Mbongeni Hleza, another victim of a police dog attack in Kenilworth, Matabeleland North, was acquitted and released from prison yesterday.
He has recounted the harrowing experience of being mauled by six police dogs.
The 27-year-old, from Gwitshi village in Nkayi, is currently receiving treatment for his injuries alongside 17-year-old Sabelo Dube at a local health facility in Bulawayo.
Hleza, who the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) represented, described the ordeal, which occurred when police were deployed to disperse illegal miners after reports of a gold discovery in the area.
He recalled the horror of being attacked by six dogs and later taken to a prison in Bulawayo.
“The police arrived in their vehicle. We were just a crowd of people, and I was standing by the road. When people saw the police, they started running, but I delayed reacting. The police unleashed their dogs, and two of them caught up with me, biting at my trousers. I had to sit down, but the police commanded the dogs to keep attacking me,” he said.
Hleza detailed how the attack escalated: “The two dogs tore through my trousers. One bit my chest, another attacked my hand, and a third sank its teeth into my leg. There were six dogs in total. The police kept ordering them to bite me, telling me to ‘chuma’—stay still—even as the dogs continued to bite. I had no choice but to obey until another officer finally pulled them off me.”
Hleza and several others were then forced into a police vehicle.
“They instructed me to board the police vehicle, and we were taken to a police truck filled with other people. They kept praising their dogs, saying, ‘Leyi vele umuntu ihle imwise phansi’—this one is good, it brings people down easily. We were held at a police base in Kenilworth until sunset as they seized the ore they had confiscated from some people. They disappeared for a while before returning to transport us to Inyathi police station.”
Hleza said that when they arrived at Inyathi, he and the other dog attack victim were taken to a clinic, where their wounds were treated with betadine. However, they were sent back to the police station and spent the night in custody.
“The following day, we were transferred to Bulawayo prison, accused of stealing gold ore from a mine owned by Dumisani,” Hleza explained.
Both injured men were released from Bulawayo prison on Wednesday after being cleared of the charges.
“We were told that those of us who weren’t at the mine were being released, while those found with ore had to pay a fine,” he said.
