adminGrace Kaerasora
He is a man of two distinct and interesting characters. In the few hours of sobriety, he is a hard worker and repairs commuter omnibus slide doors with a level of excellence his customers rave about.But when in a drunken stupor – which is more often than not – he is what one might call a lout or a nuisance. In the grip of toxic substances, Victor Makurumidze (29) recently slapped a one year-eight-month-old toddler in the face at Makoni Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza.
The little boy had called Makurumidze by his nickname: “Bhebhe”. It is a name Makurumidze seems to fervently hate.
After the slap, more drama was to unfold. When the toddler’s mother – Memory Magamu – came to the rescue of her son, she was baptised with an avalanche of vulgarities by Bhebhe, whose other nickname is Bheshinga. Magamu made a police report leading to Makurumidze’s arrest. The courts sentenced him to a fine of US$50 or 30 days imprisonment should he fail to pay.
Asked by Chitungwiza magistrate Ms Precious Muzondo to explain his actions, Bhebhe replied in a dragging, low tone, face cast down: “I usually do not know what will be happening (when drunk).”
Joe Samhungu, a peer of Makurumidze’s, knows his pal well.
He told The Sunday Mail: “He is a hard worker and a great person, when sober.” Things change when he is well oiled. From what Samhungu says about Bhebhe, there is little room to doubt that the chap will drink, inhale, sniff and perhaps even bathe in just about anything that gives him a “high”.
The unmarried Bhebhe stays with his brother and sister-in-law. His brother’s wife, Grace Makurumidze, astonishingly speaks glowingly of Bhebhe’s love for children.
“Bhebhe loves children. I stay with him, my husband – who is his elder brother – and our two children. If there is anything Victor loves, it is playing with our children,” she says.
So what of attacking a toddler for merely calling him by his nickname, admittedly a nickname he has no love for?
“When I heard about his assault of a one-year-old at his workplace I just could not believe it. I suspect there was friction between the boy’s mother and Victor. Bhebhe is a responsible man who shies away the next morning when he comes home drunk.
“I know he has his moments and becomes vulgar when he gets drunk, but apart from that he is not a violent person.”
Memory Magamu, the mother of the assaulted boy, tells a different story. Taking a break from selling paint and soft drinks from a tuckshop at Makoni Shopping Centre, she tells us: “He came here wanting to buy a cigarette and when my son called him by his nickname, as does everyone, he slapped him hard in the face.”
She shudders as she says this. But Bhebhe’s workmate Noah Zindi has his own version: “Bhebhe did not slap the boy, but lifted his hand and leg simultaneously, an act which made the child cry. The cry probably annoyed Memory.”
Efforts to speak to Bhebhe amidst reports that he has been in police custody since December 23. A check at the Chitungwiza Magistrates’ Courts indicates the man had not deposited the US$50 fine and could thus be doing his 30-day stretch as a “guest of the State”.
The Sunday Mail gathers that Bhebhe grew up with his grandmother in Rusape and is a regular in many bars at Makoni Shopping Centre.
Online Reporter