Online Reporter
Mthokozisi Ncube
IT started like an ordinary day.
Then came the Messenger of Court.
Suddenly, a Bulawayo businessman who had been moving around town found himself moving in a completely different direction, straight back to Grey Street Prison.
Witnesses say the drama played out like a movie scene on Tuesday along 9TH Avenue between Fife Street and George Silundika Street.
Businessman Andile Victor Nhlamba was approached and served with a Warrant for Civil Imprisonment over an unpaid debt of more than US$11 000.
At first, there was disbelief.
Then came frantic phone calls.
Then came the bargaining.
Finally, according to witnesses, came an unexpected request.
“Ngicela ama Ice Mints,” he reportedly pleaded.
Witnesses said the businessman appeared visibly shaken, sat down as if all the air had suddenly escaped from his body and informed those around him that his sugar levels were dropping.
“He just looked defeated. One moment he was talking confidently, the next he was seated looking like a punctured tractor tyre,” a witness told B-Metro.
Another said: “The phone was busy. Call after call after call. You could see he was trying to organise something quickly.”
But the warrant was already in motion.
Like a bus conductor who has already blown the whistle, the Messenger of Court wasn’t stopping for anyone.
The court order directed authorities to take Nhlamba into custody and detain him until he pays Bulawayo businessman Jordache Derek Saudan a judgment debt of US$11 220 plus costs, or until the 90-day civil imprisonment period expires.
This marks Nhlamba’s second trip to Bulawayo Central Prison this year under civil imprisonment proceedings.
B-Metro traced the legal saga back to what began as a “profitable trucking venture” in 2024.
According to Saudan, he handed Nhlamba US$10 200 in 2024 after being presented with what appeared to be a promising transport business opportunity.
The trucks, however, never arrived.
The profits also never arrived.
Instead, Saudan claims he received what he describes as a convoy of excuses travelling at high speed in every direction except towards repayment.
Eventually, he approached the courts.
Now here’s where many people get confused.
This is not a criminal case.
Nobody is alleging that Nhlamba was arrested for committing a criminal offence.
This is civil imprisonment, a lawful court process available to judgment creditors seeking to recover money owed to them.
According to Saudan, everything has been done through the courts.
“By law I’m allowed to keep applying for civil imprisonment until the debt is paid. Everything is contained in the warrant,” he said.
Saudan says the costs continue to grow while Nhlamba remains behind bars.
“I actually pay for his upkeep in prison. It’s about US$10 a day and that gets added to what he owes,” he said.
In simple terms, the debt meter keeps ticking.
Nhlamba insists he is being unfairly targeted.
He argues that he has demonstrated willingness to settle the debt and has already paid US$500 towards it.
According to him, the continued imprisonment has gone beyond debt recovery and has become personal.
“This is no longer about legal justice or debt recovery. It has become a vendetta,” he said.
However, Saudan is having none of it.
“Nhlamba is lying through his teeth. I only want my money back. Once the debt is settled, we can both move on,” he said.
Their friendship and business partnership has become a courtroom soap opera complete with missing trucks, mounting debt, prison stays and emergency requests for ice mints.
