Bulawayo doctor Nkonzo Ndebele runs amok

By Staff Reporter

PROMINENT Bulawayo doctor Nkonzo Ndebele ran amok over the weekend turning his estranged wife’s pub upside down with broken bottles and overturned tables in a fit of rage over properties which are currently the subject of a court dispute.

Ndebele is no stranger to controversy having been reported several times to the police who appear reluctant to arrest him over violent conduct as well as defaulting on maintenance for their daughter.

The case, the latest in the series of events involving the doctor who boasts of being “above the law” raises serious questions about the police’s willingness to protect victims of abuse despite the enactment of relevant laws happened on Saturday evening when Ndebele stormed the pub and threatened to kill his ex-wife Grace Ndlovu in order to get his “father’s refrigerator”

Ndebele had earlier approached Ndlovu at the pub in the afternoon on Saturday around three o’clock and threatened to kill her if she did not surrender to him the refrigerator which is presently the subject of a court decision as the couple are going through divorce proceedings which will also determine who gets which property.

He poked her in the ribs in full view of this reporter and other patrons and threatened “I will shoot you through the heart, jump over your dead body and collect my property.”

Ndebele was not finished and according to patrons, the evening drama began with him storming the bar and demanding that the employees call Ndlovu to come to the pub.

“The doctor who looked extremely intoxicated ordered bemused employees to “call Grace now” before picking up some beer bottles from the tables and smashing them against the walls. The employees locked themselves in the cashier’s area from where they called Ndlovu- something which only served to infuriate Ndebele further,” said one patron.

“One lady waitress was screaming into her phone, asking Ndlovu to come quickly as Ndebele was causing mayhem terrifying staff and patrons alike. She was telling her to hurry but she shouldn’t dare come alone but with the police as the doctor was violent and disorderly.”

Ndebele reportedly manhandled some of the patrons who were enjoying their drinks and physically pushed some of them out of the pub he wanted closed. Some angry patrons implored him not to be violent but this served to incense him all the more.

They eventually gave in and went outside onto the pavement and he secured the doors remaining with the employees who refused to leave him inside as they said they did not know him. They informed him they will await for their boss’ arrival together with the police- something which seemed to take the wind out of the inebriated doctor who sat down somewhat deflated.

After a few minutes of brooding silence, Ndebele got and left the pub with a message for the employees to “tell MaNdlovu that the Ndebeles were here to collect their property.

A short while later Ndlovu arrived in the company of two police officers including one Sergeant Maturi, the Community Relations Officer at Bulawayo Central Police Station.

They inspected the destructive trail of broken beer bottles, overturned radio speakers and listened to statements from employees and other witnesses who were still milling around the premises before Maturi phoned Ndebele summoning him to the police station.

More police details- eight in number arrived on foot armed with baton sticks and commenced to conversing with Maturi. A visibly dazed but calm Ndlovu huddled in one corner with her employees where she apologised for the doctor’s conduct and praised them for remaining calm in the face of the violence.

“In just a few hours I got a glimpse of how doctors and maybe even other affluent people treat their wives,” said Wellington Sibanda, a patron who had been at the pub from the time it opened in the afternoon.

“I’m an uneducated welder but even if my wife were Jezebel or the devil’s sister I would not treat her like that. However this Masalu (Ndlovu) should be praised for keeping her cool under such provocation,” Sibanda added.

The entire incident raises serious questions particularly about the police and their commitment to protecting victims of abuse especially as Ndebele is no stranger to controversy and already has a peace order barring him from conducting himself in violent manner towards Ndlovu.

It is worrying that the police were informed of the threats but told Ndlovu to go back and call them if Ndebele showed up- a highly risky decision considering that Ndebele already has a history of threatening Ndlovu with a gun.

According to the Protection Order, Ndebele’s father even accompanied Ndlovu to report at Hillside Police Station one time when Ndebele had brandished a gun at her.

“She (Ndlovu) referred to an incident where respondent (Ndebele) even discharged his firearm in such a way as to instil fear in the applicant,” reads part of the Protection Order (Case number PO221/13) granted on 29 May 2013.

“She further explained in her affidavit that in March 2013 she explained the conduct of his parents and she together with his father filed a report at Hillside Police station,” the order further states.

Also worrying is the fact that despite the police assuring Ndlovu that Ndebele would be locked up in police cells pending a court appearance for violating the protection order, Ndebele phoned her some 20 minutes later, apparently to boast that he was off the hook.

A police source who spoke on condition of anonymity also expressed concern at the apparent reluctance to take serious action against Ndebele querying why the doctor is not being arrested for bigamy as it has since emerged that he had misrepresented to Ndlovu that he is a divorcee when they customarily married in 2007.

He is currently embroiled in another divorce case with his wife

“Moreover, Ndebele is defaulting on maintenance payments to Ndlovu and that should be reason enough for his arrest,” the police officer said.

Zimbabwe has laws to protect women from spousal violence but enforcement is lacking.

A social worker who refused to be identified said that “quite often domestic disputes like these have ended in the death of the wife who is the weaker party. Statistics provided by women’s rights bodies indicate that 90% of the cases where a wife is murdered by her husband, there would have been pointers or indicators to the incident which include prior violence and threats by the husband which unfortunately police officers and even magistrates who are often male take very lightly.”

Ndlovu was disappointed at her former husband’s behaviour especially in front of the public.

“Who will lead by example in our society if our respected doctors behave abominably like this time and again and get away scot free,” she said.

Ndebele’s phone rang unanswered.