adminWhinsley Masara Chronicle Reporter
A BULAWAYO family was left in the open yesterday after the messenger of court evicted them from their home after their mother was allegedly duped of the property by some lawyers using forged documents.
Businesswoman, Effie Dewa, who claims ownership of the house in Queens Park East, said she and her family spent the whole day seated outside with their household goods after the messenger of court chucked them out and locked the gate. A new family had moved in by the time a Chronicle news crew arrived at the Queens Park East house.
Dewa said the house rightfully belonged to her. She said she was duped into surrendering the property in 2007 after she allegedly swapped the house for a restaurant with a man identified as Given Nyathi who is now in prison.
She said Nyathi is in prison for exchanging the same restaurant which did not belong to him adding that they did not process any paperwork after discovering that Nyathi was not the owner of the restaurant.
“I only found out through the original owner of the restaurant that Nyathi swindled me of my house using a restaurant that didn’t belong to him. What happened is, in 2007, I swapped the house for a restaurant with Nyathi but we didn’t complete any paper work. It was just a verbal agreement.”
“Nyathi then went behind my back with his girlfriend, Sibangani Mzizi, and they connived and stole title deeds from my lawyers. They also forged signatures. I’ve the forged documents with me which was proved by forensics in Harare that they faked my signature,” said Dewa.
The matter involving Dewa’s fight over the house’s title deeds with a local law firm is before the courts. Dewa said when she was evicted from the restaurant she went straight to her lawyers to collect her title deeds only to be shocked when they told her that the papers were missing.
“After investigating the matter, I found out that the deeds were now belonging to Nyathi’s girlfriend, Sibangani, in 2010. The two had already relocated to the United Kingdom and the house, according to the papers, now belonged to the Dliwayo family who have been instated in the house by the messenger of court. The last time I was evicted I didn’t go anywhere and even today I’ll not leave this house because it rightfully belongs to me,” she said.
The purported new owner, Sibongile Dliwayo, said Dewa just appeared at that house beginning of March claiming to be the owner.
“I fully claim that house because I bought it from Vaina Moyo through Cheda and Partners in 2013. Moyo also bought the house from Mzizi through Cheda Company.
I only accommodated this family because they confronted me in an intimidating manner. I didn’t know what else to do. Dewa came to my house in the company of men wearing Zanu-PF regalia and threatened me. After realising that she was getting comfortable in my house, I went to the courts and had her evicted by end of March,” she said.
Dliwayo said Dewa resisted eviction and returned into the house yesterday afternoon.
Online Reporter