President Robert Mugabe has suffered another setback as his Defence Minister, Moven Mahachi, became the second cabinet minister to die in a car accident in the past month. He was killed late on Saturday afternoon in Zimbabwe's eastern mountain district of Nyanga.
Mahachi (53) had been one of Mr Mugabe's longest-serving and most trusted allies. In 1975 he helped Mr Mugabe escape Rhodesian authorities by sneaking across the eastern border to Mozambique.
Mr Mugabe was so shaken by Mahachi's death that he cancelled a trip to Indonesia where he was to attend the G-15 summit of leaders of developing countries.
As Defence Minister, Mahachi was an important supporter of Zimbabwe's involvement in the Congo war. Zimbabwe has more than 12,000 troops supporting President Joseph Kabila of the Congo.
In January 1999 Mahachi ordered the arrest of two Zimbabwean journalists who had reported opposition within the army to the Congo war. Army agents severely tortured the two before releasing them.
Mr Mugabe said the torture of the journalists was justified. Despite identification of the torturers and considerable evidence, police have not arrested anyone for the crimes.
Mahachi is the second Zimbabwean cabinet minister to die in a month. Four weeks ago the employment minister, Border Gezi, was also killed in a car accident. Gezi was a key organiser of the invasions of white-owned farms and of violence at election campaigns in rural areas.
Mr Mugabe's ruling party, ZANU-PF, is bitterly divided by rival factions. Harare is full of rumours that the two ministers were victims of assassination plots, not road accidents.
A third cabinet minister left office in recent weeks. The Trade Minister, Mr Nkosana Moyo, resigned three weeks ago, apparently in protest at the violent invasions of factories by Mr Mugabe's war veterans. Such is Mr Mugabe's reputation for vindictiveness that Mr Moyo left the country with his family before faxing his resignation, apparently to avoid retaliation.
The two deaths leave Mr Mugabe without key cabinet allies who could be trusted to carry out the president's policies.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's politics are reaching new heights of tension and violence. Yesterday two members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were found severely beaten but alive, after being abducted by Mr Mugabe's war veterans.
The member of parliament for Matabeleland North, Mr Abednigo Bhebhe, was kidnapped by a gang of war veterans while he was filling his car with petrol. He was beaten unconscious and is recuperating in hospital.
Another MDC member, Mr Joel Sithole, was abducted from the Plumtree area of south-western Zimbabwe on Thursday. He was found late on Saturday and is recovering from injuries.