adminHlabile Dube Court Reporter
A WIFE-BEATING thug attacked a Chronicle snapper who took his picture as he left the Tredgold Magistrate Courts in Bulawayo. Bulky Peoson Dera, a security guard at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), on Thursday charged at reporter Mbuso Nkalakatha and photographer Obey Sibanda shortly after being charged with a brutal attack on his wife which left her unable to walk.
He sprinted up a flight of stairs and reached the pair before they could react.
Nkalakatha said the furious Dera tried to grab his camera and when he failed, he hit him with a haymaker that almost knocked him out.
“He blindsided me and hit me on the left ear. It was a heavy blow that brought tears to my eyes and left me seeing stars.
“I staggered and as I tried to get away from him, he kicked me on my buttocks with his steel-toe safety shoe. I staggered and regained my balance,” said Nkalakatha, who is not a small man.
Business came to a standstill as people from offices on the first floor rushed out to watch Dera hurling obscenities at the journalists.
A police officer came to the news crew’s rescue and took the trio to the police post at Tredgold.
“His wife struggled to follow. It would have been funny if it had not been scary. The police let Dera go before I could press charges. I still managed to open a case for assault. I have been to hospital to get a medical report but doctors at Mpilo Central Hospital said I should return on Monday,” said Nkalakatha.
He said he could hardly chew food with the left side of his jaw because it was still painful.
Dera had appeared earlier before magistrate Vimbai Mtukwa where his estranged wife, Sibongile Ngwenya, had dragged him for a garnish order as he was said to be defaulting on maintenance for her upkeep.
Ngwenya begged the court to grant her the garnish order to avoid any contact with Dera.
She told court: “Your worship, I always go through a tough time with this man, he no longer supports me and I’m struggling with hospital bills. When I ask for money, he refers me to the bank but there will be nothing. He hasn’t been paying for four months.
“I’m even afraid to continue asking for the money because he is very abusive and has damaged my backbone.”
She tearfully told the court she had a “chronic back ache because of his beatings”, adding: “That’s why I’m limping. If he carries on with this I will divorce him, I can’t take it anymore.”
In mitigation, Dera said he had a lot of responsibilities and paying $230 per month would leave him in debt.
“I’m willing to pay maintenance as I’ve been doing but I’m now heavily indebted. This woman left our home, she must come back if she wants maintenance.”
Magistrate Mtukwa granted Ngwenya the garnish order.
Online Reporter