Last month, a distraught elderly woman came to me for counsel. “My son,” she began, “I need your help. My only child, Dzivha, is suffering from a stroke. I must care for him - changing his diapers, bathing him, doing everything.”
Her voice trembled as she recounted the chain of events.
The trouble began when Dzivha married Dora, a woman his mother had opposed from the start. “Dora is nothing but a prostitute,” she said bitterly.
Widowed when Dzivha was only 12, she raised him alone, instilling Christian values and discipline. He grew into a respected engineer at a major company. Yet, since marrying Dora, troubling patterns emerged. Every Friday evening, Dora was “working overtime”. His mother suspected otherwise.
Desperate, she turned to Charles, Dzivha’s childhood friend. “How can you call yourself his best friend when you don’t warn him about his wife?” she demanded.
Charles sighed. “Mam, I tried. I opposed the marriage - I didn’t even attend the wedding. Each time I mention the cheating rumours, Dzivha fights me. I gave up.”
But the mother was resolute. She said she knew Dora’s secret. “I know men who sleep with her at XYZ B&B. It’s no longer hidden - everyone knows that place is a brothel.”
Together, she and Charles devised a plan. The following Friday, they lured Dzivha into joining them under the pretence of lobola negotiations. As they waited outside the B&B, a luxury car arrived. Inside sat Dora, still in her nurse’s uniform, with another man. They entered without hesitation.
Dzivha erupted, demanding entry, but security blocked him. One guard muttered, “Who doesn’t know this B&B is for prostitutes? That nurse is our weekly client.”
The truth struck Dzivha like lightning. Breathless, he collapsed. A heart attack led to a devastating stroke.
Now, his mother bears the burden of caring for him, while Dora has disappeared.
VKRA Reflections
I told Dzivha’s mother she was not wrong. She should not blame herself for exposing Dora’s alleged conduct. The truth would have surfaced eventually. She acted as any parent would - out of love and protection.
Closing Wisdom
Dzivha’s tragedy reminds us that education is not the same as wisdom. Degrees may sharpen the mind, but wisdom guards the heart.
As the elders say:
* “A house built on lies will collapse, no matter how strong its walls.”
* “The eyes may refuse to see, but truth will always reveal itself.”
* “Better the wounds of truth than the comfort of deception.”
* “Wisdom is not taught in classrooms; it is learned in the school of life.”
Dzivha’s mother acted out of love, and though the consequences were heavy, her actions exposed what had been hidden. The lesson is clear: wisdom is the light that education alone cannot provide.