Ukhozi FM radio host Zimiphi Biyela is living in fear after she slammed the police in KwaZulu Natal for being trigger-happy. Zimdollar, as she is fondly called, made the remark live on air last month after a supposed criminal was gunned down in a shootout with the police.
The radio star who hails from a family that is in the taxi business hired private security as bodyguards to safeguard her. She hired bodyguards last month soon after she made the contentious comments. “We were shocked when she showed up at work with bodyguards. We know that her family is in the taxi business but no one anticipated her to have bodyguards. we think that was a bit overboard, I doubt the police are after her or even want to hurt her,” the source said, adding that the bodyguards drop her at work and pick her up when she finishes.
On Saturday, during the funeral of Warrant Officer Sithembiso Mazibuko, Police Minister Bheki Cele blasted Zimdollar for the comments she made about the police and blamed her for the officer’s death. Mazibuko was part of the National Intervention Unit (NIU) and was killed during a shootout between the police and criminals. Mazibuko and his team acted on intelligence they had received about the location of wanted suspects, including one that was linked to 12 murders of the public police forum members in Ntuzuma.
Zimdollar accused the police of always having an excuse to shoot and kill suspects and later claimed that they were being shot at. “Why are they always shot at? We are not kids there is an order issued for cops to kill people. Innocent people end up dying,” she said during her show. She went on to blame the police for the deaths of her two brothers, whom she claims were also killed by members of NIU.
At Mazibuko’s funeral, Cele said:,“There is a girl called Zimdollar who went on radio and yapped, yapped as she liked. She said everyone was scared of NIU and that people should stop being scared of the unit, in other words, she was saying criminals should kill our members, she made a call and it happened. She must be happy now,” Cele said. The minister says that the presenter used a national asset, the SABC to be a mouthpiece for criminals. “I challenge the SABC to tell me what they think of Zimdollar statement,” he added.