Landlord locks out tenants, pointsgun at them

Danisa Masuku
A MAN from Bulawayo’s Khumalo suburb has been dragged to court for allegedly pointing a gun at his tenants and threatening to gun them down.

Zelder Pamala told the court that when she and her husband returned home they found the doors of the house locked. After knocking on the doors, Sweetman opened the window and talked to them.

Pamala said the house owner fumed at them and pointed a gun at them. Pamala told the court that she requested to fetch her medication which was in her bedroom but Sweetman refused to open the door insisting that they have to vacate his residence.

She told the court that after that, she applied for a protection order so that Sweetman would live with them peacefully.

Sweetman was represented by his lawyer. His defence counsel denied all the allegations that were levelled against his client.

The presiding magistrate, Challenge Mahembe, asked Pamala whether she and her husband were still staying at Sweetman’s home or not, to which she said: “We are no longer staying there but our property is still there.”

The lawyer responded by saying: “Since they were applying for a protection order under the pretext that they were staying together now that they no longer stay there the order falls away.”
The magistrate then dismissed the case.