Chronicle reporter's jaw almost broken as man goes berserk

A wife-beating thug attacked a Chronicle Snapper who took his picture as he left the Tredgold Magistrate Courts in Bulawayo.

Bulky Peoson Dera, a security guard at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), on Thursday charged at reporter Mbuso Nkalakatha and photographer Obey Sibanda shortly after being charged with a brutal attack on his wife that left her unable to walk.

He sprinted up a flight of stairs and reached the pair before they could react.

Nkalakatha said the furious Dera tried to grab his camera and when he failed, he hit him with a haymaker that almost knocked him out.

"He blindsided me and hit me on the left ear. It was a heavy blow that brought tears to my eyes and left me seeing stars.
"I staggered and as I tried to get away from him, he kicked me on my buttocks with his steel-toe safety shoes. I staggered and regained my balance," said Nkalakatha, who is not a small man.

Business came to a standstill as people from offices on the first floor rushed out to watch Dera hurling obscenities at the journalists.

A police officer came to the news crew's rescue and escorted the trio to the police base at Tredgold.

"His wife struggled to follow. It would have been funny if it had not been scary. The police let Dera go before I could press charges. I still managed to open a case for assault. I've been to Mpilo Central Hospital to get a medical report but doctors said I should return on Monday," said Nkalakatha.