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Lisa Mangena, Court Reporter
A BULAWAYO man shocked the court yesterday after he offered to pay $2 per month for arrears in maintenance amounting to $300.

This emerged in court when Mr Hloniphani Ngwenya was asked by the magistrate Ms Ulukile Mlea how much he was offering to pay for the arrears.

“I’m not offering anything because l have expenses and other children that l’m paying maintenance for,” said Mr Ngwenya.

The magistrate asked him for the second time how much he was offering to pay for the arrears.

In response Mr Ngwenya said he could only offer $2.

“I’m well aware that l owe her some money but I can’t afford much, l think $2 will be okay until in clear all the arrears,” he said.

Ms Loveletter Ncube had approached the court seeking a garnishee order for maintenance arrears saying her ex-husband had gone for six months without contributing anything.

“It’s been six months now and he hasn’t paid anything, from January to June I’ve been waiting on him but he never came through,” she said.

It was not explained if Mr Ngwenya had paid between July and this November.

Ms Mlea told Mr Ngwenya that he was being unreasonable.

“Don’t you think you are being unreasonable, how can you offer to pay $2 per month until it amounts to $300?

“You will pay $30 with effect from the end of January and money for child upkeep as well as that of arrears will be garnished directly from your salary into Ms Ncube’s account,” said the magistrate.

— @LissahMangena.