Zimbabwe opposition politician arrested in South Africa

After Zimbabwe media reported that Job Sikhala had been arrested, South African police confirmed they had detained two men in a vehicle containing 26 blasting cartridges and detonating devices.

The men were aged 53 and 78 but their identities could not be released until they appeared in court on Monday, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Zimbabwe and South African media reported that the younger man was Sikhala, a former lawmaker with the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party.

Sikhala's brother told AFP that lawyers for his brother had told him of the arrest. "He has been arrested, as far as I know," Harry Sikhala said.

He had been stopped by police with his uncle while they were returning from meeting friends, he said, adding it was not clear how explosives came to be in the vehicle.

Sikhala was relased from more than a year-and-a-half in prison in January 2024 after being convicted of inciting public violence.

He had spent almost 600 days in pre-trial detention in a case supporters said was politically motivated.

Sikhala told AFP in an interview after his release that he did not know if he would continue his political career after the ordeal. "Everything about me was eroded during the period of my incarceration," he said.

Political tensions are high after the ruling Zanu-PF announced last month it would support constitutional changes to allow an extension to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's term, who has been in power since 2017.

A number of civil rights activists and opponents of Mnangagwa have been arrested since he succeeded Robert Mugabe.