Man discovered late that his lover was his step-sister

A BULAWAYO man from Sizinda high-density suburb discovered last Sunday that his girlfriend of three years was actually his step-sister, five months after he had gone to his would-be in-laws in Njube high-density suburb and paid the bride price for her hand in marriage.

The man, Mr Stanley Gweshe (30), told reporters that he and his girlfriend Miss Regina Tshuma (23), were informed by his uncle and his girlfriend's aunt, five months after paying lobola, that they were in fact siblings.

Mr Gweshe revealed that his uncle, Mr Daniel Gweshe and Miss Tshuma's aunt Mrs Thokozile Tshuma, told them during a wedding committee meeting held in Njube that their plans to wed could not proceed as they were related.

Mr Gweshe and Miss Tshuma's wedding was scheduled for 22 December.

"We were told that my late father had had an affair with Regina's dead mother and together they conceived Regina. But since both of them were married, they decided to keep it a secret. Apparently only my uncle and Regina's aunt knew about the affair and the fact that Regina was my father's child.

"I am angry because their mistakes led to this, it's a scandal. To think that I had paid lobola for my own sister makes me angry and to make matters worse, we had slept together countless times. The fact that we did it because we didn't know we were brother and sister does not comfort me. We committed incest and that disgusts me," said Mr Gweshe.

Mr Gweshe said he and his sister were failing to stomach that they are siblings.

"It's difficult to accept, we know that it's true but the love we had for each other was so strong. We were a well-matched couple and we were very happy together. But there is nothing we can do about it, we have to come to grips with the fact that we are related and move on," he said.

Miss Tshuma expressed fear that it would be difficult to find a man who would love and stay with her when he found out that she had bedded her own brother.

"This scandal will follow me to the grave and I might even die without getting married. People talk out there and whichever man I meet will most likely walk away when he finds out that my own brother had paid lobola for me. I will leave all this in the hands of God, He is the one who knows why this happened and only He can answer my prayers.

"At times I get a feeling that my aunt and Stanley's uncle should have kept quiet and let us marry even though I know it could have been wrong. I am heartbroken and it will take years for me to recover from this. I can't even look Stanley in the eye anymore," said Miss Tshuma.

Mr Daniel Gweshe let slip why the affair which had fathered Regina had been swept under the carpet.

"My brother was married and Regina's mother was also married. At the time they were having the affair, they were unhappy in their marriages. My brother was having problems with his wife because she was refusing to be intimate with him as she accused him of having an affair. Regina's mother was having problems because she was failing to conceive and her husband and in-laws were on her back.

"It started as an emotional affair at work but it soon developed into a physical affair and before long Regina's mother fell pregnant. My brother wanted an abortion but she refused and said she was going to say the baby was her husband's. My brother told me and Regina's mother told her sister and we reached an agreement for the baby to be kept by its mother and for them to end the affair," he said.

Mr Daniel Gweshe said they lost touch with Regina's mother as she moved to South Africa with her husband. He added that he had shut that past from his mind and was only reminded of it by Regina's aunt.

"I had no idea that Stanley had paid lobola for his stepsister. If I knew that she was my brother's daughter, I would have told them to end the relationship there and then. I only knew about it when I met Regina's aunt at a wedding committee meeting I attended. I was not even supposed to attend that meeting because I am based in Harare but I was asked to. When we were introduced I immediately remembered her and she remembered me.

"We asked to be excused and we went outside and agreed that we must not let Stanley and Regina marry each other. We went back inside and asked Stanley and Regina to go outside. Everyone was shocked and disappointed when we told them. Stanley and Regina were in denial, they cried and insulted us but we managed to console them. We knew it was safe to let the secret out because they are dead (Stanley's father and Regina's mother and stepfather)," he said.

Mrs Thokozile Tshuma said she is based in the United Kingdom and had come to Zimbabwe to help with the wedding preparations of her late sister's daughter.

"When I heard that Stanley's surname was Gweshe it did not cross my mind that he was the son of Michael (late father of Stanley). I came to Zimbabwe at the beginning of October to assist Regina because she is an orphan and I had attended three wedding committee meetings without any problem.

"I only found out that Stanley and Regina were related when Daniel (Gweshe) attended the fourth meeting. I immediately recognised him and my heart stopped. We had no choice but to tell them, it was difficult but there was no other option," she said.

Mrs Tshuma revealed that her late sister's in-laws were now demanding to be compensated for raising an illegitimate daughter.

"My sisters-in-law are saying that they want the cows that they paid as lobola because my sister had betrayed their son and them. In hindsight, I think it was unwise for us to keep the affair a secret because now it's haunting us. We are going to meet as a family to decide if we will compensate my sisters-in-laws. But I think it will only be fair if the Gweshe family assists us because it's their son who impregnated my sister," she said.

Mr Stanley Gweshe's mother, Mrs Ruvimbo Gweshe, declined to comment.