Online Reporter
Dalyn Chigwizura
A BULAWAYO man who beat up his tenant for asking to be refunded US$30 she had paid as rent deposit, has been fined US$140.
Nyangirai Nyanyiwa (68) of Emganwini, apparently one of those legendary misers you only read about but never get to meet in person, found it very painful to part with Everjoy Ndlovu (41)’s deposit and exploded into violence.
He rained punches and slaps on the poor woman and even strangled her.
The incident occurred on 3 June when Ndlovu was packing her belongings and preparing to bid farewell to the house she had rented from Nyanyiwa.
Before saying goodbye, she wanted one small thing: her US$30 deposit.
According to court proceedings at Western Commonage Magistrates’ Court, that request lit a fire under the landlord.
Instead of reaching for his pocket, Nyanyiwa’s scrooge tendencies went into overdrive and he reached for the tenant.
Prosecutor Tafara Dzimbanhete told the court that the pensioner slapped Ndlovu, grabbed her by the collar, squeezed her neck and punched her before pushing her to the ground.
Ndlovu landed face-first on a stone and was dragged around like rag-doll during the confrontation.
She sustained injuries and later sought medical treatment before reporting the matter to the police.
Appearing before magistrate Jeconia Prince Ncube, Nyanyiwa admitted there had been a confrontation but claimed he merely pushed Ndlovu in anger.
“I pushed her and she fell onto a stone,” he told the court.
Trying to soften the blow, Nyanyiwa further claimed he paid Ndlovu US$300 after realising she had been injured.
However, Ndlovu poured cold water on that version of events.
Taking the witness stand, she said no such cash ever landed in her hands.
“He did not give me US$300. His son paid the hospital directly. We never received that money,” she told the court.
In the end, the court was not impressed by Nyanyiwa’s penny-pinching induced violence.
He was convicted of assault and ordered to pay a US$140 fine by 24 July or spend two months behind bars.
