that death is an eventuality for not only others but you as well? Only God has the time for every one of us, you included. No body can run away from death, neither can we hide away from it.

    When you used to kill black people during your reign of terror, you really believed that you were invincible; didn’t you? You considered yourself to be God Himself but alas, you now know better than all of us that crime does not pay and death is like our shadows- it follows us wherever we go.

  • takunya_ndebvu
    Aug 18 2010, 04:14

    George_Warren;

    Firstly, and for your own information, you do not determine who a Christian is or who is not. You can never and have no capacity to judge anyone when you yourself also need to be judged. Have you repented for the crimes you committed when you were defending Apartheid, racism, oppression, enslavement, subjugation and dispossession of black people?

    Have you repented for crimes committed when you, as a member of the notorious Rhodesia Selous Scouts, went on a killing spree, massacring innocent, defenseless and unarmed blacks in pursuit of your supremacist ideals? Only God knows who is a TRUE BELIEVER or vice versa and not you.

    Secondly, there are no parallels between Zimbabwe and Egypt during King Pharaoh's reign of terror. Actually parallels with Pharaoh can only be found in those Boers who sat down at the Berlin Conference plotting to enslave black people and parcel out their land to themselves. We have never been slave master - but you have slave blood in your hands and all over you body. That is "why God is now taking everything away from you one by one in the hope that you would turn away from your wickedness".

    Thirdly, President Mugabe does not hate anyone and does not harbor any hatred in him. He is one Christian who could be accepted by God in Heaven without questions being asked. Considering the way you and your one-eyed boss Smith tortured my President in prison for 11 years, he (President Mugabe) could have revenged the moment he became President.

    Remember the prison guard who tortured him was promoted (by President Mugabe) in 1980. Would you have been that magnanimous in victory had you been a victim of torture and dispossession? Not in a thousand years. Do not forget that you were and are still being left to roam the streets of this country and until today you are free to do and say what you want even against him - nobody has touched and will touch you.

    However, you should never make the mistake of confusing forgiveness and forgetfulness. President Mugabe has FORGIVEN those who maimed and tortured him and brutalized, enslaved, oppressed, subjugated and exterminated his people, but he certainly has not FORGOTTEN that he and his people were dispossessed by you hence the land reform which humanely left some of you, invaders, still on our land.

    He could, after the regimes in Britain and America refused to owner their part of the bargain (funding land redistribution), randomly took all the land and driven all of you to the sea. He did not do that because he is not evil; he did not have and still does not have retributive agendas and he has no "anger inside him and hate being driven into him". He is a Christian per excellence. He is not like Boers across the globe that are hunting down Nazis and killing them up to this day.

    Look at America and Britain as they pursue so-called terrorists - they are killing everything in their paths (men, women, children and the elderly) - nobody is spared. While it is acceptable to hunt down true and current terrorists, it is certainly not acceptable to, in the process, randomly and wantonly massacre church goers, those at wedding parties and anything that moves in front of them using unmanned drones.

    What threat is paused by a 95-year old former Nazi today? NONE WHATSOEVER but still they are being killed, at that age, by you Boers around the world!! You are sinning before GOD - no doubt about it.

  • George Warren
    Aug 18 2010, 17:08

    How many times Tak, how many times, you will never get it, Bob has walked fr from his true destiny, and is going over the cliff edge like a leming. and you blindly follow, Bridgette is being judged for her Brothers acts, Bob has the chance to sort himself out and he chooses to do the opposite. I must of touched a very raw nerve with you. Oh by the way, if you are so brave why don't you come on this forum under your true name, Reveal your true identiy or are you too scared. C'mon prove you are not coward.

  • takunya_ndebvu
    Aug 25 2010, 08:29

    George Warren;

    When I first became alive to the fact that I and my people had been dispossessed by Boers, I had not met President Mugabe, it was way back when I was only 5 years old. My grandfather told me and actually showed me the land that was forcibly taken away from him and his father from 1890 to about 1900. We sneaked into the fenced farm and he showed me the ruins that used to be their compound, the land they use to till and all the boundaries. I did not understand then what my grandfather was trying to tell me.

    When I was doing Grade 7, my history teacher told us all the lies that we were supposed and forced to take as fact. He crashed everything in that book from the so-called barbarism of Africans killing each other (Ndebele and Shona); the discovery of the Mosi-au-Tunya (renamed Vic Falls by invaders) by David Livingstone; the inability of Africans to farm and mine; and all the lies you can think of that are contained in that book. All this was before I met President Mugabe.

    He told us not to believe the lies and propaganda that the 'Gandangas' had tails, their hair was uncombed and they did not bath. He told us that 'Gandanga' was a derogatory word/term used by Boers to describe freedom fighters fighting for our LAND. He told us to all aspire to be freedom fighters and like Mbuya Nehanda so that we could take back our land from Boers. From then on I was more than prepared to fight and even die for my country and my rights to my heritage.

    When I was 16 years old the so-called 'Gandangas' came to our area and this cemented my resolve to be one of them. I realised that all that we were being told was sheer propaganda meant to divert our attention from the hardships that were being caused by colonialism. They were said to be baboons with tails because they were black and were advocating for black freedom. I was, from then on, determined to one day join their ranks and this did not take long as two months after that I had crossed into Mozambique to join others already fighting for our freedom and independence and the recovery of our property - LAND. Up to this time I had not met President Mugabe for me to "blindly follow" him.

    How then am I "blindly following" President Mugabe when he did not take my hand to Mozambique? Do I know why I went to war and suffered for that long in the bushes of Mozambique and Zimbabwe - without food, water and shelter and under constant bombardment from Ian Smith's forces? YES I DO. Can I be diverted, by anything or anyone, from the fundamental principles of the armed liberation struggle? NO, NOT AT ALL.

    Surviving from such an onslaught without a scratch is ONLY because God had decided it that way. Many of my comrades are no more, some are permanently maimed and yet others are suffering mentally because of the situation we went through. Can I abandon the ideals of the struggle because of filthy lucre and betray those who were massacred for the freedom, independence and empowerment I am now enjoying? NEVER.

    President Mugabe happens to be one consistent leader I can NEVER ignore. He has remained steadfast and focused on the real issue(s) that defined and continue to define our struggle against imperialism, colonialism, oppression and slavery. It is sheer coincidental that we see things the same way but to suggest that I am "blindly following" him is not only the highest level of stupidity but extremely idiotic as it presupposes that I do not have a mind of my own.

    I will continue to support President Mugabe because he has not wavered a bit even as he faced extreme and unbearable pressure from the most powerful countries on this earth - countries that consider themselves as the Gods of this earth looking over everybody and that can superintend of everybody else. Despite all the hardships, insults, provocations and threats directed at his person, President Mugabe has NEVER looked back but has remained focused, steadfast, dedicated, disciplined, virtuous, compassionate and courageous. He is worth following because HE IS RIGHT before the people and before God.

    As for my true identity, well, you are talking to the real person. I am not using a pseudonym here. This is my real name and you can find out, if you so wish, from the national registry. There, you will find Takunya wa Ndebvu, my father and mother, the village, the district and the province I come from and my current address. Alternatively, you can go to any place (bank, ministries, clubs and what have you) they will tell you who the son of Ndebvu is. Unless you want my address but then in the absence of you asking for it I will not give you knowing as I do that Selous Scouts are killers and blood suckers.

See All Comments