BULAWAYO – Siqokoqela Mphoko, the son of the former vice president Phekelezela Mphoko, skipped his father’s burial last Sunday amid a raging feud with his family.

The 45-year-old was conspicuously absent as his father was laid to rest at the family compound in Douglasdale, about 10km southeast of Bulawayo.

Siblings Sikhumbuzo and Siduduzo – both medical doctors – attended the burial.

Questions left for Siqokoqela had not been answered.

Siqokoqela and his father were bought out of their shareholding in Choppies Zimbabwe after a 2017 military coup which ended the latter’s political career.

The two men then differed sharply over how to handle the legal fallout, with Mphoko appearing content with the settlement as his son unsuccessfully pursued lengthy litigation against both Choppies and their former lawyer Welshman Ncube.

Siqokoqela was arrested in August 2022 and subsequently convicted of raping his 12-year-old niece, but the conviction was overturned by the High Court on appeal.

He publicly blamed his father for allegedly instigating his arrest.

In a stunning development, Siqokoqela then claimed that Mphoko’s wife, Laurinda, was not his mother. He claimed to be in possession of a photograph of his real mother which he said he was given by a relative.

The Mphokos said his claims were bogus.

In a letter signed by her lawyers, Laurinda wrote to Siqokoqela insisting she was his biological mother, “but due to reasons best known to yourself, you have estranged yourself and your family from her and the rest of the family.”

Siduduzo and Sikhumbuzo also took to social media to rebuke Siqokoqela, who apparently blocked them.

Siduduzo snapped: “Blocking me will not block the truth. You are disrespectful not only to Mamo and Papai, also to the family of the lady in the photograph. Where does your disrespect end?”

The former vice president also weighed in, lashing Siqokoqela for disowning his family. Mphoko relayed messages through the family lawyer Zibusiso Ncube, accusing his son of dropping out of school and “running away to the United States where he committed a number of crimes until he returned to Zimbabwe accompanied by the police.”

In one of the messages sent through Ncube, and publicly released by Siqokoqela, Mphoko allegedly stated: “If any member of our family dies, don’t set foot here. You are not welcome. Go to Maputo and look for (your) mysterious mother.”