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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
MS Sihle Ntini has been forced to leave her four minor children to stay alone as she tries to fend for them.

Her ex-husband, who is employed as a teacher, is not contributing anything towards the upkeep of their children which forced Ms Ntini to find employment as a domestic worker at a neighbouring ward.

Her children aged five, 10 and 13 old live under the care of their 17-year-old sister at their home in Corner Line area in Gwanda.

Ms Ntini said she failed to apply for maintenance as her ex-husband, who is abusive, burnt her birth certificate before she could obtain a National Identity Card.

Ms Ntini was recently granted a peace order against her ex-husband.

She said her ex-husband who works at a primary school in Beitbridge occasionally arrives at their home during her absence and takes the little food she would have left for her children.

“My ex-husband doesn’t support the children which has forced me to leave the children on their own to find a job. My daughter who is 17 years old is pregnant and she is the one who is looking after her siblings. I work as a domestic worker and I also sell vegetables in order to fend for my family.

“The money I earn is hardly enough to send my children to school, clothe them and buy food. My 10-year-old had to drop out of school because I don’t have the money. I had to beg for assistance in order to get uniforms for the other two. My ex-husband is a teacher and instead of assisting me with these expenses, he arrives home while I’m away, physically abuses the children and takes away the food which

I would have left for them,” she said.

Ms Ntini said whenever she tried to engage her ex-husband over maintenance of their children, he either assaults her or threatens to assault or kill her.

She said he was constantly abusing their children and was not concerned about their welfare.

Ms Ntini said she tried to obtain another birth certificate in Gwanda but they advised her to travel to the registry office in Gweru, her home town.

She said in Gweru they further referred her to Harare.

Ms Ntini said she does not have the funds to travel that far.

“It hurts me that my children don’t have birth certificates just because of my ex-husband’s actions and I don’t have the means to obtain them at the moment. This will mean that my children’s future will be destroyed. My ex-husband is very abusive and while we were still staying together, he was constantly beating me up.

“When we conceived these children, we were enjoying together, now it’s time to raise them, he has left the burden to me. My desire is that my ex-husband may assume responsibility for the upkeep of our children as the burden is too much for me,” she said.

Ms Sifiso Sibanda from West Nicholson said she has three children and her ex-husband has been paying $90 towards the upkeep of their children.

She approached the Gwanda Magistrates’ Civil Court seeking a variation up to $15 000.

Her ex-husband Patson Moyo said he could give her $2 000 for the upkeep of their three children.

Moyo was ordered to pay $6 000 maintenance.

She said she wondered why she had to pursue her ex-husband in order to convince him to pay a decent amount towards the upkeep of their children.

“At first I engaged my ex-husband out of court in order to persuade him to contribute towards the upkeep of our children. He was not co-operating so I ended up taking him to court and I was granted $90. I further told him to increase the amount as it was no longer viable under this economy but he refused and I had to go back to court to apply for a variation.

“In court he was offering only $2 000 for all three children which is really unacceptable. It’s a clear indication that he isn’t concerned with the welfare of our children. It’s unfortunate that the courts only consider the payslip when granting maintenance but my husband earns more money from side jobs that he performs than his monthly salary. Despite making all this money he doesn’t bother to allocate some of it towards the welfare of his children,” she said.

Ms Sibanda said her ex-husband has other children that he was taking good care of, at the expense of their children.

She said their children needed school fees money, food, clothing, medication and other expenses and this burden had mainly become hers.

“Could men just assume responsibility for the welfare of their children without being pursued. As women we are really suffering,” she said.

Thousands of women across the country are faced with the same predicament as some men are not willing to contribute anything towards the upkeep of their children.

Many do so after having been dragged to the courts. Some offer pathetic money in the courts while others go on to default payment of maintenance fee.

As a result, some women have been left to fend for their children alone.

Others single-handedly raise the children while fathers are still alive. — @DubeMatutu