Sex for debt landed me in jail

A man from Binga is languishing in prison after he was convicted on rape charges that he claims were manufactured by a neighbour who had failed to pay his debt on time.

Sanele Ncube (46), who is serving a 10-year jail term at Khami Maximum Prison, says he was trapped into sleeping with his neighbour's daughter as her mother had failed to clear a debt.

In an interview, Ncube said his downfall began when he demanded his money from his neighbour. The woman, instead of looking for the money, decided to look for a way of getting rid of her debt problem.

"I was employed as a security guard in Bulawayo and this company was paying me very well and on time such that a lot of people in my neighbourhood really admired my lifestyle.

"Some ladies even went on to make some moves of inviting me to propose love to them, but that had no effect on me as I respected myself.

"I was approached by a woman who happened to be one of my neighbours and she borrowed some money as she claimed that her family had run out of mealie-meal.

‘Considering the age of the woman I felt sorry for her and I took the last notes that were in my pocket and I bailed her out.

"The old woman promised to pay back my money within a short period of time and she insisted that she would bring back the money in less than a week as I told her that I really needed the money on time," he said.

The woman went for more than a month without paying back the money she borrowed. When confronted, she promised to clear her debt.

"When I made a follow-up on my money the old lady was almost in tears as she insisted that she was going to pay back my money within a short space of time. Little did I know that I had made the worst mistake of my life by demanding that money.

"In less than three days I saw one of the old lady's granddaughters knocking on my door claiming that she had been sent to pay me a visit and clear the debt that was now long overdue.

"I failed to get the logic behind the visit of the young lady as she had no money in her hands, but she pushed me aside as she proceeded into my room," he said.

Ncube said when the girl got into his room she walked straight to his bed and sat down.

She then told him that she had been assigned by her grandmother to visit him

The inmate said the last words that he remembers coming out of the young woman were "please don't impregnate me" as they started touching each other other like people who had known each other for a very long time.

"If I am to be honest with you my brother I can't really explain what happened on the day in question as the moves of this short drama were rather too fast for me to remember.

"The only words that I remember coming from that young girl she asked me not to impregnate her and after those words I don't even remember what happened as she was already lying on my bed," he said.

Ncube said soon after the incident the young woman went back to her grandmother's place.

"I was surprised the next morning when I saw police officers at my place looking for me and they told me that I was a wanted man on allegations of raping a young lady who had been sent to my place to clear a debt.

"Police officers took me to the station and I was detained for two days as they were finalising the docket and the issue was referred to  court for finalisation.

"When the trial started the magistrate was made to believe that I had forced myself on the young lady as a form of payment for a debt that her grandmother had failed to clear on time," he said.

Ncube said the magistrate later sentenced him to 10 years in prison on one count of rape and after the conviction he was transferred to Khami Remand Prison as he was regarded as a dangerous person to the community.

"When I got to Khami Remand for the first time I never thought I was going to make it considering the fact that I was still in a state of shock considering that my life had been destroyed by people, who were not honest with themselves.

"The other issue that really affected me was my family that I left behind since I was the sole bread winner and each time I thought about them I would find myself crying," he said.

The inmate said rehabilitation officers helped him a lot as they offered him serious counselling for him to accept the situation that he was now in.

"I never thought I was going to be still alive and today as we speak this is my fifth year in prison and the officers helped me choose farming as a new profession so that I can start my own projects on completing my jail term.

"Right now we are working in our garden as Khami Maximum Prison and from this garden we produce a lot of products that range from maize, vegetables, onions just but to mention a few," he said.

The inmate said from this project they were being equipped with the technical knowhow of producing crops for different markets.

"We have got tutors who are qualified farmers that we are working with and these officers are the ones teaching us on the technical aspect of producing these products.

"The idea is to impart us with the skills that we can later use in producing our own products, when we complete our jail terms so that we can sustain ourselves and our families,"he said.

The inmate said men should be very careful when dealing with women as many of them were very dangerous especially to their male counterparts as they believe they can abuse the rule of law to their advantage.

Station rehabilitation officer Leonard Matsvange said it was encouraging that inmates were now able to exhibit some products they produced while in prison.

"I am really happy that B-Metro has taken its time to come and see some of the activities that are currently taking place at Khami Maximum Prison so that people out there can have a full appreciation of what is happening in different prisons,"he said.