Danisa Masuku
In a dramatic incident, a teacher stationed at Mzilikazi High School in Bulawayo dragged five colleagues to court accusing them of sexual harassment.
The teacher, Plaxedis Kumbirayi Munyaradzi, alleged that Ruth Muzanangwo got her nudes from her ex-lover’s wife and whenever she met her, she would threaten to splash them on social media.
Munyaradzi also vented her anger at Muzanangwo accusing her of spreading information that her ex-lover sexually abused her. However, Muzanangwo denied all the accusations levelled against her.
“I deny all the allegations levelled against me. She is imagining things. I do not even know her ex-lover.
I’m an old enough woman and I’m not her age mate.
“Moreover, I rarely meet up with her. All that she is saying is a product of her imagination,” she said.
She added: “I have suffered more than enough at the hands of this woman. At first, she reported us to the police, after that the matter was relayed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and investigations were carried out.
“After the investigations, the officials told us to live in peace.”
Next to step into the dock was Lawrence Mashakani who was accused of sending Munyaradzi sexually suggestive messages and rubbing his manhood against her buttocks.
“He used to send me sexually suggestive messages. At one point he found me alone in the staffroom and he grabbed me from behind before rubbing his manhood against my buttocks,” she said.
Mashakani also denied the accusations and said they used to share the staff room and after they crossed each other’s parts, he avoided meeting with her.
Munyaradzi also applied for a peace order against Nokuthula Hlabangana, accusing her of being the one who started the chaotic situation.
Munyaradzi said: “She is the one who told other teachers that I was in a love affair with a married man and she is the one who sent nudes to my colleagues. She also influenced other teachers not to talk to me.”
However, Hlabangana denied the accusations.
“We have been to the police station several times and the Ministry officials visited our school more than three times to conduct investigations. As a result of this, the environment at the school is not conducive.
We are just frustrated,” she said.
Munyaradzi also heaped accusations on Constance Sibanda.
“Sibanda is the wife of my ex-lover and she teams up with other teachers to tarnish my reputation by sharing my nude pictures with my colleagues,” she stated.
Sibanda also denied the accusations and said she never talks to her.
“She is full of drama and I do not talk to her. I only spoke to her last week when she phoned me informing me that I’m supposed to come here to the court,” she said.
Munyaradzi also hammered her ex-lover Eric Ngwenya claiming that he sexually attacked her and the matter was settled at the set down stage before it was heard at the West Commonage Court.
Munyaradzi said after that, Ngwenya insulted her and branded her a mentally challenged woman.
Ngwenya also denied all the allegations and said Munyaradzi was the one who said his wife was mentally challenged.
The presiding magistrate, Challenge Mahembe, granted Munyaradzi a peace order against all her accused colleagues. The peace order prescribes that they should not verbally and emotionally abuse each other. The peace order also states that they should relate peacefully with her.
