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SA publisher 'bankrolls' Makoni
14/03/2008 11:43 - (SA)
Harare - State media in Zimbabwe on Friday accused prominent South Africa-based newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube of donating R300 000 to President Robert Mugabe's rival Simba Makoni two weeks ahead of scheduled parliamentary polls.
Zimbabwe's official Herald newspaper said it had obtained documents showing that Ncube made the payment on February 26 through a South African bank in order to provide campaign materials for Makoni, Mugabe's former finance minister.
It was unclear how the Herald obtained the documents. Ncube, a Zimbabwean who also published two of the country's only three remaining private newspapers: the Standard and the Independent, denied the claims, the paper reported.
Zimbabwe's electoral laws made it an offence for parties to receive foreign funding.
The newspaper said another man believed to be a South African national made a payment of R20 000 to the Makoni campaign on the same day.
"It does appear that you are on a fishing expedition who I am likely to vote for. May I remind you that my vote is a secret," Ncube said.
Mugabe, who had been in power here since 1980, would face Makoni and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change in the March 29 polls.
Sapa-dpa
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