Gibson Mhaka
A bizarre “war” has erupted between neighbours in Kensington plots on the outskirts of Bulawayo over a flower on their boundary wall.
The seemingly silly quarrel, which has since spilled into court, was sparked and later escalated into a blazing war when one of the neighbours, a Mr Munodawafa refused to uproot the flower which had reportedly encroached on to Qakathekile Balule Moyo’s side.
Moyo alleged the flower in question was a source of their tension with Munodawafa whom she also accused of trespassing into her yard.
In her action, Moyo wants Munodawafa to uproot the flower, which she claimed was causing “almighty” problems between them.
“I have a problem with my neighbour Mr Munodawafa and his wife who are trespassing into my land. There is a flower on the border fence and they don’t want to uproot it despite the fact that it has encroached onto my yard.
“On 29 April, I reported them at ZRP Hillside where the matter was resolved and it was agreed that they must uproot the flower in question and also remove the pile of rubbish which they had created in my yard,” said Moyo.
She said on the same day Munodawafa approached their neighbour, a Mrs Nyathi and told her what had transpired between them before they asked her to apologise to her on his behalf.
“From that day he has not complied with the police order (to uproot the flower) and as a result I am seeking a peace order against him so that he stops harassing me.”
Moyo further said Munodawafa was also after her plot claiming she was not fully utilising it.
“Mr Munodawafa is provoking me so that I move out of my plot and he has also shown some interest in it. The other time he told my domestic worker that I was not fully utilising it, adding that it was better that I sold it to him.”
In response, Munodawafa through his lawyer refuted his neighbour’s allegations that he was trespassing into her yard and was also refusing to uproot the flower in question.
“The applicant has not submitted to the court in the form of an affidavit that Mr and Mrs Munodawafa have conducted themselves in any violent manner against her or have also threatened to injure her. Applicant has also not shown that the flower lies exclusively on her property.
“She has admittedly conceded that the flower in question lies on both parties’ properties therefore it cannot be said that the respondents are encroaching onto her property when they are attending to their side of the fence.
“The respondent also vehemently denies allegations of trespassing and of approaching one of her workers claiming she had no money.
In terms of the rubbish I do not know what applicant is referring to,” queried Munodawafa’s lawyer.
For the purpose of maintaining peace between the parties, in her ruling presiding magistrate Rachael Mukanga ordered Munodawafa and his family not to trespass into Moyo’s property.
