Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve
A SHOCKING case of infidelity, harassment and ethnic slurs has emerged in Victoria Falls, where a local woman has been convicted and sentenced after she carried on an affair with a married man before unleashing a torrent of abusive insults on his wife.
Brilliant Hlatshwayo (36), of Chinotimba, appeared before Victoria Falls Magistrate Linda Dzvene, charged with cyber bullying and harassment as defined in section 164(b) of the Cyber and Data Protection Act.
While the court had just heard the case of cyber bullying and the insults according to the outline of the case by Prosecutor Portia Moyo, it was during the Victim Impact Assessment that the victim, Mufaro Dondo narrated the shocking case of infidelity.
Brilliant is said to have repeatedly sneaked into the home of Mufaro Dondo while the latter was at work as a schoolteacher, spending illicit hours with her husband.
The affair was eventually discovered, leading to heated confrontations. However, instead of backing down, Hlatshwayo escalated the conflict by sending Mufaro a vicious voice note laced with ethnic insults and crude personal attacks.
Dondo in tears narrated how she was broken by not only having his husband snatched away, but by the insults she received from the snatcher.
“I am in pain. This has really broken me down. Each time I go to work, the accused will come to my house and spend time with my husband,” she narrated while crying.
The prosecutor told the court that on 12 June 2025 and at a house number in Chinotimba, Victoria Falls, through WhatsApp messenger, Brilliant unlawfully and intentionally generated and sent a voice message to Mufaro. The unprintable slur is a graphic description of the rear opening of Mufaro and her grandmother’s alimentary canals. The message is heavily laced with tribal connotations and the court deemed it was sent with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, bully or cause substantial distress, or to degrade, humiliate or demean Mufaro.
“The message was not only deeply offensive but also appeared designed to intimidate, humiliate and further distress Mufaro, who was already reeling from the betrayal,” said the magistrate.
In a stern rebuke, Magistrate Dzvene sentenced Hlatshwayo to six months’ imprisonment, with three months suspended for five years on good behaviour.
The remaining three months were conditionally suspended, pending 105 hours of community service at the Victoria Falls Magistrates Court.
