A 60-YEAR-OLD Zvishavane man, who was issued with a warrant of arrest for defaulting in maintenance payments, blamed his predicament on the closure of Shabanie Mine.
OWN CORRESPONDENT
Crispen Isaac Mutarisi of Maglas high-density suburb appeared before Zvishavane magistrate Peter Madiba yesterday facing maintenance default charges.
Mutarisi argued that he did not miss the payments by choice, but was forced by the slow pace in the reopening of the closed Shabanie and Mashaba mines.
“I did not refuse to maintain my children, but the situation at Shabanie leaves one with no option and it is happening to many other man who work at the mine who are lucky not to be reported by their wives,” Mutarisi said.
The State said in October last year, Mutarisi was ordered by the court to pay $35 maintenance to his wife Jenifer Mutarisi.
However, Mutarisi failed to comply with the order and his arrears accumulated to $116 as at 31 August 2014.
The magistrate instructed Mutarisi to pay $120 to his wife before the end of this week since his maintenance order of $35 had considered his situation, or face imprisonment.
