A Mutare woman who exposed her husband for possessing a fake South African resident permit and had his accounts frozen recently dragged the man to court for spousal maintenance.
The husband said he is currently not receiving any funds from his pension in South Africa since his accounts were frozen due to her actions.
This emerged at Mutare Magistrates Civil Court where Jane Sitabiso Mazonde was applying for US$300 spousal maintenance from her husband, Desire Mazonde.
Jane stated that her life has been difficult ever since she relocated from South Africa.
“I want to be maintained until my divorce with him is finalised. This is my greatest time of need and I expect him to cooperate. I was there for him when he had a stroke. Although we were not in good books I took care of him.
“I am struggling to secure employment. I have sent my CVs to different organisations, all to no avail. I am struggling while he is benefiting from the R32 000 he is getting from his former employer as disability funds and pension. I also need to survive and I think US$300 will be favourable for me,” said Jane.
She also said her husband deserted her with her children in South Africa and left them without any source of income.
“His relatives came and took him away when he was not feeling well. I had to stay with the children in South Africa without having any cent. I had to wash people’s laundry so as to put food on the table for the family. I struggled with the children alone while his relatives never chipped in, only to realise that my husband has been getting money by his former employer.
“I was the one who saved his life, but he never thanked me for my efforts. The thank you that I received was his infidelity. He would infect me with sexually transmitted diseases.
“He says I abandoned him, but why didn’t I leave him when he had extra marital affairs? I stayed with him when he had a stroke because he is my husband. He should look after me until the finalisation of our divorce,” she said.
Jane also said her husband deceived her during the application for their divorce by not disclosing that he was getting some money from his former employer.
“I made my application for divorce thinking that my husband is not getting any money. He lied that he was not getting anything, yet he has been consistently getting R32 000. How else has he been able to send his children to expensive schools?” charged Jane.
In response, Desire said his wife wants to exploit him.
“The problem we have is that she wants a lavish life that I cannot provide anymore. She recently applied for maintenance of our children and was demanding US$1 400, yet I am not working. I have been going in and out of physiotherapy, trying to recover from my ailment. Instead of her coming to me asking for spousal maintenance, she should be looking for ways for us to share the responsibility of looking after our children.
“She dumped the kids with me, and said she would take them back after the improvement of her finances. She wants to be supported, yet there are older women out there who are vending for a living. She is expecting to be spoon-fed. She should work for herself,” said Desire.
He said his wife ill-treated him in his hour of need and hid information about his health from his relatives.
“When my relatives visited to see me when I had a stroke, she sent them packing. She refused to divulge information about my health. My relatives later made arrangements for me to be airlifted to Zimbabwe to get medication.
“The money I had been receiving catered for physiotherapy and that money depleted,” said Desire.
He said he has been looking after the children alone despite his condition. “When I left South Africa, I still paid the rentals for my family. I have an ice-making business, and I realise about US$500 every month, although it is not enough since I have a lot of responsibilities.
“I also sell sweet potatoes. My first child is in South Africa for his tertiary education, and I am paying R10 500 for his fees. I also pay US$1 200 for my daughter who is at a boarding school. I am looking after my children as I ought to,” he said.
Desire said he is no longer receiving any money from his former employers since Jane reported him to South African Home Affairs authorities for allegedly possessing fake resident permits.
“I have not been receiving any money of late. She surrendered my documents and hers to South African Home Affairs. I think my accounts were frozen because all my cards are saying insufficient funds,” he said.
However, Jane said she only did that in 2012 when her husband deserted the family in South Africa.
“This is actually the second time he has left me. In 2012, he did the same thing and I had to surrender the documents to Home Affairs because I wanted a new and clean sheet for myself. How can his cards say they have insufficient funds now when he was still using them in 2020,” she said.
The presiding magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato, granted Jane US$100 as spousal maintenance which will be paid for eight months only.
