THE late national heroine and Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Shuvai Mahofa succumbed to high blood pressure after she reportedly received reports of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s alleged food poisoning, a close family member has claimed.
“She (Mahofa) was stressed when she learnt that the VP (Mnangagwa) had been poisoned. She was stressed greatly and cried for two hours. Her blood pressure rose dramatically, she then collapsed before we took her to hospital where she was pronounced dead,” Nyengeterai said.
Mahofa, long labelled as top Mnangagwa ally, passed away on Thursday after reportedly battling a litany of ailments that her associates in the ruling party said had been exacerbated by “poison” she reportedly ingested at the Zanu PF annual conference held in Victoria Falls in December 2015.
Both Mahofa and Mnangagwa stand accused of turning Masvingo province into their personal fiefdom and blocking top Zanu PF officials from invading sugarcane plots in the Lowveld.
Other sources claimed that shortly before her death, Mahofa had an altercation with an unnamed person (revealed by reporters as Grace Mugabe) over the phone.
“Late last Sunday, Ben Mahofa realised she had missed 10 calls from a Zanu PF officia (Grace ). When she returned the call, they had a verbal altercation for some two-and-a-half hours,” NewsDay heard.
“The person (believed to be Grace Mugabe)lashed out at Mahofa, accusing the resident minister of blocking her access to Tongaat Hulett sugarcane farms.”
Three weeks ago, First Lady and Zanu PF women’s league chairperson, Grace Mugabe, implored her husband President Robert Mugabe to push the Lands ministry to act decisively on Tongaat Hulett.
Yesterday, chaos marred Mahofa’s burial at the National Heroes’ Acre, as her supporters occasionally disrupted the proceedings by singing and chanting slogans denouncing their rivals, while scores walked out on Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, who presided over the event. newsday
