Online Reporter
Court Correspondent
The trial of a Harare man accused of kidnapping and assaulting a former workmate has continued at the Harare Magistrates Court with the State calling its last witness before the suspect was put to his defence.
A seventeen-year-old witness (name withheld), who is the brother of the complainant, Mr David Matanda, testified in camera as he is still a juvenile at law.
The suspect, Simbarashe Emmanuel Martin Rondozai, then took the stand where he fielded questions from his lawyer, Mr Oliver Marwa of Tabana and Marwa Legal Practitioners.
Rondozai denied ever kidnapping Matanda and disputed evidence led by the complainant and two State witnesses, Mubaiwa and Matanda’s wife Catherine Satande.
Rondozai said he was arrested at his residence and was later told about the kidnapping allegations.
He said police told him that the complainant had identified him through a black mark on his face.
Rondozai said he had a different facial mark which was surgically removed in 2005.
He admitted that Matanda was once his subordinate at work but said the complainant’s direct supervisor was Lancelot Muswere.
Rondozai questioned how the complainant crossed the crocodile-infested Limpopo River into self-imposed exile in South Africa.
The trial continues today before Harare magistrate Mr Tapiwa Kuhudzai.
Testifying in an earlier court hearing, Matanda’s wife Satande said the suspect and four other men posed as law enforcement officers before abducting her husband.
Under cross-examination by Mr Marwa Satande, she said that, based on the misrepresentation, she believed the suspects were genuine police officers and therefore did not report the alleged kidnapping to police.
Rondozai (38) is alleged to have kidnapped and assaulted Matanda (35) in May last year in a bid to stop him from revealing fraudulent activities at a local security company.
The complainant worked under the supervision of the suspect for eight years.
Satande said although she could not remember the specific date of the alleged abduction, she was certain that it happened in May 2025.
Satande said she witnessed her husband being taken away in a silver Honda Fit vehicle from their Chitungwiza residence.
Satande insisted that her husband fled to South Africa because he feared for his life, adding that during his time in self-imposed exile, Matanda would use an aunt’s phone to communicate with her.
She said one of the suspects who assaulted her husband before bundling him into the car was sporting a beard.
Asked how she managed to fend for the children during her husband’s flight, Satande said she got assistance from relatives.
According to prosecutors, Rondozai committed the offence in an attempt to cover up misappropriation of funds at the security company.
Rondozai is alleged to have committed the offence together with four other suspects who are still at large.
According to the State outline, Matanda returned from South Africa on December 16, 2025 and finally made a police report on February 19, 2026.
Meanwhile, Rondozai is facing a separate charge of defrauding another local company, Wellcash Debt Collectors, of nearly US$11 000 in 2024.
He allegedly failed to remit to the company, money recovered from debtors on behalf of creditors.
Rondozai allegedly transferred some of the embezzled money to his unsuspecting mother.
The matter is pending before Harare Provincial Magistrate Ms Ruth Moyo and will be back in court on October 10.
