Zim pageant director Tare Munzare demands apology from SA police minister

Zimbabwean pageant director Tare Munzara has demanded an apology from South Africa’s police Minister Fikile Mbalula after he convened a press conference a few weeks ago to publicly back claims by a young model in that country who claimed to have been trafficked to Malaysia by Munzara under the guise of a fake beauty pageant.

Newspapers in South Africa are now reporting that the model, Princess Mahlangu, “allegedly concocted the whole story – apparently as a way to get home” after travelling to Malaysia despite being told the pageant had been cancelled. Her claims resulted in Munzara being detained by police in Malaysia.

Nehanda Radio spoke to Munzara and started by asking him for his immediate response?       

Munzara – The papers did not say might have concocted, the original article by Sunday World clearly states that she did lie ‘’ she decided to lie ‘’, based on evidence presented to the Police, and the paper. It’s the Police and the Hawks that stated that she lied , this came from South Africa and they gave out that information because it is accurate and legitimate.

Remember the comment from the South African Hawks  was  ‘’ no elements of Crime were found ‘’   and Fikile Mbalula himself made a comment to say  ‘’ no case was ever opened against me. If there were no elements of crime , it means that it’s a confirmation that she lied about it. And yes she did lie about it, and the evidence is there, emails, whatsapp screen shots, videos and pictures.

Up until this day she has not said a single word, she changed numbers, deleted her social media , because she knows about her own guilty mind and guilty act.   Malaysia cleared me, which also means it a lie,  if it was true, I would be rotting right now in a Malaysian cell.  Why would anyone ever abduct someone at a public event, that governments know about, and have funded ???

Miss United Countries, has a followership of over 1 Million people globally , including all social media platforms combined, from fb , Instagram, website views. A lot of endorsements came, from governments, including the South African government in Bloemfontein , which even funded and sponsored her trip .

So why then would it now become a trafficking scam , when it’s a public event, everybody knew that I was doing it and that princess was coming to the event… The amount of effort and resources put into this global event, not just from us but from national directors and contestants is enormous and we can not allow one psycho ruin the work that all of us have put in.

It is a lie because even people close to her, have submitted evidence to the police based on them feeling guilty knowing that other people’s lives were put at risk of loss.These close people to her, did the right thing.

Nehanda Radio:  The SA police Minister took a personal interest in the matter with reports he even used his own money to get the model back to SA. What would you like to say to Mbalula?

Munzara – i dont know why he bought her the flight though, but somehow i think that this was done to create urgency as to make the story real… She was supposed to go on the flight for sunday, 30th but she left malaysia saturday 29th , the day before her original flight day ….. of which the difference between her original flight and the one she got from him was just a few hours apart.

And mbalula says he got the report on wednesday the 26th of July close to midnight, which was already 6 am in Malaysia.. and he called for press conference thursday the 29th of July, and the press conference was pegged for saturday the 30th , … so you can see the gaps and how this whole thing was nicely planned politically … if it was urgent, then she was supposed to be flown back home or taken by SA embassy the same wednesday the 26th , because the time he got the message it was 6 am in Malaysia….

The challenge is that these people are good at talking but can not produce any evidence pertaining to the airline she used. She used Ethiopian Airlines flight     ET809  which arrived at OR Tambo at 13: 00 Hrs.  

Look I don’t know the nature of the relationship between her and Fikile , for it is not my business, but if you can follow the interview press conference which Fikile Mbalula did at the airport, he was very emotional about it and at the same time, he looked confused because he clearly did not understand what he was talking about.

He was even asked how legitimate the claim is by another journalist and he said that  ‘’ how can a young lovely girl like princess lie about something like this ‘’ .     Since he took personal interests in the matter, he should continue to do so, because based on his quick announcements for press conf and his lies about a rescue mission, he now must tell the public the truth that the story was false.

Now he is not saying anything about it and putting energy into the matter, it really shows that he doesn’t care to correct his own mistake. Why is it not going viral now? Why is he silent??   Maybe you can telephone him and ask him to do another press conference to apologize and clear up the criminal elements tagged on my name and of South African National Director Palesa Ramoshibi.

Nehanda Radio: You were eager to stress that you were never arrested but only detained. Many will ask what is the difference. Can you explain what actually happened?

Munzara – I was eager because I have a lot to protect, my name is my brand, and my brand is what keeps relationships open and going on. If something is inaccurate it is my duty as the brand owner of my name and all that it associated to, to tell the truth, it is my right and my birth right to keep my integrity and not allow it to be defamed by things which are not true. 

This is how Malaysian police system works, if a police report is made against a person, the police picks up the alleged suspect and they detain the person for not longer than 24 hours. Within 24 hours that person is supposed to attend court to determine if they can be an actual suspect or not.

If that person is tagged as an actual suspect they are further detained for investigations and if that person is not found to be a suspect they are released. So in my case, my case never went to court because already police found no need to take it to court because the report was deemed illegitimate.

When one is a foreigner after the court holds that the person should not be a suspect, they are put on an automatic 14 days detention, which is for purposes for passport and visa check. So I only was taken based on technicalities as to be detained not because it was an arrest. It is the law of the land that I was detained. 

An arrest means that one was found guilty of a case based on their mensrea and actus rea , mensrea is mental guilt and actus reas is the guilty act and so that leads to a conviction which is an arrest , thus a record of crime is gazetted within police records.  

Detention is when police is trying to determine if one is an actual suspect for an actual arrest either by police or instructed by court.    So yes I was never arrested and I even have a letter from Malaysian Police which clearly stipulates that I was detained.

This is the translation from Bahasa Malay to English Confirm case status. The above items are mentioned

Under section 506 of the penal code of Malaysia, The investigating officer. Insp mohamad faez bin paiman .Under the case for taremeredzwa munzara passport bn634905. It is confirmed that the case has been closed and the investigating officer has been instructed by a federal prosecutor of the federal kuala lumpur to release the nominee without any sympathy. Therefore the nominee has been released from detention without any conditions

This whole lie must come to an end, I know people enjoy to watch others suffer and gossip about it but this is not a joke, my life was put on the line, and its been affecting not just me but business, family members and friends. 

Nehanda Radio: You have been involved in past pageants that were later cancelled. Do you accept that perhaps this past reputation led a lot of people to believe the allegations being made by the model?

Munzara – I have never cancelled an event but I have postponed based on numerous factors which any pageant director would go through. Black people postpone events, Asian people postpone events, Latino and even White people postpone events, this is not new to do so.  

These international events are not easy to pull out, stake holders like sponsors, governments, etc can disappoint at the final hour. Cancelling means that the event is discontinued depending on how one understands what cancelling means, but the dictionary is clear.

Moreover cancelling is not an act of crime or a civil wrong, so many events get postponed or cancelled and it doesn’t mean that people would not be disgruntled, they would be , but it doesn’t amount to it being tagged a  Crime. There was no crime in postponing the event. For the record a lot of people in the industry and even those who are not in the industry did not believe the story in the first because many stated that the case did not make sense and that I am a legitimate business person and I am not even capable of pulling such an atrocity.  

Modelling is a business for me, and everybody understands and knows that, I travel all across the world to different destinations because of the nature of the business, I send girls out to other international pageants, it is business. I have changed the lives of many models, including those in Zimbabwe and also South Africa.

I am an award winning brand both personally and business wise, and in 2016 I was listed in top 100 most powerful leaders in Zimbabwe below 40yrs. I worked hard and I have been doing so, and I shall continue to do so, and I shall remain positive and will keep on motivating people despite what odds I face.

The truth has been unveiled to the public, what’s there to dispute?? I am free to travel to any country including South Africa and Malaysia,  I am a free man, my freedom speaks volumes when it comes to this case …
In conclusion, I expect a press conference of apology to be done by Fikile Mbalula, alongside Princess, because the damage done is extremely deep as there is loss of reputations, business and credibility.