Fight over client ends in death as two Bulawayo prostitutes face murder charges
A dispute over a well-paying client ended in a fatal attack in Bulawayo after two commercial sex workers allegedly turned on a fellow woman and beat her with bricks, a court heard.
Nokukhanya Ncube and Tadiwanashe Chipindu appeared before Bulawayo Provincial Resident Magistrate Themba Chimiso on Wednesday, October 14, charged with murder. The pair were remanded in custody to October 22.
Prosecutor Josiphine Gurazhira told the court the disagreement began after the now-deceased was accused of taking a client who had been seeing Ncube. The argument escalated, and Ncube and Chipindu allegedly joined forces to attack the woman with bricks.
The woman suffered a deep wound to her head and collapsed unconscious. Other sex workers at the scene tried to help her while an ambulance was called. She was placed in the ambulance and taken towards Mpilo Central Hospital, but died on the way.
“The now deceased sustained a deep cut on the head with blood oozing out. The deceased fell to the floor and became unconscious. Other sex workers tried to perform first aid. An ambulance was called to the scene and arrived swiftly. They carried her and she died while she was being ferried to hospital,” said Ms Gurazhira.
Police attended the scene and recovered a brick said to have been used in the attack from Ncube, the court heard. The woman’s identity was not given during the proceedings described in court.
The same court also heard a separate murder case involving two men from Inyathi in Matabeleland North, who were accused of killing a man who tried to intervene in a fight.
Modist Bwabwa, 24, and Godwin Zhame, 26, appeared before Chimiso on Wednesday and were also remanded to October 22. The court heard that the deceased had tried to stop a fight between his friend and Zhame. Zhame allegedly stabbed him twice in the head with a knife, while Bwabwa allegedly struck him twice on the head with a cue stick.
The man was left unconscious and rushed to hospital, where he died on arrival.
Another Bulawayo case that week concerned the care of a toddler. Madisa Ndlovu, 29, was convicted of ill-treatment of a child after leaving her one-year-and-10-month-old daughter at a lodge while she went to work. She appeared before magistrate Golden Muyambo and was ordered to pay a US$250 fine by October 30. If she does not pay, she will serve three months in prison.
Ndlovu told the court she had left the child with a caretaker, whom she said usually looked after the girl, because she had been booked by clients. In her defence, she said:
“I am a commercial sex worker. On the day in question, I left the child with a caretaker to go to work as I was booked by many clients. The caretaker usually takes care of her,” she said.
Muyambo rejected that explanation and described the child’s situation as gross negligence. The magistrate said the toddler had been left without care and exposed to harsh weather and to sexual activity taking place at the lodge.
“What you did is gross negligence and heartless, as you left the child with no care. You exposed the child to harsh weather conditions. You also exposed her to the immoral sexual acts of commercial sex workers, since that is where they conduct their activities with their clients,” he said.
Prosecutor Sibusiwe Sithole had asked the court to impose a custodial sentence, saying the child had been exposed to harsh weather and sexual activity at the lodge.
The current murder case also follows an earlier fatal attack on a commercial sex worker in Bulawayo. On June 2, 2019, Patience Ndlovu, 35, met Wisdom Mpilwenhle Ndlovu at a night spot before the two went to Silver Sands Lodge, where they spent the night. An argument broke out the next morning after he accidentally broke her waistband and offered R100 towards its replacement. The dispute continued, and he strangled her. The court heard that he took her money and cellphone before leaving. Her body was later found under a bed by a lodge employee who was cleaning the room. The employee reported the discovery to police, and the body was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals for a post-mortem. The post-mortem found that she died from asphyxia caused by strangulation.
Wisdom Ndlovu was arrested in 2021 after being identified through CCTV footage from the lodge. The High Court convicted him of murder and, in October 2022, sentenced him to an effective 15 years in prison.
In the latest case, the court heard that the alleged trigger was a dispute over a client, and that the attack unfolded in front of other sex workers who attempted first aid. The woman died before reaching hospital. Ncube and Chipindu remain in custody, with their next court appearance set for October 22.