Magistrate tells 73-year-old injiva to behave like a parent

PLUMTREE magistrate Livard Philemon advised a 73-year-old injiva to behave like a parent after the court learnt that he had been assaulting his 55-year-old niece in a bid to evict her from her fields.
Loveness Mkhwebu, a widow, had told the court on Thursday that her uncle, Philemon Ncube, wanted to hand over the field to his son.
She said she had since fled from her homestead in fear of being assaulted by her uncle.
"I am now staying at a relative's home because I am scared of my uncle. He has been coming to my home to threaten me and assault me for refusing to hand over a field which I have been using for the past eight years which I was given by my late aunt.
"He came home in November and since then he has been claiming that the field belongs to him. We took the dispute to the chief who ordered him to let me use it but he did not comply with this directive," said Mkhwebu. Ncube, who disputed this, told the magistrate that the field belonged to the family and was rightfully his as he was the eldest in the family.
"Mkhwebu does not have a say in this field as she is only a child and I am her elder. I am the one with a say on who can till that field because it is family land and I am the eldest in the family," he said.
Mkhwebu was granted a protection order against Ncube.
Philemon advised the complainant and the accused to reach an understanding on how to use the field.
"You are from the same family and you should be able to resolve the disputes you have among yourselves. As for you Ncube, you are a parent to the complainant and it is high time you started acting like one.
"You are not to lay a hand on the complainant or harass her in any way in connection with this field. As an elder of the family, your duty is to resolve disputes not to start them," he said.