Security Guard Scares Ex-Employer With Painted Tortoise
In an unusual case of workplace dispute, a former security guard has been charged for violating wildlife regulations after using unconventional means to demand unpaid wages from her previous employer.
Sithembiso Budzirikawa, aged 58, was arraigned before the Harare Magistrates’ Court for removing a live tortoise from its natural habitat and transporting it to the office of her former workplace, Cliff Security.
According to the prosecution, Budzirikawa was employed by Cliff Security from April to August 2023. When she was owed an undisclosed amount of money upon her departure from the company, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
On August 21, 2024, Budzirikawa arrived at the Cliff Security office, carrying a white bucket.
Inside the bucket was a live tortoise, which she had removed from the Chabwino farm in Goromonzi without a permit, in violation of the Parks and Wildlife Act.
She had painted the tortoise with red floor polish and tied it with a red cloth containing pinned needles.
Budzirikawa demanded that the company pay her the money she was owed. When the company, represented by human resources manager Cassius Nyemudzwa, failed to comply, she released the tortoise onto the office floor, threatening that the animal would use its “supernatural powers” to retrieve the money.
Nyemudzwa reported the incident to the police, and upon Budzirikawa’s arrest, she was unable to produce a license or permit allowing her to transport the tortoise.
In her defence, Budzirikawa told the presiding magistrate, Ruth Moyo, that she was driven to such measures out of desperation to provide for her children, as she had not received the money owed to her by the company.
Magistrate Moyo ordered Budzirikawa to pay a fine of US$300 by September 30, 2024, or face three months’ imprisonment for the wildlife violation.
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