Medical doctor earning $25,000/month, offers $100 maintenance for daughter

Prominent Bulawayo medical practitioner, Doctor Nkonzo Ndebele says he can only afford to pay only $100 a month as maintenance for the upkeep of his family.

In an affidavit presented to court through his lawyers at Job Sibanda and Associates, Dr Ndebele says that he does not make enough money to meet the demands presented to the court by his wife a local business woman.

The wife raised a maintenance order of $3800 per month against Ndebele who apparently lives with the wife and kids after the doctor failed to provide for the family.

In her application, the wife requested the courts to order Ndebele to contribute money towards the family's rental, food, entertainment and educational requirements for their daughter. According to her court papers, she claims that Dr Ndebele makes up to $25 000 per month but he has been failing to contribute towards the family's upkeep.

Ndebele's failure to contribute to the family has led to their six year old daughter facing imminent transfer from a local private school as the wife is failing to pay the fees from the money she makes from a bar she runs in the city centre.

"Our daughter has been accustomed to a lurid sophisticated lifestyle and I am therefore failing to provide for that kind of life since I only realise $1 500 per month from my bar business. Ndebele nets a minimum of $25 000 every month through his business of surgeries and medical consultancy," she said.

Amongst a list of things that she listed as wanting the court to force Ndebele to take responsibility of as the father of the house are, $1 500 per term school fees for their daughter, $70 DSTV subscription for the family, $100 worth of dog food; generator and fuel, $150; rent; $400, gardener's salary $150.

According to her their daughter has had to go two terms without paying school fees resulting in the school with holding the child's school reports and excluding her from some activities at the school. Dr Ndebele who denied neglecting the child's school fees payments only paid the outstanding fees to the school on the morning before appearing in court.

Contacted for comment, Dr Ndebele did not have kind words to both this reporter and his wife throwing a lot of unprintable swear words. He accused his wife of being "a gold digger" and out to wipe him dry.

"I am not going to bend backwards to a gold digger who wants to live in luxury she can not afford. Go back to her and tell her I said she can go to hell for all I care and don't ever phone me again or else I will come there to you and strangle you," fumed the doctor as he put the phone down on the reporter.

Ndebele's lawyer Mr Hlabezulu Malinga would not confirm nor deny that Ndebele was offering to contribute only $100 to the upkeep of his family asking the reporter to wait for the court to make its final ruling in the week.

"The court is yet to make its ruling please call me in the course of the week and I will be able to inform you better. At this stage I can neither deny nor confirm that he offered $100 as his contribution."

Ndebele and his wife are not new at the courts over contributions towards the upkeep of their family. In July last year the couple was at the courts after they had a brief separation before eventually moving in together again. The wife claims that since Ndebele moved back in he has again somehow stopped contributing to the needs of the family forcing her to enforce a maintenance order through the courts.

The couple has been in a customary marriage for the last eight years.