Grace Mugabe’s son bashed in night club brawl

First Lady Grace Mugabe’s son from her previous marriage was reportedly recently involved in a brawl believed to have caused the transfer of a senior police officer.

Sources told The Zimbabwean that Russell Goreraza, Grace’s son by her first husband, former Air Force of Zimbabwe intelligence officer Wing Commander Stanley Goreraza, recently went to Club 40-40, a Bulawayo nightclub jointly owned by Assistant Police Commissioner Erasmus Makodza.

He tried to forcefully gain entry but was barred by security personnel.

According to witnesses, a quarrel ensued, during which the guards beat Goreraza up.

“Russell provoked the bouncers (security guards) by insisting on taking into the club a full bottle of whisky that he intended to drink inside, against the regulations. His behaviour angered the guards who then beat him up. He was clearly drunk at that time,” said a source.

Goreraza subsequently reported the incident to the police, following which an anti-riot squad was dispatched to the nightclub. This reaction team is said to have beaten up patrons indiscriminately before calm was restored.

Soon after this incident, Asst Comm Makodza was transfer to Police General Headquarters. He had been the Criminal Investigation Department Coordinator for Bulawayo as well as Matabeleland North and South provinces.

Initial speculation in Bulawayo pointed to the Ass Comm having been placed in the infamous Commissioner General’s Pool, where “offending” senior officers are transferred.

The officers assigned to this pool, mostly on political grounds, are forced to carry out demeaning tasks, such as washing cars, intended to frustrate them. Several top officers have been relegated to the pool in the past.

The Zimbabwean has established from sources at PGHQ that Makodza is now the Senior Staff Officer (Crime) at the police national headquarters and it could not be ascertained at the time of going to print if he was ever placed in the pool.

In a telephone interview Makodza denied that he was the owner of Club 40-40, saying it was a joint venture between his wife and her friend. He also dismissed the reported disturbance at the club as a “triviality that should not be pursued and certainly not worth writing about” and refuted speculation that his transfer was punishment.

“The whole incident was overstated. He (Russell) was involved in a small misunderstanding that was amicably resolved. I consider my new position as the Senior Staff Officer at PGHQ as a bigger post than being a CID coordinator, so there is no basis to say that my transfer was a form of punishment,” he said.

Goreraza, whom The Zimbabwean crew visited on Monday at his Harare flat confirmed the incident, but attributed it to a misunderstanding over Makodza’s friend’s lover.

“That was a minor incident that has been misrepresented. People are just speculating over it because I am the son of the First Lady. I only tried to cool tempers down in a quarrel that resulted when Makodza’s partner assigned bouncers to chuck out the lover of Makodza’s friend,” said Goreraza.

He claimed he was part of a team that made a police report that resulted in “several arrests” but said he had not bothered to follow up on the matter because it was trivial.

The First Lady’s son, who professed to be related to Makodza, said the top officer had been transferred to Harare after being promoted to Senior Assistant Commissioner, a claim that turned out to be false.

The Zimbabwean has been trying to make contact with Goreraza for some weeks. He claimed on Monday that he had been bedridden for the past two weeks. But during earlier visits, close sources said he was away.

Probed on why both his mobile contact numbers had been switched off for a long time, Goreraza said: “When I am sick, I don’t want to be bothered, so I switch off my phones. I didn’t even tell my mother.” He said the cold he was “suffering” from had almost killed him.

Sources privy to his personal life said Goreraza’s pregnant wife, Gladys, who now has a boy child aged about three months, had vacated their matrimonial home following incessant harassment and neglect.

“Russell sometimes spent weeks away from home, drinking beer with his friends. About three months ago, he returned to find the wife gone. That is when he started living at this flat. For some time, there was nothing in the house, save for a bed,” said another source, adding that Goreraza was a gold dealer.

The First Lady, said another source, was infuriated by Russell’s treatment of his estranged wife and at one time threatened to disown him, saying he was a disgrace to her. Goreraza dismissed the claim that he had separated from his wife.

“As per our culture, she went to her parents’ home to give birth and she will return in due course. Also, we will be moving into a house in Highlands. The house is being renovated and I can’t take them back now because the baby will be affected by the new paint,” said Goreraza. The Zimbabwean