News / Local
Tshabalala lodgers 'evict' abusive landlord
06 Oct 2013 at 05:29hrs | Views
THREE lodgers at a house in Bulawayo's high-density suburb of Tshabalala did the unthinkable in the early hours of Wednesday morning when they threw out their landlord for allegedly ill-treating them and hiking rentals without cause.
In an interview, the lodgers confirmed that they had chucked out their landlord for allegedly being abusive and unreasonable in dealing with them.
The incident that sparked the unusual 'eviction' happened last Tuesday night when the landlord, Mr Clive Kaseke, allegedly locked the gate of his brick-walled house at 10pm to bar a lodger, Mr Alfred Msimanga, who has a penchant for coming home late from a drink or two, from getting into the house.
Mr Msimanga is said to have come home at 12 midnight. When he found the gate locked he called out and banged the gate repeatedly in an attempt to awaken Mr Kaseke who was by all probability sleeping.
The roucous that Mr Msimanga was making woke up the other lodgers who went on to awaken Mr Kaseke who had the only key that could open the lock on the gate. The lodgers asked Mr Kaseke to open the gate but the landlord is alleged to have been stubborn and resolute that he was not going to open the gate. Additional pleas continued to fall on deaf ears and this compelled the lodgers to go to the gate to tell Mr Msimanga to scale over the brick wall.
When the landlord, who had remained in the house, learnt that Mr Msimanga had climbed the brick wall he confronted Mr Msimanga, shoved him around and then slapped him.
The assault did not sit well with Mr Msimanga who retaliated by punching Mr Kaseke on the face. Blows were exchanged with Mr Kaseke receiving most of the punishment. The fight was, however, brief as the other two lodgers broke up the brawl.
A seething Mr Kaseke is alleged to have then hurled insults and unprintable vulgarities at his three lodgers. Mr Kaseke's verbal assaults on his three lodgers saw him at the receiving end of more physical punishment as the three lodgers ganged up on him and beat him to a palp.
An obstinate Mr Kaseke allegedly told his lodgers that he was going to evict them in the morning for disrespecting him. However, the lodgers gave him a taste of the medicine he was threatening to prescribe on them as they took away his keys, unlocked the gate, threw him out and locked the gate behind them.
Since he was thrown out of his own house, Mr Kaseke has not been seen but he has called his lodgers and told them that he is coming with his sons who are based outside Bulawayo to beat up and evict them.
Sunday News called Mr Kaseke on the mobile phone number given by the lodgers and he did not mince his words.
"Where did you get this number? Why are you calling me? If you want to write bad things about me I am going to come to your company and beat you up. Those people chased me from my house and you call me, why don't you ask them what happened. If you see them again tell them that I am coming and I am going to teach them a lesson," he said.
Mr Msimanga said they were going to move house from Mr Kaseke's residence but only after three months as the law demands that a landlord should give his tenant/s a three-month eviction notice.
"We have no desire to keep him (Mr Kaseke) from his house because we are just lodgers. We threw him out that day to teach him a lesson so that he treats his lodgers well in future. We expected him to come back the next day but he didn't but it doesn't concern us at all, he is an adult. We are not going to fight him when he comes because we are not a violent people, we just want to live in peace," Mr Msimanga said.
The other lodger, Mr Ndumiso Mhlanga, said he was moving out this month because he and his wife have just been blessed with a baby girl.
"My wife has just given birth and we cannot stay in a house where there is fighting. What if something happens and my baby gets injured or killed?
I don't know what he (Mr Kaseke) is capable of so I am not going to take chances. I will be out of this house by 7 October. I am not afraid of him or his sons but our parents told us to move out because something might befall the baby. If I were single like the other guys I was going to stay and face him," Mr Mhlanga said.
Mr Elvis Mufari, another lodger, said he was unmoved by Mr Kaseke's threats.
"We did what we did because he was insulting us and disrespecting us. We are adults, we might be younger than him but that does not mean he has the right to treat us like children and call us names. Imagine he used to bar visitors from coming to see us even though we pay rent. He didn't allow us to bath more than once a day.
He always told us to be indoors by 10pm or he was going to lock us out. He has also increased the rent without consulting us or furnishing us with reasons. We are adults and we got tired of his antics, beating him and throwing him was just a spur of the moment reaction, we had no desire to lay a hand on him," said Mr Mufari.
In an interview, the lodgers confirmed that they had chucked out their landlord for allegedly being abusive and unreasonable in dealing with them.
The incident that sparked the unusual 'eviction' happened last Tuesday night when the landlord, Mr Clive Kaseke, allegedly locked the gate of his brick-walled house at 10pm to bar a lodger, Mr Alfred Msimanga, who has a penchant for coming home late from a drink or two, from getting into the house.
Mr Msimanga is said to have come home at 12 midnight. When he found the gate locked he called out and banged the gate repeatedly in an attempt to awaken Mr Kaseke who was by all probability sleeping.
The roucous that Mr Msimanga was making woke up the other lodgers who went on to awaken Mr Kaseke who had the only key that could open the lock on the gate. The lodgers asked Mr Kaseke to open the gate but the landlord is alleged to have been stubborn and resolute that he was not going to open the gate. Additional pleas continued to fall on deaf ears and this compelled the lodgers to go to the gate to tell Mr Msimanga to scale over the brick wall.
When the landlord, who had remained in the house, learnt that Mr Msimanga had climbed the brick wall he confronted Mr Msimanga, shoved him around and then slapped him.
The assault did not sit well with Mr Msimanga who retaliated by punching Mr Kaseke on the face. Blows were exchanged with Mr Kaseke receiving most of the punishment. The fight was, however, brief as the other two lodgers broke up the brawl.
A seething Mr Kaseke is alleged to have then hurled insults and unprintable vulgarities at his three lodgers. Mr Kaseke's verbal assaults on his three lodgers saw him at the receiving end of more physical punishment as the three lodgers ganged up on him and beat him to a palp.
An obstinate Mr Kaseke allegedly told his lodgers that he was going to evict them in the morning for disrespecting him. However, the lodgers gave him a taste of the medicine he was threatening to prescribe on them as they took away his keys, unlocked the gate, threw him out and locked the gate behind them.
Since he was thrown out of his own house, Mr Kaseke has not been seen but he has called his lodgers and told them that he is coming with his sons who are based outside Bulawayo to beat up and evict them.
"Where did you get this number? Why are you calling me? If you want to write bad things about me I am going to come to your company and beat you up. Those people chased me from my house and you call me, why don't you ask them what happened. If you see them again tell them that I am coming and I am going to teach them a lesson," he said.
Mr Msimanga said they were going to move house from Mr Kaseke's residence but only after three months as the law demands that a landlord should give his tenant/s a three-month eviction notice.
"We have no desire to keep him (Mr Kaseke) from his house because we are just lodgers. We threw him out that day to teach him a lesson so that he treats his lodgers well in future. We expected him to come back the next day but he didn't but it doesn't concern us at all, he is an adult. We are not going to fight him when he comes because we are not a violent people, we just want to live in peace," Mr Msimanga said.
The other lodger, Mr Ndumiso Mhlanga, said he was moving out this month because he and his wife have just been blessed with a baby girl.
"My wife has just given birth and we cannot stay in a house where there is fighting. What if something happens and my baby gets injured or killed?
I don't know what he (Mr Kaseke) is capable of so I am not going to take chances. I will be out of this house by 7 October. I am not afraid of him or his sons but our parents told us to move out because something might befall the baby. If I were single like the other guys I was going to stay and face him," Mr Mhlanga said.
Mr Elvis Mufari, another lodger, said he was unmoved by Mr Kaseke's threats.
"We did what we did because he was insulting us and disrespecting us. We are adults, we might be younger than him but that does not mean he has the right to treat us like children and call us names. Imagine he used to bar visitors from coming to see us even though we pay rent. He didn't allow us to bath more than once a day.
He always told us to be indoors by 10pm or he was going to lock us out. He has also increased the rent without consulting us or furnishing us with reasons. We are adults and we got tired of his antics, beating him and throwing him was just a spur of the moment reaction, we had no desire to lay a hand on him," said Mr Mufari.
Source - sundaynews
