ZANU PF Masvingo provincial youth chairperson Delight Mandebvu has been handed a two-year prison sentence, wholly suspended, by Magistrate Franklin Mukwanazi for assaulting an opposition member and two other people.
According to reports by TellZim News and The Mirror, Mukwanazi suspended the jail term after considering that the accused suffered a broken leg, which medical reports indicated was permanently damaged, during the altercation.
The suspended sentence was also conditional on Mandebvu not committing a similar offence in the next five years.
The State’s case, as presented by prosecutor Godknows Mugondo, was that on March 2, 2024, Mandebvu assaulted former Masvingo City Mayor Collen Maboke, his wife Tariro, and a relative, Simbarashe Matyei, after their car side-swiped the vehicle in which Mandebvu was travelling in along the Masvingo-Nyika road. The incident occurred at night.
Mandebvu then pursued Maboke’s vehicle, which was being driven by his wife, and blocked it after around 10 kilometres.
Mandebvu disembarked from his vehicle, accompanied by several men, and they assaulted Maboke, his wife, and Matyei, who was allegedly struck in the face with a bottle.
Mandebvu’s left foot was run over by a vehicle as he was assaulting the trio. Medical reports showed that the foot sustained permanent damage.
The case dragged on for an extended period, as Mandebvu had been presenting one excuse after another.
At one point, Mandebvu even filed attempted murder charges against Maboke, alleging that he was hit by Maboke’s vehicle, rather than any other vehicle as had been reported.
On another occasion, Mandebvu told the court that he wanted to seek a lawyer outside of Masvingo, claiming that the local lawyers were friends with Maboke and, therefore, compromised.
Ultimately, Mandebvu was convicted after the court concluded that his defence had significant flaws and that it did not make sense for Maboke to run him over after a minor misunderstanding following the side-swipe incident.
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