The family of former Zimbabwean opposition MP Roy Bennett has confirmed that he has applied for asylum in South Africa, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Friday.
The Witness earlier reported that Bennett had claimed his life was in danger from state security forces.
He fled Zimbabwe in March and is currently staying in South Africa after the state-run Zimbabwean Herald newspaper alleged he was linked through the discovery of an arms cache to a plot to topple Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF government.
Bennett’s Gauteng legal consultant, Danie Fourie, said Bennett has applied for the asylum through Lawyers for Human Rights.
On April 9 2004, Bennett was evicted from his farm in the Chimanimani district in defiance of court orders prohibiting acquisition of the farm by the state.
He was sentenced to one year in prison in October 2004 after an incident in May that year when he pushed Justice, Parliament and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the floor during a heated exchange.
Chinamasa had branded Bennett’s father and grandfather as ”thieves and murderers”. — Sapa