Lawmaker fired over tribalism row

Higher Education Deputy Minister Simelisizwe Sibanda has been fired for allegedly discriminating against a Shona teacher in Matebeleland. New Zimbabwe reports that chief Cabinet Secretary Martin Rushwaya said President Emmerson Mnangagwa had removed Sibanda from the Office of Deputy Minister of Higher & Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science & Technology Development with immediate effect. The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe had demanded an apology from the Deputy Minister after interrogating a female teacher about why she was teaching in Matabeleland when she has a Shona surname. ‘Zimbabweans need to celebrate their unity in diversity and we expect MPs and Ministers to be flag bearers of this. We don't expect them to behave like beasts,’ the union said in a statement.

Full New Zimbabwe report