A warrant of arrest has been issued for Robert Ngwenya, the estranged husband of Zinhle Mabena, for violating the protection order that the Isibaya star has against him.
Sowetan has seen a copy of the warrant of arrest issued by the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Friday. The warrant authorised police to arrest Ngwenya in accordance with having violated a protection order issued by the family court in December 11 after a complaint laid by Mabena.
“Therefore you are hereby authorised and ordered to forthwith arrest the respondent (Ngwenya) in terms of the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, 1998, if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the complainant (Mabena) may suffer imminent harm as a result of the alleged breach of the protection order by the respondent,” reads the document.
The latest development in the couple’s airing of their dirty linen comes almost a week after Mabena was jailed for alleged conspiracy to murder Ngwenya. She was freed after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the court had decided that more investigation was needed before Mabena’s case could be put on the roll.
Her arrest was related to Ngwenya surviving an attack when gunmen apparently opened fire on his vehicle in Centurion, killing his bodyguard.
"Police can confirm that a complainant who had a protection order approached the police in Akasia saying that her husband had assaulted her. She had a warrant of arrest which was issued with protection order. Police went out to look for the husband and he was not found at the address pointed out. There are other cases of assault and malicious damage to property that are still under investigation. Dockets were taken to SPP for decision," Police spokesperson Kay Makhubela said.
Sources close to the matter told Sowetan that police had visited Ngwenya's place of residence on Friday to execute the warrant but that he could not be found.
Ngwenya’s lawyer, Shani Van Niekerk, said her client has not violated any orders and that no member of the SAPS have contacted him.
“I deny that a warrant of arrest is issued for my client. If so, he does not know about it. I spoke to my client and he indicated that no member of the SAPS arrived at his home nor have they made any contact with him,” van Niekerk said. She then launched into a tirade against Sowetan of embarking on a “fishing expedition”.
According to a source close to the couple, Mabena obtained the protection order in December. Ngwenya allegedly tried on a number of occasions to enter her estate after that but was denied entry by security.
Mabena’s lawyer Joshua Lazarus confirmed that a warrant of arrest was issued by the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Friday.
“I can further confirm that the warrant of arrest was given to the Erasmia police station in Centurion in order to execute the warrant. However, Mr Ngwenya was not located at his residence on Friday evening,” he said.
Lazarus said her arrest was on allegations of a plot to murder Ngwenya was “an orchestrated scheme to intimidate” his client. Mabena echoed her lawyer’s words in a statement released after she was freed from jail. She claimed the charges were part of plot to intimidate her for fighting back against gender-based violence. Ngwenya has denied all allegations of GBV made against him by Mabena.
NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect comment from the police
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