Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
MORE than 19 months after his wife allegedly left their Cowdray Park home with their seven children and cut off contact, Bulawayo resident Mr Richard Ndebele says he continues to live with the agony of not knowing how they are surviving.
Are they eating well? Are they going to school? What are they wearing? Are they happy?
These are questions that have haunted the 56-year-old Cowdray Park man since February last year, when his wife allegedly left their family home with all seven children and cut off contact.
For 17 years, Mr Ndebele says, his life revolved around working hard to provide for his family.
A construction worker by profession, he says everything he did was motivated by a desire to build a comfortable home for his wife and children.
His children, his eldest daughter, now 17, five boys and a four-year-old girl, were the centre of his world.
Today, Mr Ndebele says he has not seen any of them for more than a year and a half.
“It’s not easy going for over a year and a half without seeing my kids. I have no idea whether they are happy, what they wear and what they eat,” he said.
According to Mr Ndebele, the family’s life changed suddenly on the evening of February 13 last year.
He says he returned home from work expecting to find his family, only to discover that his wife, 36-year-old Sigcinokuhle Siziba, and their children were gone.
Their clothes had been taken too.
“I had no idea why she had decided to leave our home and disappear with my kids, so I called her, but the phone was switched off,” he said.
Like many families, Mr Ndebele acknowledges that he and his wife had disagreements, but insists they had never reached a point where he expected her to leave the family home.
“Like every couple, we have misunderstandings, but they had never been escalated to a position where she packs her bags and leaves the family home,” he said.
“For the record, I did not physically abuse my wife or keep her in the dark about the family finances.”
Mr Ndebele said he had been responsible for providing for the family, including paying school fees for the children.
His eldest daughter was attending Form Three at a private college in Cowdray Park, while the younger children were enrolled at Tategulu Primary School.
Mr Ndebele said he initially approached the police, hoping they could help locate his family.
He claims he was advised that a missing persons report could only be made after 48 hours.
In the days that followed, his wife’s phone became reachable again, but he says she did not answer his calls.
Eventually, he discovered that his wife and children were still in Cowdray Park.
“I later got to find out that she had rented a single room in Cowdray Park, not far from our family home and the kids were still going to school,” said Mr Ndebele.
He said attempts to engage his wife’s relatives and resolve the family dispute were unsuccessful.
According to Mr Ndebele, he was also informed that authorities could not compel his wife to return to the matrimonial home.
But just when he believed there was still a chance of resolving the impasse, the family allegedly moved again.
When schools closed for the April holidays in 2025, Mr Ndebele claims his wife left Bulawayo with the children and relocated to her rural home in Ntepe, Gwanda.
He says he only realised that the children had left Bulawayo when school authorities informed him that they had not returned when the second term began.
“I only discovered that the kids were no longer attending school when the headmaster at Tategulu Primary School informed me that they had not set foot there when schools opened for the second term,” said Mr Ndebele.
Through a mutual friend, Mr Ndebele says he later learnt that his family had relocated to Ntepe.
He claims to have written to police in the area, informing them that his children had been taken away without his consent, but says he is yet to receive feedback.
Now, with the separation stretching beyond a year and a half, Mr Ndebele says he is prepared to pursue every avenue available to reunite with his children.
His next step, he says, is to approach traditional leaders in Ntepe in the hope that they can help mediate between him and his estranged wife.
Despite the lengthy separation, he insists he has not given up on his family.
“I honestly have no idea why my wife would just pack her bags and abandon our home, although
I’m still willing to forgive her and move on with our lives,” said Mr Ndebele.
He is also considering approaching organisations that deal with child welfare for assistance in re-establishing contact with his children.
Numerous efforts to contact Ms Siziba for comment on the allegations made by Mr Ndebele were unsuccessful as the mobile number provided was unreachable.
