Ex-Minister in bar brawl with prostitute

PLUMTREE –  A married former deputy minister from the MDC led by Welshman Ncube picked up a bar stool and threatened a hooker in a nasty bar brawl according to media reports. 

Mr Lutho Tapela, a former Senator (MDC) and Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, had to be pulled away from the prostitute in a crowded bar in Plumtree, witnesses said.

The hooker, named only as Anele, had a previous run-in with the minister, according to regulars at the 4Js Bar and Restaurant. They were both ordered out of the bar. A source told the state owned Chronicle newspaper:

“Mr Tapela proposed love to Anele while he was having a relationship with her sister who is also a sex worker. That angered Anele who started accusing Mr Tapela of infecting her sister with a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and being immature.

“The two have been constantly having misunderstandings since then and some of them in public.”

Things came to a boil last Sunday when Mr Tapela met Anele in the bar and accused her of being a “loose woman”.

“Anele was at the bar and she was playing around with a man who was sitting close to Mr Tapela,” another witness is quoted by the paper as saying.

“Mr Tapela started accusing her of being a drunk and a loose woman who had bedded several men.

“They exchanged harsh words and Mr Tapela threatened to beat her up. He picked up one of the bar stools to hit her but she ran out of the bar just as other patrons moved in to calm Mr Tapela.”

A manager at the bar, who cannot be named as he was not cleared to talk to reporters, said:

“I just received reports of the incident from staff members that were on duty on the day as I was not around. Some customers have even approached me to complain about the behaviour of Mr Tapela who they say was fighting with Anele in public again.

“We experienced another incident involving him and the same woman sometime last year. They caused a scene at the bar with their fighting and I had to intervene as they were disturbing customers with their shouting. I had to order them out of the bar.”

He said Mr Tapela was a regular at the bar. Mr Tapela said the incident was a “stupid issue”. He declined to comment further.