The wife of IFP Youth Brigade chairperson and member of Parliament, Sanele Zondo, who was reported missing, has come out to make it clear that she was not missing but hiding from her husband. Simenyiwe Dlomo-Zondo from Hluhluwe, in the far north of KwaZulu Natal, disappeared on Friday after she told her family that she was going shopping in Richards Bay.
HIDING FROM HER HUSBAND
In the latest developments, Simenyiwe finally responded to the ongoing questions about her whereabouts in a two-hour live video on Instagram. She explained that she decided to run away because she did not feel safe near her husband. "I have been quiet for a long time about the abuse I have been suffering at the hands of my husband. Ever since we got married, he has never treated me like one of his wives. The man couldn't spend a night with me. The only people that mattered in his life are his mother and his first wife," she said. She said she opened an assault case against her husband but the matter was withdrawn after he made a promise to never assault her in front of a police captain. "He promised that he was going to get me my own place since we are not on speaking terms with his mother and his first wife," she said.
SHE WAS MADE TO STAY IN A SHACK
Simenyiwe alleged that her husband started physically abusing her only a few months after getting married. The couple got married in a traditional wedding in March this year. She said that she did not understand why she was being physically abused by her new husband until she learnt from his relatives that he was doing it to make her leave as he wanted to take a third wife in September. "Imagine we just got married in March, and I am still trying to settle in my new home but I am finding myself having to deal with the emotional and physical abuse. His mother made it clear that he doesn't want me in his house. I decided to go away for my safety and to protect myself from abuse," she said. "I was made to sleep in a shack with no monthly allowance. I even made my father aware of everything that has been happening there. Nobody wanted to listen to me. My husband only started giving me grocery money in June. The same man broke my phone because he doesn't want me to be successful. I had a good decorating business, but he is making sure that I don't become independent so that he can control me," she said. On Monday, Zondo released a statement through the IFP asking for help to find his wife. The statement has since been removed from the party's website. Zondo and IFP spokesperson spokesman Mkhuleko Hlengwa could not be reached for a comment.
