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Herald Reporter

THE trending story of people going to have their toes cut in exchange for up to US$40 000 is false and misleading, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister, Kindness Paradza, has said.

He said this at the former Ximex Mall in Harare yesterday after visiting the place to check on his own if it was true that people were selling their toes.

“As Government we did research on this issue and we realised it is false. These are social media reports aimed at tarnishing the image of the country,” said Deputy Minister Paradza.

He said he had interacted with some dealers who assured him that there was no such phenomenon at the former Ximex Mall.

All the dealers that interacted with Deputy Minister Paradza said they had all their toes, but they confirmed that many people were frequenting their place from as far as Bindura, enquiring on how they could have their toes cut for money.

“We are not involved in the alleged cutting of peoples’ toes here. Our deals are straightforward, we sell various gadgets and if someone sees my car there, they think I got it after having my toe cut,” said one of the dealers.

Others removed their shoes to prove that they have all their toes, and they have challenged each other to come to town with open shoes and slops on Saturday to demonstrate that they have all the toes. 

Zimbabwe has been awash with news that people were buying top-of-the range vehicles after having their toes cut.

The “transactions” remained largely shrouded in secrecy and no one was really coming forward to say they sold their toes.

Similarly, no one came forward to say they were in the business of buying toes, except one dealer at the former Ximex who claimed to be an agent of buyers, but turned around the following day to say he had made the utterances under the influence of alcohol and didn’t know that the media was recording him.