News / Regional
Donkey feud spills into court
22 Feb 2015 at 08:59hrs | Views
A misunderstanding about a lineage of offspring of three donkeys bought in 1985 by a Lupane family has spilled to court with an aunt suing her nephew.
Thembelani Gumpo of 153-9 Mbizo in Kwekwe approached the courts to force her nephew, Judia Mlalazi of Chinego in Binga, to surrender three of the six donkeys in a war that has raged on for decades.
In her affidavit in which she was demanding the three remaining donkeys, Gumbo said sometime in 1985 she bought five donkeys from Lupane and when she collected them a year later they had multiplied to seven.
"I kept the donkeys up to 2004 when defendant (Mlalazi) came to me and claimed that one of my donkeys was his. To avoid any hassles I gave him the donkey which he sold however in April 2013 he again came to my place and took six donkeys," said Gumbo.
She reported the matter to the police who went to Mlalazi's homestead and took back the donkeys. However, three donkeys died due to an infection in their ears following a botched branding attempt in which one of the donkeys had lost an ear.
The matter was initially brought before the criminal courts with Mlalazi facing a stock theft charge before it was referred to the civil courts.
However, instead of resorting to civil litigation, Mlalazi reportedly went back home and took the remaining three donkeys from Gumbo.
Mlalazi maintained that the donkeys were his arguing that his uncle, Esau Gumbo, had a tendency of dispossessing him of his property and the latest development was an attempt by his uncle to render him poor.
"This is a ploy by my uncle who enjoys seeing me suffering by dispossessing me off what is rightfully mine. I came across a stray donkey when I was still a boy, which I drove home and left with my mother. Over the years, they gave birth and multiplied when I then went to get them after securing my own homestead. I was told that my aunt had collected all the donkeys including mine.
I went to get them back and was surprised when police came to take them back," said an emotionally charged Mlalazi.
The civil court magistrate Mrs Rose Dube said the case was complicated as Mlalazi's mother who was the only person who could tell the court the truth about the donkeys is now late.
"This is a very complicated issue which would have been made easier had defendant's mother been alive today she could have told us what really transpired with the donkeys as plaintiff is claiming that she gave her money to buy the donkeys while on the other hand defendant says he picked up a donkey when he was a young boy which he gave his mother for safe keeping," said Dube.
She ruled that both parties would get a donkey each while another would be sold and the proceeds shared equally.
Thembelani Gumpo of 153-9 Mbizo in Kwekwe approached the courts to force her nephew, Judia Mlalazi of Chinego in Binga, to surrender three of the six donkeys in a war that has raged on for decades.
In her affidavit in which she was demanding the three remaining donkeys, Gumbo said sometime in 1985 she bought five donkeys from Lupane and when she collected them a year later they had multiplied to seven.
"I kept the donkeys up to 2004 when defendant (Mlalazi) came to me and claimed that one of my donkeys was his. To avoid any hassles I gave him the donkey which he sold however in April 2013 he again came to my place and took six donkeys," said Gumbo.
She reported the matter to the police who went to Mlalazi's homestead and took back the donkeys. However, three donkeys died due to an infection in their ears following a botched branding attempt in which one of the donkeys had lost an ear.
The matter was initially brought before the criminal courts with Mlalazi facing a stock theft charge before it was referred to the civil courts.
Mlalazi maintained that the donkeys were his arguing that his uncle, Esau Gumbo, had a tendency of dispossessing him of his property and the latest development was an attempt by his uncle to render him poor.
"This is a ploy by my uncle who enjoys seeing me suffering by dispossessing me off what is rightfully mine. I came across a stray donkey when I was still a boy, which I drove home and left with my mother. Over the years, they gave birth and multiplied when I then went to get them after securing my own homestead. I was told that my aunt had collected all the donkeys including mine.
I went to get them back and was surprised when police came to take them back," said an emotionally charged Mlalazi.
The civil court magistrate Mrs Rose Dube said the case was complicated as Mlalazi's mother who was the only person who could tell the court the truth about the donkeys is now late.
"This is a very complicated issue which would have been made easier had defendant's mother been alive today she could have told us what really transpired with the donkeys as plaintiff is claiming that she gave her money to buy the donkeys while on the other hand defendant says he picked up a donkey when he was a young boy which he gave his mother for safe keeping," said Dube.
She ruled that both parties would get a donkey each while another would be sold and the proceeds shared equally.
Source - b-metro
