Danisa Masuku
A CENTENARIAN grandmother and her two grandchildren are staring down the barrel of eviction in a bitter family feud over a house in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb.
Gogo Makanani Matsuvuke, who is believed to be over 100 years old, fears she could be thrown out of the home left in her care by her late son, Lisenga Jojo, as a court battle over the property rages.
The elderly woman claims her son entrusted her with overseeing the house before his death, but she now finds herself fighting to remain under the same roof with her two grandchildren.
In her affidavit, Matsuvuke accuses Rose Gumpo, a relative of her late son’s wife, of seeking to evict them from the property and sell the house.
“The late helped Rose acquire a birth certificate,” she said.
She added: “I’m the mother of the deceased Lisenga Jojo, the owner of the house in Cowdray Park suburb. I’m the one who is overseeing the said house as per the deceased’s wish. Rose wants to evict us from the property and sell the house.”
But Gumpo has a different account of the dispute.
Through her lawyer, Ms Nikiwe Tshabalala, she told the court that she had been appointed executrix dative of Jojo’s estate and was seeking possession of the property to facilitate its administration.
“The plaintiff is duly appointed executrix dative of the estate of the late Lisenga Jojo. The property is a house in Cowdray Park suburb. The plaintiff seeks possession of the property. We want occupants to be evicted for proper administration of the property,” she said.
The legal fight has placed the grandmother and her grandchildren in an uncertain position as the competing claims over the family home await the court’s attention.
Will Gogo Matsuvuke and the children be forced to leave the house she says her son entrusted to her, or will the court battle take a different turn?
The matter returns to court on 6 November.
