Man sends wife to TB Joshua, attempts to marry small house

By Fairness Moyana

A HWANGE man who sent his wife to Nigeria to get “deliverance” from controversial prophet TB Joshua so that he could secretly wed his mistress in her absence, was left with egg on the face after the wedding was blocked by his relatives.

Mandla Sibiya (30) is alleged to have convinced his wife, Nokuthula Masukume, with whom he has two sons, that she needed deliverance and was supposed to visit TB Joshua in Nigeria.

Immediately after her departure for Nigeria, Sibiya and his girlfriend, Simisani Sibanda, made an application for a marriage licence at Hwange magistrates’ courts where they booked 12 September for the marriage ceremony.

However, on the wedding day, members of his family and his in-laws got wind of Sibiya’s plans and rushed to the court where they registered their disapproval of the union, citing Sibiya’s marriage to Masukume.

Proceedings at the courts came to a standstill as the relatives openly shouted their disapproval of Sibiya’s intentions, resulting in officials at the courts asking the couple and relatives to go home and resolve the issue.

“The two were still outside when the relatives arrived and that’s when the commotion started. The officials advised the people who had gathered for the wedding, mostly young friends of the couple, to go and sort things out and then return the following day,” said a source.

Sibiya did not return the following day, a sign that his plans had been dashed. Challenging Sibiya’s intentions to marry 24-year-old Sibanda, Masukume’s brother, Alexio, said Sibiya was still married to his sister hence he could not marry another woman without divorcing his first wife.

“I object to this marriage of Mandla Sibiya and Simisani Sibanda which I understand is scheduled for today 12 September. I’m making this objection on behalf of my sister Nokuthula Masukume who is currently customarily married to Mandla. She is currently in Nigeria and cannot make the objection herself. As far as I’m concerned, he is still married to my sister,” said Alexio in his affidavit.

Sibiya’s brother Kisswell Kenyu echoed the same sentiments, saying the two had children and they had not been notified of any problems between Sibiya and their sister-in-law that could have warranted him to decide to marry another woman.

“I have an objection against my brother Mandla Mwanyanaya Sibiya’s wedding with another woman. Mandla is married to Nokuthula Masukume.

“He convinced and sent his wife Noku to Nigeria for deliverance so as to have the chance to wed his girlfriend. The wedding must be cancelled until the formally accepted wife to our family is back and clarifies with us first,” read part of Kisswell’s opposing affidavit.

Efforts to get a comment from Sibiya and Sibanda were fruitless but the two are understood to be staying together after the standoff.

No comment could be obtained from Masukume, who has since returned.

Three Zimbabweans are confirmed to have died after a guesthouse owned by TB Joshua collapsed on 12 September.

The death toll from the guesthouse collapse continues to rise with at least 155 bodies having been pulled from the rubble. Sunday News