Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Tsenulo Moyo
A 20-YEAR-OLD man from Mbembesi in Matabeleland North Province heaved a sigh of relief after the attempted murder charge levelled against him was commuted to assault.
For the offence of assault, Nkosi Ngwenya appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Sibonginkosi Mnkandla. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was remanded to Friday for sentencing.
Ngwenya said he only hit the complainant, Hardwork Tsvangirai, once on the left cheek with an open hand, as he was retaliating to what the complainant and his colleague did to his brother.
“On the day of the assault, the complainant and his colleague came to my brother’s homestead, destroyed his property by pouring water on his blankets, set some of his property on fire, and assaulted him. I retaliated by slapping the complainant once on the cheek,” he said.
He said Tsvangirai had levelled the complaint against him as a result of a land dispute between him and his brother.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai said he found the accused person and his accomplice, who is still at large, on his farm having pitched some temporary shelters.
Tsvangirai said as he went near his colleague to see what was happening, Ngwenya and his accomplice attacked them, but his colleague managed to run away early enough before he was hurt.
“I got hold of the axe of his accomplice while Ngwenya assaulted me with a log. When I turned around facing Ngwenya in a bid to run away, his accomplice struck me on the left arm and head with an axe. I managed to run away while bleeding, but they also kept throwing some unknown objects at me which I dodged all the way,” Tsvangirai said.
He said while they assaulted him, they kept on asking who he was and if he was there to demolish the structures that they had built.
The court heard that on 17 August 2024, at Tsvangirai’s farm, Ngwenya and his accomplice who is still at large had pitched some temporary shelters. When Tsvangirai approached them, they attacked him. The matter was reported to the police, leading to the arrest of Ngwenya.
