BARELY weeks after being sentenced to a suspended three months in prison for defamation by South Africa's High Court, Zanu PF activist Rutendo Matinyarare is expected in court on similar charges filed by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ).
GMAZ accuses Matinyarare of making "false and malicious" claims on social media that its products cause cancer.
Matinyarare's South African case was filed by Innscor after he made claims they were pumping Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into the Zimbabwean market. Innscor owns a range of fast food outlets amongst its growing list of businesses.
Despite a Johannesburg High Court granting Innscor an Interim Order directing Matinyarare to delete posts on X and Facebook wherein he defamed them, he has not adhered to any of it.
"I was invited to ZRP CID Cyber Crime Division for the final recording of my statement and charges I filed against Matinyarare. I did submit supplementary evidence they required," said GMAZ President Tafadzwa Musarara.
"The State papers are ready, and the matter is now ready to go to Court."
The case CID DR 26/06/2024 (Avondale 32/05/2024), has remained unresolved since charges against him were filed in May this year.
Despite allegations that he is name-dropping in a bid to avoid arrest, concerns that he is being protected were allayed by a source at the police who confirmed that they were looking for him.
"Police are looking for the accused person. There is no way he is being protected, he will have his day in court I assure you," said a source within the force.
Police Spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi was not reachable to comment.
Matinyarare has never been one to shy away from controversy.
A case of insulting the Ndebele-speaking people, reported at Bulawayo Central under IR 2613 remains unresolved years after spewing hate speech.
This is one of the cases highlighted by NewZimbabwe.com sources as a sign Matinyarare could be under the protection of someone within high-ranking offices of Zimbabwe's government.
