Zimpapers Logo

Patient Sibanda Court Reporter—
A TEACHER, 58, burst into tears as she begged the mother of a pupil she allegedly assaulted with an electric cable to withdraw charges before the case could be heard in court. Prison guards struggled to calm her down as they led her to the holding cells in preparation for the case on Thursday. Olivia Ndlovu, a teacher at Hillside Primary school in Bulawayo, begged in vain as the pupil’s mother seemed unmoved by her tears.

Ndlovu allegedly beat up the Grade Seven pupil for being “dull.” She pleaded guilty to two counts of assault before magistrate Tinashe Tashaya. Ndlovu, who has been a teacher for 37 years, told the court that it was not her intention to cause bodily harm to the pupil.

“I admit that I assaulted the pupil. I used a rubber stick not an electrical cable to assault him. It wasn’t my intention to cause him bodily harm. I was trying to intimidate him. I want him to take his school work seriously and become a better person in future,” she said.

Ndlovu was remanded out of custody to Monday for sentencing. Prosecuting, Nathaniel Mutsikwa told the court that on unknown date to the prosecutor but between January and February at Hillside Primary School, the accused gave the pupil a Mathematics exercise to do.

“The complainant failed and the accused person assaulted the pupil with an electrical cable calling him a dull person. On February 6, 2016 the complainant got sick and he did not go to school. On the day he felt better he went to school and the accused assaulted him again using an electrical cable which resulted in him sustaining injuries,” said the prosecutor.

He added that the accused assaulted the complainant on his left arm and he sustained internal injuries. The pupil had bruises on his arm and back. The pupil’s mother reported the matter to the police leading to Ndlovu’s arrest.