Woman drags alcoholic lover to court

A PLUMTREE woman has dragged her ex-lover to court over maintenance of their one-year-old child after claiming that he was squandering all his money on beer.

Priviledge Nkomo told the court that Mduduzi Ndebele, who is employed as a prison officer in Plumtree, had never contributed any money towards the upkeep of their child.

Nkomo demanded $150 per month from Ndebele for their child's upkeep.
"The problem which Mduduzi has is that he is an alcoholic. He spends all his money on beer and he does not give me anything towards the upkeep of our child. Just after getting his salary he squanders his money on beer and you can never miss him in bars.

"From the time I was pregnant he never assisted with anything, let alone money for me to go for health check-ups. Even at the time when our child was born he did not even bother to buy a single napkin as the responsibility of fending for the child has always been mine," she said.

Ndebele, who is married to another woman, however pointed out that he had other responsibilities which included looking after his wife and their six-year-old child.

"It is not true that I do not want to contribute anything towards the upkeep of my child. I earn $350 a month and I have other responsibilities and I cannot direct half of my salary towards this child as I have a family.

"I have another child who is in Grade One and I am also looking after my uncle's child. There are also several bills which I have to pay each month and I cannot afford the money she is demanding from me," said Ndebele.

"I cannot afford to squander my money on alcohol Your Worship because the money I earn is little and it is hardly enough for me to cover my responsibilities."

Ndebele and Nkomo fell in love two years ago while the prison officer was married to another woman and they separated while the complainant was pregnant.

Plumtree magistrate Mr Gideon Ruvetsa ordered Ndebele to pay $60 per month towards the upkeep of his one-year-old child.

He said men had to desist from getting involved and having children with several women at the same time if funds did not permit, as this was disadvantaging children.

"Children should not be born into environments where parents are always at each other's throat over their upkeep. The process of raising children should not be treated like a transaction because there are human beings involved who are the children," he said.