Johannesburg - A Cameroonian diplomat and United Nations humanitarian specialist has been caught in a love triangle that has now escalated into domestic violence.
Dr Jonathan Bundzi Ndzi from the UN Population Fund appeared in the domestic violence court in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. There, protection order applications between him, his South African lover and his Zimbabwean girlfriend were being heard.
The South African lover, Vivian Wade, accuses the married diplomat of assault and seeks a protection order. And Ndzi’s Zimbabwean girlfriend, Angela Chimpelo, also seeks a protection order.
Ndzi left the court in a hurry shortly after the proceedings and did not answer numerous calls made to him on Monday. He is accused of slapping Wade on January 8 when she allegedly visited him at his Sunninghill home.
Wayde said Ndzi had just returned from Cameroon, where his wife lives.
“I had sent him an e-mail telling him how I’ve missed him and the sexual things I wanted to do with him but when he came back he didn’t seem interested," said the woman, who is also married.
"His cellphone started ringing but he wouldn't answer and instead said I must answer if I was curious about the caller. A woman on the line claimed to have been his girlfriend and started swearing at me.
"I was angry. I confronted him and that’s when he slapped me. I pepper-sprayed him,” said the woman.
Her accountant husband, who lives overseas, learnt about the affair after he set a private investigator on Wayde and her lover.
He has since threatened her with divorce.
Ndzi apparently tried to dissuade Wade from opening the case and even made a R75 000 offer for her silence. Independent Media has seen an affidavit to this effect.
Ndzi later opened a counter charge of extortion and common assault when he allegedly realised that Wade would not budge.
The woman said Ndzi first assaulted her in 2016, two years into the affair. He allegedly bit off a piece of her upper lip which resulted in a permanent scar.
“He didn’t want me to go to a hospital and said he would treat my wound. He paid me R30 000,” said Wade.
The qualified paralegal and interior designer also claimed that Ndzi had told her that criminal charges against him would not stick as he had diplomatic immunity and privileges because of his diplomat status.
“I could not let him get off the hook because of who he is. I’m doing this for other women who are falling prey to the so-called diplomats. Enough is enough,” she said.
The Zimbabwean lover stood in support of her man on Monday.
The trio will know the outcome of their protection order applications in March but Ndzi is also expected to appear in court soon for allegedly assaulting Wade.
The UN’s regional operations analyst, Sipho Tarino Guvi, did not want to comment on the matter which Wade claimed to have raised with him. “Unfortunately this is a personal matter that I cannot discuss with the media because it involves a staff member,” said Guvi.