The woman at the centre of a land takeover row in Zimbabwe said she is a long standing friend of President Jacob Zuma.

Dr Arikana Chihombori is distantly related to Prime Mister Morgan Tsvangirai's late wife Susan and President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace.

Her attempt to take over a farm in Zimbabwe has caused the MDC some embarrassment because the party has spoken out against chaotic land seizures.

Chihombori told award-winning Zimbabwean journalist Geoffrey Nyarota she met Zuma at the University of KwaZulu-Natal many years ago.

She said she maintained contact with him and that was why she was invited to his inauguration in May.

Chihombori is understood to have dropped her attempt to take over the farm though she said she was trying to take it over for her 63-year-old sister.

Eyewitness News

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