IT’S 6pm and just like any other mother, Janet is rushing home from work to prepare supper and spend the rest of the day with her two kids.
BY SHADRECK MARIRIMBA
Upon arrival, she discovers that everything is in disarray. She has to prepare for tomorrow as well as take her kids to school again.
“I am an accountant at a blue chip company here, but marriage to me has become the worst enemy,” said Janet, a regular at one of the popular nightspots in Harare.
As a mother of two, her children are old enough to be left with the maid.
She says her husband of 12 years, Thomas (34), is always “busy” with work and friends.
“My husband has no time for me anymore like we used to do when we got married,” she said.
“It’s not that my husband does not love me, but work takes most of his time leaving no room for us to be together most of the time.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Janet said she normally comes to the nightspot on Fridays when her husband is not around and hooks up with other men.
Despite being a patron at one of the popular joints in town, she refuses to be called a prostitute, but prefers being called “just a woman seeking sexual pleasure and attention”.
“I have one partner whom I constantly have sex with. He has most of his attention on me and satisfies me all the time,” said Janet.
Ruvimbo (34) is Janet’s friend. She concurred: “Husbands are giving us all sorts of diseases because of their promiscuity and unavailability.”
She said her husband worked “out of town” and rarely comes for the weekends so she was always alone with the children.
“This has turned me into a loner as a woman, so I come here to look for fun and excitement as well as comfort,” Ruvimbo said.
“I come here not because I charge for sex. I am not a cheap woman as you can see. I am here looking for fun only. I only have one boyfriend.”
Ruvimbo said her boyfriend was also friends with her husband.
“The boyfriend is a close friend to my husband and my husband thinks he is protecting me on his behalf, but he is good in bed I tell you,” she said.
As midnight approaches, both Janet and Ruvimbo are now surrounded by several women drinking in merriment.
A male reveller at the nightspot, who only identified himself as Tonde, said the women frequent the joint every Friday and have become regulars, but warned that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”.
Pastor Enock Nkonde of Revival Pentecostal Ministries in Greendale said the increase in the incidence of infidelity was worrisome.
“It’s a sad thing that women are creating clubs where they will be strategising on how to cheat on their husbands. “It’s a spiritual battle we are fighting.
“The devil wants to kill the marriage institution and when killed there will be no family and country to talk about. That we will not let happen as Christians,” he said.
“Men should learn to spend most of their time with their families and wives to leave no room for the devil to come in. This is a wake-up call to most young men out there who do not value their marriages.”
Zimbabwe has one of the highest divorce rates, with infidelity cited among the leading drivers.
Opening the 2014 High Court legal year in Bulawayo last year, Judge President George Chiweshe noted that civil cases, particularly divorce matters, were on the rise. He said the trend was worrisome.
“In 2013, 473 divorce summons were issued compared to 425 in 2012.
“This represents an increase of 48 cases. It is regrettable that this trend has continued unabated,” he said.
