Online Reporter
Peter Matika, [email protected]
BULAWAYO businesswoman and founder of Miss Rural Zimbabwe, Sipho Mazibuko, was arrested yesterday for disorderly conduct after allegedly attempting to stage an unsanctioned protest outside the Bulawayo magistrates’ court.
Mazibuko, along with Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe title holders and her aides, was picked up by police at around 9am outside the Tredgold Building. The group was bundled into a police van after officers intervened and warned them against proceeding with the illegal demonstration.
Visibly distressed and assisted into the van due to a limp, Mazibuko said she was demanding justice for a 16-year-old girl allegedly raped multiple times by her uncle.
“The witnesses are too scared to testify because the accused’s family has been threatening them. Now the courts say the case might be dismissed if no one comes forward. That’s why I acted,” she said.
According to Mazibuko, the suspect, who is a cross-border truck driver, sexually abused his teenage niece under the guise of spiritually healing the girl’s sick mother. The abuse, reportedly spanning several weeks, came to light in April after Mazibuko was tipped off by a whistle-blower from Mabheleni Village in Mbembesi, Matabeleland North.
She launched her own informal investigations, working with police and mobilising her personal networks to gather evidence. Describing the ordeal as “horrific,” Mazibuko said she could not sit idle while the girl suffered.
Mazibuko took an active role in assisting law enforcement. She said she posed as a potential client, luring the suspect into a trap by pretending to need transport services to South Africa.
She pretended to be a wealthy businesswoman offering him a better life, money, travel, everything. He fell for it.
Mazibuko said the ruse developed into a fake romantic relationship, during which the suspect sent her explicit messages that later formed part of the evidence used to secure his arrest.
Mazibuko also helped ensure the teenage survivor did not drop out of school and is now enrolled at a new institution where she is receiving support.
Both the accused and his mother have since appeared in court and were remanded in custody pending trial.
According to court documents, the first incident occurred on 4 February at about 10pm when the accused arrived from delivering goods from South Africa to locals.
“The complainant was studying in her room when the two accused persons entered the room. The first accused (mother) instructed the complainant to have sexual intercourse with the second accused (the uncle), if she wanted her mother to be healed from the sickness she was suffering from. Out of desperation, the complainant agreed to,” reads part of the court document.
It was stated that the first accused left the room, leaving the complainant to rape the victim.
“He ordered the complainant to lie on the bed and raped her twice,” the document reads.
Thereafter, on every weekend, it was alleged that he would come from his South African base and sexually abuse the complainant.
On March 14, the complainant narrated her ordeal to a relative, who then alerted Mazibuko. Mazibuko came to the complainant’s rescue on March 16. The complainant was referred for medical examination.
