Somizi may have to reconsider his decision to visit Zimbabwe as pressure is mounting in the Southern African country to block him from crossing the Limpopo.
The Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe has written to President Emmerson Mnangagwa to intervene and stop Somizi, who is set to grace Harare with his presence this week.
Somizi is contracted to appear as a guest Chef at Garwe Restaurant in Harare.
‘We represent indigenous churches in Zimbabwe and are strongly rooted in our culture and support our revolutionary party It is after we saw an article in our leading paper “Sunday Mail, 31 October edition” that a South African well known gay, Somizi Mhlongo “Some is coming to Zimbabwe to grace the re-opening of Garwe Restaurant on the 4th of November 2021.
The churches grouping believe there are reasonable grounds to block Somizi from entering Zimbabwe, and they accuse him of being a homosexual. “The church is firmly against such an event in a sense that; Somizi is a homosexual; hence according to our People’s driven Constitution, Zimbabwe doesn’t tolerate homosexuality,” part of the letter read.
“Therefore, if we allowed Somizi to come to our land spiritually, we would have been disturbed a lot. We would have physically openly accepted homosexuality in Zimbabwe, affecting our children.”
The church threatened to vote out the ruling party if their request was not met. “This move will also affect our revolutionary party ZANU PF by aggravating the 5 million votes win needed in the next 2023 harmonized elections, for it is publicly known that the ZANU PF party firmly stands against homosexuality,” the group warned the President.
“After reading the article and spreading the message to all our congregations, they all expressed ingratitude and felt vulnerable. We stand firm to announce to you that we don’t support such an event in our land,” the letter concluded.
Zimbabwe is known for its strong stance against homosexuality, and it is illegal to engage in homosexuality and related activities in the country.
Somizi and Garwe Restuarant did not respond to our questions, but the ZANU PF youth league announced Somizi would no longer visit Zimbabwe for the event.
In a statement, the ruling party’s youth leader claimed to have engaged the restaurant owners over Somizi’s visit.
“The scheduled reopening of Garwe Restaurant in Harare is a welcome development in the food industry sector. I have engaged the outlet’s owner, Ms Mandi, expressing our concerns and those by different societal groups over the invitation of one of the highly controversial guests. I am glad to announce that the owner took heed of the great concerns and elected to remove the said ngito (gay person) from the guest list and never to associate themselves with the said character again,” Chirau wrote.
“As a nation we all need to be alert against the encroachment of foreign and uncouth practices that are against the dictates of our morals and constitution. The Youth League remains committed to supporting the birth, growth and sustainability of indigenous businesses. Let us remain resolute in upholding our morals and values,” his statement ended.
After being forced off the TV, the media personality faces a hard time in his professional life due to his abuse allegations towards his estranged husband, Mohale Motaung.