By Patient Sibanda
A teacher yesterday offered $30 maintenance for his three children saying he was repaying a loan he took in 2012 to pay lobola for his wife of 15 years, but the couple has since separated.
Alexander Dungwe, a teacher at Bulawayo’s Entumbane High School, was dragged to court by his wife, Asiveliya Kasiya, of Sizinda suburb who is claiming $200 for the upkeep of the couple’s three children.
Dungwe told magistrate Tinashe Tashaya that he could not afford the amount that was being demanded by Kasiya. He said he could only afford to pay $30 and claimed that his wife had chased him from home.
“Your worship I’m a teacher and my salary is about $500 per month, but I get about $150 because I took a loan in 2012 to pay lobola for her and I also bought her a sewing machine. I also took two more loans. I’m still paying back those loans. We’re no longer staying together after she chased me out of our home and she sold all our property,” said Dungwe.
Kasiya told the court that $30 was not enough for the upkeep of their three children.
“I’m now staying at my parents’ home after we separated. We’ve been together for 15 years. His children need food. He hasn’t been supporting his children after we separated. He’s a teacher and he can afford $200,” she said.
Magistrate Tashaya ordered Dungwe to pay $30 by the end of this month, $50 at the end April and $100 starting from May until his children attain the age 18.
Tashaya also ordered Dungwe to pay schools fees for his children. The Chronicle
