By A Correspondent
In a precedent-setting judgment from the High Court of Zimbabwe, Justice Joel Mambara has awarded $25,000 in damages to Dr. Viola Dhudhla, a respected elder in the AFM Church and retired lecturer from Great Zimbabwe University.
The payout comes after Dhudhla successfully sued Euginia Machaya, her husband’s lover, for interfering in her decades-long marriage.
The claim, originally filed for $50,000, cited emotional distress and humiliation caused by Machaya’s involvement with Dhudhla’s husband, Augustus Ratidzo Machingura — a war veteran and sugarcane farmer based in Chiredzi.
The ruling, one of the largest adultery awards in Zimbabwe to date, breaks previous compensation records, with Justice Mambara acknowledging the severe emotional and social consequences Dhudhla endured. He also ordered Machaya to cover the legal expenses associated with the case.
According to Dhudhla’s testimony, her marriage of 41 years began to unravel after Machaya entered the picture. She described how her husband systematically stripped her of both emotional and financial rights. He repossessed her Mitsubishi Colt vehicle and replaced it with a Toyota Allion for Machaya. Further, he removed Dhudhla from their joint business accounts, replacing her with Machaya as a signatory, and excluded her and their descendants from a family medical aid scheme—enrolling Machaya, her children from a previous relationship, and the couple’s two new children instead.
Dhudhla detailed the emotional torment she suffered, likening the betrayal to being stabbed in the heart. She revealed that the stress of the ordeal aggravated her chronic health issues, including diabetes and hypertension. Despite her frail condition, she was forced to seek court-ordered maintenance, which Machingura repeatedly evaded—eventually leading to his arrest.
Justice Mambara allocated $16,000 of the damages for contumelia, referring to the indignity and psychological harm Dhudhla faced, and $9,000 for the breakdown of marital companionship. He also expressed disappointment at Machaya’s apparent lack of remorse for her role in destabilizing the long-standing marriage and contributing to the family’s disintegration.
Dr. Dhudhla was represented by attorney Pauline Chimwanda of Saratoga Makausi Law Chambers, who helped bring the emotionally charged case to a close.