Chronicle Editor
Lumbidzani Dima, Chronicle Reporter
TEN months in prison have been draining and frustrating for Wayne Ncube, but he has had to endure it all in his best behaviour so that eight months down the line, he is released.
The thought of his wife, also his high school sweetheart, having to take care of their son alone while she’s unemployed is what makes him regret his crime to the fullest. The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) reformatory approach to inmates allowed the couples love to transcend prison walls last week.
Inmates are housed in an atmosphere that is conducive for mental growth and are imbued with life skills that may sustain them on being released, while making it easier for them to be reintegrated into society. The approach is also aimed at reducing the incidence of repeat offenders in the system.
Catching up with the happy family who were braaing and enjoying quality time at Bulawayo Prison last Sunday, the 27-year-old inmate told the Chronicle that he appreciates the family week which was reintroduced by the (ZPCS) last week, as it gave him an opportunity to see his son and wife in a relaxed setting.
Ncube said he is ashamed of the crime that sent him to prison. He stole money from their tenant in his family house at Magwegwe North suburb in Bulawayo.
“I cannot even open my mouth and say out loud the amount of money I stole. I woke up feeling like the money I get from my hairdressing is not enough, so I just entered our tenant’s bedroom and stole his money without thinking twice. I do not know why I was a suspect, but when the police came, they said they wanted to search my bedroom first before going further, and they found the money as it was in one place,” he said.
Ncube said his wife was shocked at the fact that her high school sweetheart had done such an embarrassing thing. When Ncube stole, he was staying with his wife whom they have dated since their high school days, and their six-year-old son.
His wife, Ms Rumbidzai Gumbo (25) said she would wake up early in the morning for seven consecutive days just to spend quality time with her lover.
She said she knows that her husband pleaded guilty and the money was found in their bedroom, but she still does not believe that the man who she has known since her early teenage years could be a thief.
“I still cannot believe that my own Wayne has it in him to take something that does not belong to him without asking for permission. We have been together as a couple since I was young, he is my high school sweetheart.
I know him so well that he can’t steal, I really do not know what had gotten into him,” said Ms Gumbo.
She said when her husband was convicted, the situation at home became difficult, she could not handle it at all. “I stayed for a short period trying to take care of my son alone, and I could not handle the pressure.
I then went back to my family who stay at Magwegwe North as well, I will go back home when he is released from jail,” said Ms Gumbo. She said the toughest position she has been in is telling their son where his father is.
She said she was forced to lie to him that his dad has gone to work in South Africa.
“Even as we come to visit him in prison for the family week, I told my son that your father is here for a week and he cannot come home, so we will be visiting him somewhere. As innocent as he is, he believed and is very happy to see his ‘South African based’ father in whites,” said Ms Gumbo.
She said during these ten months when Ncube was in prison, she has managed to sway away from any temptations.
“I do not get time to fall for temptations because all I think of is this man who is locked up in jail. I even know that haters are watching, and waiting for me to make a slight mistake which I will not do. I’m a principled woman and I will never fall prey for any scavengers out there,” said Ms Gumbo. She said she knows that she is his pillar of strength, therefore she will try by all means to always be there for him, encouraging him.
Online Reporter