Tsholotsho South MP Maxwell Dube has been acquitted of domestic violence charges by a Bulawayo magistrate amid claims that his wife was used by Zanu PF elements bent on tarnishing his image.
Dube claimed his wife Thandiwe Debra Dube (née Hlatshwayo) was in love with a Zanu PF activist who wanted to tarnish his name.
He said his wife wanted to force him out of their matrimonial home in Bulawayo’s Mahatshula suburb.
Bulawayo magistrate Marylene Mtshina on Friday acquitted Dube after ruling that his wife Thandiwe and daughter Nomthandazo were unreliable witnesses.
He had pleaded not guilty to physical abuse.
“It’s not in dispute that the incident happened in the litigants’ bedroom, but contradictions exist on the cause of the dispute, which is a cellphone, but vehemently disputed by complainant in her evidence- in- chief,” ruled Mtshina.
“Her daughter did not corroborate her evidence. “It‘s difficult for the court to deduce what transpired and as such the court concludes the two witnesses are unreliable.
“Their evidence and testimony cannot be said to be believable or truthful. It has inconsistencies and neither corroborates the other.
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“Thus the court taking into account the accused’s defence concludes that the State failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Accused is not guilty and acquitted.”
Charges against Dube, who belongs to Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara’s MDC faction, were that on January 7 the couple was in their bedroom at their matrimonial home in Mahatshula North.
The wife was sleeping on a mattress on the floor, when she woke up and saw Dube kneeling down.
She allegedly inquired from him what he was doing and he suddenly grabbed her elbow and twisted it. He also allegedly grabbed her by the neck and chocked her.
The court heard that she sustained injuries as a result and ran away from home and sought refuge at a churchmate’s house.
She later made a police report, leading to Dube’s arrest.
The couple is not new to the courts as they have a pending divorce case at the Bulawayo High Court in which Dube alleges his wife came into the marriage, “a poor rat and wants to walk out a fat pig”. He accuses her of infidelity.
