Legal experts and political commentators have condemned the sentiments used by the defense representing police officers accused of brutally assaulting schoolchildren in Mahetshe Primary, Matobo District, invoked Gukurahundi during cross-examination, describing the line of questioning as “misguided, insensitive, and deliberately divisive.” The remarks came during the trial of three police officers accused of beating pupils at Mahetshe Primary School in May this year, an incident that sparked public anger and calls for accountability within law enforcement. The trial, which began on September 23, 2025, has already seen emotional testimony from several children and their parents. On the first day the case opened, parents who went inside the courtroom with their children said the defence’s questions went far beyond the facts of the assault case.
Read what was said here:Parents demand justice as Mahetshe pupils’ assault case begins “One of the children was asked if they heard their parents call the police ‘Shona’ and accuse them of Gukurahundi,” said one parent. “But that is false. One of the accused officers is actually a Ndlovu from here.
Tribalism has nothing to do with this case.” When the trial resumed on October 14, 2025, witnesses, including village head Shakespeare Ndlovu and community members Dingindlela Ncube and Felistus Ndlovu — said they were shocked when the defence lawyer again brought up Gukurahundi during questioning. Read what was said here:Defence denies assault in Mahetshe school case “They asked if, since the issue of Gukurahundi is still fresh, parents were accusing the police of being Shonas when they saw them approaching the school,” one witness recounted.Witnesses felt the questioning was an attempt to shift the focus from the alleged police brutality to tribal tensions, instead of addressing the violence inflicted on minors. In an interview with CITE, a legal practitioner,Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda condemned the defence’s conduct, calling it “misguided and malicious.” “The issue of the defence bringing up Gukurahundi shows they are aware that the teachers and police abused the children,” Dr Sibanda said.
