By Victor Fanuel
TSHOLOTSHO — Suspected state security agents, accompanied by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and uniformed soldiers, violently disrupted a Parents Teachers Association (PTA), meeting organised by the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ).
The PTA was being held at Tsholotsho Business Centre on 15 March 2026, in what union officials say is part of an escalating crackdown on dissent linked to the controversial Agenda 2030 constitutional push.
Agenda 2030 is a political push that seeks to extend presidential and parliamentary terms by two years through constitutional amendments, skeptics have argued to be unconstitutional.
According to a press statement released by ARTUZ on 16 March, the meeting was focused on the right to education and the State’s obligation to adequately fund the education sector, including paying competitive wages to teachers and reviewing the conditions of service under the existing framework.
Participants were also discussing the government’s mandate to finance public education and the need to review the current collective bargaining structures, which teachers say have failed to address deteriorating salaries and working conditions.
The union said the meeting, held under the structure of a PTA engagement, was abruptly disrupted by armed personnel believed to be state agents.
“Suspected State agents in the company of confirmed members of Zimbabwe Republic Police disrupted our membership meeting at Tsholotsho Business Center,” the union said in the statement.
“The rogue characters tortured our leaders Cde Vusa and Cde Hudson.
“Our leaders were pressed to reveal the whereabouts of ARTUZ President Obert Masaraure,” further read the statement.
ARTUZ said its president, Obert Masaraure, narrowly escaped the attack after being reassigned to another programme at the last minute.
“The President (Masaraure), is reportedly being hunted down by State agents in Tsholotsho,” the statement added, describing the incident as “barbarism from the State.”
Witnesses who attended the meeting said the gathering was discussing the right to education and the State’s responsibility to ensure schools are properly funded when armed personnel stormed the venue and began interrogating organisers.
An ARTUZ leader who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said the attack was linked to the union’s opposition to the Agenda 2030 campaign.
“The organization and its leaders are now being targeted to try and silence their objection to 2030.
“Any form of public gathering is now being treated as a political threat, especially when it questions government policy on education and constitutional changes,” the official said.
ARTUZ has been one of the most vocal labour organisations opposing the proposed constitutional amendments, which critics say undermine democratic term limits and violate the spirit of the Constitution.
In its statement the union further alleged that the Tsholotsho incident reflects a wider pattern of repression.
“The recent disruption of a union meeting in Tsholotsho, where our members were brutally assaulted is not an incident.
“It is an attempt by those in power to crush our resistance.
“The Union sees the ‘Third Term’ ambition and proposed constitutional changes, the 2030 agenda, as an attack on democracy,” the union said.
The union also said teachers remain trapped in poverty while government officials enjoy privileges, reiterating demands for a salary of US$1,260, a functional collective bargaining platform, and alignment of labour laws with constitutional protections for workers’ rights.
Human rights observers say the use of security forces to break up meetings discussing education policy raises serious concerns about violations of the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and access to education as guaranteed under the Constitution.
The Tsholotsho incident comes weeks after the violent assault on constitutional law expert and opposition leader professor Lovemore Madhuku.
Madhuku’s attack widely condemned by civil society groups as part of growing political intolerance ahead of debates around constitutional changes.
ARTUZ said it is preparing a formal complaint to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage and will pursue legal action against the officers allegedly involved in the assault.
“We demand accountability for the attack on our members and an end to the harassment of unionists,” the union said, adding that it will also engage regional and international allies to expose what it called “regime violence against educators and citizens defending the Constitution.”
