HANDIENDE: Defiant tenant refuses to vacate, destroys landlord’s property

In a typical ‘handiende’ scenario, a defiant tenant in Bulawayo reportedly refused to be evicted from her lodgings and, instead, went on a rampage, destroying the property of her landlord.

The incident which occurred on 30 August this year saw 23-year old Sibekezele Sibanda, who had been instructed to vacate the Qeens Park residence of Prince Mponda (27), vandalising the property of the latter, in a fit of rage.

Due to irreparable differences between the two, Mponda told the court that he notified Sibanda that she had to vacate his place, and the female tenant refused.

Seeing that his eviction notice was falling on deaf ears, Mponda decided to remove Sibanda’s belongings from the room she occupied and put them outside.

After removing Sibanda’s property, Mponda then left for the shops and when he returned, his now estranged tenant had left the place.

Mponda got the shock of his life after he got into his kitchen- only to find broken pieces of vases on the floor.

That was when he discovered that Sibanda had vandalised vases and other valuable property.

Circumstances took a nasty twist after Mponda decided to track Sibanda at her friend’s place in the same neighborhood.

“When I asked her why she destroyed the property she got angry and as a result a fight broke out. After that she headed to a police station where she reported that I threw her property out of the room before I assaulted her,” Mponda told the court.

The Police then advised Mponda to return Sibanda’s property back into her room: an order he complied with.

He then made his police report leading to the arrest of Sibanda.

The latter appeared before Bulawayo’s Tredgold magistrate Nomasiko Ndlovu last week charged malicious damage to property.

Sibanda, who pleaded guilty to the charge, will know her fate tomorrow (Tuesday) after she was remanded out of custody awaiting sentencing.

Nathan Marime prosecuted.

state media
Additional Reporting: Zwnews