Online Reporter
B-Metro Reporter
“HE was never my Ben 10!” fumed socialite and mental health champion Sipho Mazibuko (52), after Facebook gossip pages exploded with claims she was romantically involved with a suave young man, who allegedly wiped over US$5 600 from her safe and vanished like smoke.
But B-Metro can reveal this is no bedroom drama. It is a full-blown courtroom thriller complete with trust betrayal, fake degrees, sob stories and a climax that ends with the accused locked inside a safe room like a low-budget action movie villain.
According to court papers filed under CR117/ 06/ 25, Courage Leonard Ngwenya (25) faces two charges of theft and fraudulent conversion of trust property under the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23.
In the first charge, Ngwenya is accused of stealing US$2 817 in cash between June 1 and June 9, 2025, from Thandazo Retail located at 6th Avenue and Fort Street, Bulawayo. The money allegedly belonged to Sipho Mazibuko and was taken from a safe, which Ngwenya had access to.
The second count is more damning. On June 4, Ngwenya reportedly received US$3 730 in rental income on Sipho’s behalf and was expected to hand over the cash after making some payments.
Instead, he allegedly converted the full amount to personal use, failed to account for the money and refused to return it upon demand.
Total damage? A whopping US$5 604 allegedly siphoned by a man Sipho had trusted like family. Or as she now calls him, “a fake son turned snake.”
“I met him around two years ago when he approached me as a youth farmer and aspiring entrepreneur. He said he needed mentorship and shared this heart-breaking story about how his mom disappeared because of an abusive alcoholic father,” she wrote in a now-viral Facebook post. “I believed him. I treated him like a son.”
According to Sipho, the young man wormed his way into her life just as she was recovering from a tragedy. Her long-time manager had died by suicide after facing gender-based violence. Courage offered to help and was soon handling accounts, managing events at Lavinia Gardens and working with her Mental Voices Trust.
“I didn’t verify his qualifications. He claimed he had a degree in accounting from Lupane State University. I trusted him. I even made him a model for my Miss Rural Zimbabwe magazine.”
But then, Sipho says, the glow-up began.
He went from second-hand jeans to designer suits. No shirts underneath. Fancy loafers. A walking thirst trap charming aunties, ministers and even calling her mother. Worse still, he started nagging for her phone password.
“I should have seen the red flags,” Sipho admits. “He was suddenly everywhere like a one-man delegation. But I was blinded by loyalty.”
It all came crashing down when Sipho checked her safe one weekend and found it empty. Her blood pressure sky-rocketed and she was rushed to Mater Dei Hospital. The betrayal, she says, was worse than the theft.
Ngwenya was caught in the most Sipho way possible.
“I lured him into the safe room, locked it from outside and called the police. He was arrested while pacing like a trapped mouse.”
When searched, police reportedly found him with betting slips from MWOS and a suspicious stash of cash.
Ngwenya, who arrived at Tredgold Magistrates’ Court with a top lawyer admitted part of the charges and was granted US$200 bail.
“He even introduced me to his long-lost parents after saying they were dead for years,” said Sipho. “That is when I knew I was dealing with a professional con artist.”
Now, she is warning others not to be too trusting.
“My daughter once told me, ‘Your heart is a refugee camp.’ She was right. Courage lived in that camp, plotted his heist then struck. That camp, she says, has been shut down. Locks changed. Keys thrown far away.”
She says she is hiring a private investigator, doing background checks on everyone and staying manless and focused.
“Ladies, this was not love. This was betrayal wearing a necktie and fake cologne. Watch your phones, your wallets and your hearts.”
