Prosper Dembedza Court Reporter
A Harare man claimed in court yesterday that opaque beer brings him closer to God and that he remembers most church hymns and gets into a preaching mood whenever he is intoxicated.But William Dambaza’s wife, Gladys Rushwaya, told the Harare Civil Court that far from being godly, opaque beer made him violent and he was in the habit of assaulting her whenever he got drunk.
Dambaza insisted that there was no way he could assault Rushwaya after consuming the beer because it made him become “a real man of God”.
Rushwaya, who was seeking a protection order against Dambaza, said she was attacked with a garden fork and a knife in the latest incident.
Rushwaya told magistrate Ms Tatenda Mananzva that Dambaza once attempted to stab her with a knife while he was drunk.
“He is not employed and each time I give children money to buy food he takes it from them and buys opaque beer,” said Rushwaya.
Dambaza denied the allegations, saying problems with his wife started when he lost his job. Dambaza said it was his wife who was in the habit of physically abusing him, saying he once reported her to the police after she assaulted him with a garden fork.
Ms Mananzva granted the protection order which bars Dambaza from physically or verbally abusing Rushwaya.
She also ordered the couple to keep peace towards each other.
Meanwhile, Farai Kuvirimirwa reports that a Harare magistrate has dismissed an application by Dyvon Masona, who was seeking an order compelling his late wife Brenda Chinguwo’s relatives to collect her clothes from his Trafalgar Court flat where she committed suicide.
Mr Brighton Pabwe dismissed Masona’s application in which he sought the order against Spiwe and Grace Pfute, who argued they will only remove the clothes on condition he pays US$10 000 as compensation to the family.
In his ruling under case number 16384/14, Mr Pabwe said the court had no powers to compel the pair to remove the clothes.
“We have no jurisdiction to grant a compelling order for them to remove the belongings from your residence. The High Court can only assist in granting such an order,” he said.
Masona’s wife allegedly jumped to her death from the Harare City Council-owned Trafalgar Court along Julius Nyerere Way after she demanded clothes she bought him.
In his founding affidavit, Masona of 1301 Trafalgar Court, said Spiwe and Grace of 28 Canon Chipunza Street, Mbare, were demanding US$10 000 for them to take away the late Chinguwo’s belongings.
“Sometime in 2010 while staying in South Africa, I had a love relationship with Brenda Chinguwo before she migrated back to Zimbabwe,” he said.
“Without consent, the two brought clothes and blankets to my residence and refused to take them away while demanding US$10 000 for them to remove the clothes,” he said.
Masona argued that he was not married to Ms Chinguwo, saying the presence of her clothes in his flat was affecting his new marriage.
In their response, Spiwe and Grace argued that Masona and Chinguwo had a relationship, which spanned from 2006 until this year.
“It ended with the applicant holding the deceased by the wrist as she hung over the balcony. We are not the ones trying to apply this tradition but it is being done by the whole family,” they said.