Political Reporter

The opposition ZAPU party is under fire for neglecting that party’s senior member, Percy Bhebhe during his time of sickness only to appear at the funeral.

A source who spoke to this publication said that Bhebhe who was ZAPU’s Chairperson of the National Council of Elders, died last Monday after a long illness and his family was bitter with ZAPU for failing to fend for Bhebhe during his time of sickness.

“It’s true that Bhebhe died last Monday. He has not been feeling well for some time. However, his family was angry at ZAPU leadership for failing to stand with Bhebhe during his time of sickness,” said the source.

 The source confided that only a few ZAPU senior members visited Bhebhe in hospital adding that even ZAPU president, Sibangilizwe Nkomo, had failed to visit or call Bhebhe despite that he (Bhebhe) was a senior member of that party.

The source said that the Bhebhe family told the ZAPU leadership that they should not play any role during the funeral as they neglected Bhebhe at his time of need.

“The ZAPU leadership was told that they would not play any role during Bhebhe’s funeral. They were told that they would be treated as ordinary mourners at the funeral. At first, the Bhebhe family wanted to bar every member of ZAPU from attending the funeral but their family elder decided that ZAPU leadership should attend but would not play any role,” said the source.

The source said that the factional fights in ZAPU might have affected the mobilisation of financial resources to assist Bhebhe with funds to purchase his medication and pay hospital bills.

Meanwhile, efforts to get a commnet from ZAPU Secretary General, Mthulisi Hanana were futile as his mobile phones were not reachable.