2 Bulawayo men want to be paid maintenance by their wives

Two Bulawayo men stunned the courts yesterday when they dragged their wives to the maintenance court so that they could give them money for the upkeep of their children.

To justify their claims, the two men told Bulawayo magistrate Mr Victor Mpofu that their wives earned more than they did.

Mark Heathcote is demanding $957,50 monthly from his estranged wife, Theressa and told Mr Mpofu:

"Your Worship my wife is living large while I am failing to make ends meet. I am presently unemployed and at one time I was forced to sell my valuable assets to raise money to support my family".

To laughter from the gallery, he added: "I want my wife to give me $957,50 for our monthly expenses and to clear our children's school fees arrears which amount to $3 100.

"Your Worship I am aware that Theressa makes a lot of money and she therefore can cut on some of her luxuries".

However, this did not go down well with Mrs Heathcote who was quick to refute her ex-husband's claims. She told the court that Mark wanted to squander her money under the guise of taking care of their three children.

"Your Worship I have been staying with this man for the past 15 years and he is good at misusing funds. I cannot raise all that money on my own. Right now he does not want us to transfer our children from Petra High School to affordable public schools since he is unemployed and cannot afford to pay $1 495 per term.

"This man is staying in my father's house and pays half the rent. I buy groceries worth $180 every month for our children thus I find it grossly unfair for him to demand such an amount," said Mrs Heathcote.

In his ruling, Mr Mpofu ordered the respondent to pay the applicant $400 every month starting end of this month.

"The respondent must pay half the school fees arrears and should also contribute half of the children's school fees," said Mr Mpofu.

The other case involved Innocent Moyo of Mzilikazi suburb who dragged his wife Memory Mudereri to court after she ditched him for another man, leaving him with the sole responsibility of looking after their three children. Moyo, who is a cobbler, pleaded with the magistrate to order his wife to pay him $120 per month claiming she was a successful businesswoman.

"Your Worship I need money to take care of our three children who were dumped by this woman when she moved out of our house. I only earn $180 per month and I need her assistance towards the upkeep of our children. She runs a thriving catering business.

"Furthermore I want to employ a maid to look after our children and she should foot the wage bill," he said.

In her response, Mudereri rubbished Moyo's claims and demanded to know why her husband was failing to take care of his own children rather than resorting to the courts.

"Your Worship I see no reason why I should be accused of abandoning my children because they have an able bodied father. I am not employed and there is no way I can manage to raise the money that he is claiming. He should be man enough and take care of his own children.

"I am struggling to make ends meet but I will however, continue to contribute in whatever way possible towards the upkeep of our children," she said.

The magistrate postponed the case to 15 December for ruling and ordered Moyo to produce proof that Mudereri was running a successful business.