Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, [email protected]
AN elderly couple from Mavava Village in Tsholotsho shed tears when their granddaughter, who had been kidnapped by a maid at the age of 11, was spotted last year in a village 20km away, four years after her abduction.
The tears were both of joy and anger — joy because their granddaughter was alive, and anger because the kidnapper, Fortunate Sibanda, had disappeared and was believed to have sneaked into Botswana. The girl, whom we will call “Sinqobile Dube”, has an intellectually challenged mother.
After abducting the young girl, Fortunate took her to Murewa in Mashonaland East, where she had allegedly found a husband. The young girl was forced to provide cheap labour, such as herding cattle and fetching water. A Saturday Chronicle news crew travelled to Mavava Village to speak to the grandparents, Bartholomew and Elizabeth Hadebe, who did not hide their anguish at what had befallen them.
“For all those four years, we never knew peace as we didn’t know if our granddaughter was alive or not. We tried everything humanly possible, including going to Binga to engage traditional healers,” said Hadebe.
He said they were naturally happy that their granddaughter had returned home alive but still had many unanswered questions.
“The woman has not been arrested yet, and the police keep telling us that they are carrying out investigations, but for how long? We also don’t know what they did to our granddaughter; no experts examined her to find out if she was sexually violated or not,” said Hadebe.
Hadebe said they were keen to know how their granddaughter was issued with a birth certificate by a Tsholotsho Civil Registry official (name supplied).
The emotional but dramatic incident led to the discovery of a forged Magama Primary School admission record, which was used in the issuance of Sinqobile’s birth certificate, now bearing a different name.
The documentation process had been well executed until a cross-border transporter, popularly known as umalayitsha, identified the young girl at Ngqoya Village, where she was now working as a maid but staying with one Alice Sibanda, who was said to be her ‘grandmother.’
The kidnapper had left for Botswana to look for employment, but the initial idea was to go with Sinqobile. The stumbling block became the passport, which she did not have.
“Her real family was consulted, and a report was made to the police. Upon investigation, her ‘new’ grandmother produced the birth certificate, which had been acquired from the Tsholotsho Civil Registry Department,” said a source.
When the identity document was submitted to the Civil Registry Department for verification, a startling discovery was made: the school admission record had been forged. Registry officials, according to a source, retrieved the file and forwarded it to the district education offices. Records indicated that the young girl was enrolled at Magama Primary School in Ntulani Village, approximately 10 kilometres from the Tsholotsho Business Centre. However, the school headmaster, Victor Malaba, denied any involvement. While the signature on the document appeared to be his, he insisted it was neither his signature nor his handwriting. He attributed it to a teacher at his school.
Malaba confirmed the forgery case when Saturday Chronicle contacted him.
“The signature was supposedly mine, but it wasn’t. I quickly noticed that the handwriting was that of my senior teacher, who also confirmed and confessed,” said Malaba, who was on a Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) assignment at the time the offence was committed.
The admission number assigned to the girl belonged to a student already enrolled at the school. Sisasenkosi never attended classes there.
A source revealed that Alice Sibanda, whose name and signature appeared on the affidavit claiming Sisasenkosi as her niece, was apprehended by the police and fined for providing false information. Despite insisting on her illiteracy, Sibanda admitted that Fortune had given her money to deliver to someone at the registry offices, who would then handle the paperwork.
In July this year, a Civil Registry Department staffer at Tsholotsho registry offices resigned after bribery claims were laid against him by several clients, mostly diasporans.
This marked the second resignation within a month and the third within a year, sparking calls for a lifestyle audit of current and former registry office staff. Many of these employees are alleged to own substantial assets, including cars and houses, with one reportedly constructing a 14-room mansion in Tsholotsho.
The Saturday Chronicle even interviewed clients who confirmed paying bribes ranging from 300 to 400 rand to a specific registry office employee.
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