Woman seeks $500 medical maintenance

Lethokuhle Moyo Court reporter
A BULAWAYO woman wants her enstranged husband to pay for her medical bills saying he was responsible for her paralysis. Sibongile Ngwenya’s backbone was broken following a domestic dispute with her husband Peason Dera. The couple is on separation. Ngwenya, of Queens Park suburb, who was receiving $100 per month in maintenance, applied for the amount to be increased to $165 before magistrate Vivian Ndlovu. She said she was on medical aid but it did not cover all her expenses that include funds for physiotherapy.

“Sometimes I am referred to pharmacies that demand cash for medication. When I don’t have the money I am forced to go back home in pain without medication,” she said.

“In 2012, my husband beat me up and pushed me against the wall. He pushed me again and I fell on the edge of a sofa. I was in pain for some weeks and little did I know that my backbone had broken.”

In response, Dare told the magistrate that he cannot afford to increase the maintenance payment as he earns $343 per month. He said he has other responsibilities that include taking care of his family and mother who has breast cancer. “When I married Ngwenya, she was already paralysed because she was involved in a car accident. She was tossed out of the window during the accident and broke her leg,” he said.

Magistrate Ndlovu ordered Dare to pay Ngwenya $165 with effect from October and advised Dare to approach the court for a downward review when Ngwenya starts working.