Man sends wife packing for burning his food

A Bulawayo man, 35, from Nkulumane 5 high density suburb has set tongues wagging in his community after he decided to chuck out his wife of three months from their matrimonial home because he was fed up with her bad cooking.

Mr Philani Maphosa who married Miss Delight Ndlovu, 26, through a customary arrangement in September this year told Sunday News that he wanted out of the marriage because his wife had failed him in the kitchen.

The wife's family denied this reporter an opportunity to interview their daughter but confirmed that Miss Ndlovu had been sent home. They also refused to shed more light on the unprecedented development as they were afraid that they might jeopardise last ditch attempts to save the marriage.

Mr Maphosa revealed that he ran out of patience with his wife's penchant of turning food into ashes after she had embarrassed him in front of his relatives by serving them burnt food in the early days of December.

"A good wife is measured by what she does in the kitchen and how she takes care of her husband. My wife has failed to measure up hence my decision to part ways with her.  You may think it's bizarre and take me for a mad man but what may seem trivial to you is important to me," said Mr Maphosa.

The old adage that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach has proved true for Miss Ndlovu as her husband explained that his wife's incompetence in matters of the stomach was the cause of the breakdown of their traditional marriage.

He said: "It is not African for a wife to fail to cook. It's a shame, a disgrace that belittles not her but her husband. I am very particular when it comes to the food that I eat; I believe that it is very offensive for my wife to fail to serve me good food every day. It is accepted that food sometimes gets burnt but if the burning happens every day then something drastic must be done. Her parents and aunts must teach her how to cook and only then will I consider taking her back."
Mr Maphosa also claimed that his wife was lazy.

"She wakes up to clean the house and sweep the yard around 10am. When I am going to work I leave her in bed sleeping. I make my own breakfast and when I knock off around 7pm I find her still cooking. I am fed up," Mr Maphosa said.

Mr John Ndlovu, Miss Ndlovu's uncle denied claims that Mr Maphosa had sent back his wife to them because she was always burning food and revealed that there were a number of problems at play.
"Delight is a good cook; it's not true that he sent her away because she is always burning food. They have been having squabbles since they got married and he used the burnt food as an excuse. I am surprised that he is now claiming that his marriage has broken down because of that. There are a number of factors involved but I will not reveal them to you because unlike Maphosa, we do not believe in washing our dirty linen in public. As it is I believe I have said enough," said Mr Ndlovu.

Sunday News failed to get a glimpse of Miss Ndlovu as she had gone into hiding but sources who broke the story disclosed that she was visibly stressed by her husband's action.

"She is in a very bad state; anyone can see that she is troubled. She loves her husband and she did not expect this from him. It's a pity that her husband cannot understand that everyone has faults and in this case Delight's weakness is that she cannot cook properly. Some people are laughing their heads off but I do not think that this is a laughing matter," a neighbour said on condition of anonymity.