Former cricketer Dumisani Mankunzini granted bail after 4 nights in jail

By Joseph Madjembwa

BULAWAYO – Controversial ex-provincial cricketer Dumisani Mankunzini has been granted bail by a Bulawayo court after spending four nights behind bars on charges of swindling a local woman of 23 000 Rands.

The 31-year-old former second-team player of Matabeleland Tuskers – who in a YouTube video claims to have played international cricket for Zimbabwe’s national team – has been accused of a litany of fraudulent stunts in both South Africa and Zimbabwe over the past four years.

Mankunzini was arrested on Monday in Bulawayo and after spending the first night in holding cells, he had been appearing in court from Grey Prisons in the city over the last three days.

On Friday morning, a Bulawayo magistrate released Mankunzini on ZWL20 000 bail. The charges are that Mankunzini fleeced the woman, Phindile Ncube, of the R23 000 which he he said he needed to pay his hospitalised son’s medical bills.

A local daily paper in Bulawayo reported that Mankunzini later told the unsuspecting Ncube that his son had passed on, in an attempt to “borrow” a further US$600 from her. Nehanda Radio