On the evening of Februay 3 around 7pm, Mathias Mhere met what he calls the greatest betrayal of his life. When he returned from visiting his ailing brother (now late) who was in hospital, the gospel musicians says he found his wife, Susan Dzinamarira, seated in the living room at their Waterfalls house. She was busy typing something on her phone and the two lovers greeted each other as usual.
Mhere did not suspect anything. On several occasions he had seen his wife in that same position, busy with her phone. It was normal.
Because his phone battery was flat, he requested to use her phone to make a call. He wanted to get in touch with a friend who was assisting him to raise money to process visas for his upcoming United States tour.
Mhere says his wife refused to hand over the phone arguing that she had been chatting with her sister on a sensitive topic. After a serious argument, he took the phone by force and all hell broke loose. He discovered that his wife was cheating with his former band member Gift Mahlupeka.
Since the matter leaked to the media on Thursday last week, Mhere was unwilling to open up.
He became the proverbial sandwich between a rock and a hard surface when his brother died on Sunday morning and he preferred to “leave everything to God”.
It took a two-hour conversation to convince Mhere to pour his heart to The Herald Entertainment on Wednesday afternoon.
“It is not easy to talk about this my brother. You will never understand the feeling when it has not happened to you. I used to read stories about cheating in the press and I never thought I would be in such a situation one day. It is only when it happens to you that you can understand how heavy a heart can be. You talk about it with such ease because you are not in such a situation. It is hard. It is painful,” said Mhere.
Grief was the skin of his face as he began to narrate how it happened. He said the Mahlupeka issue started in September last year.
“My wife told me that she had received funny WhatsApp messages from Gift. She showed me the messages. Gift knew I was not around and he asked Susan if she was not lonely. He hinted that he would provide company if she needed someone to entertain her.
“She seemed unhappy with the messages and she blocked Gift’s number from accessing her on WhatsApp. At that time, I had tasked him to assist my manager and he was part of the band. I phoned and warned him to stop seducing my wife. He apologised but I banned him from coming to my house and my shows. I told him to stop being involved with the band.”
Mhere and Mahlupeke became enemies. They did not meet for about six months and they did not communicate. Mhere thought the issue was water under the bridge until February 3, when he discovered the unexpected.
“I arrived home around 7pm and found Susan typing on her phone. I asked for her phone because my battery was flat. I had to call someone in connection with our United States visas. I became curious when she refused to give me the phone.
“She said she had been chatting with her sister on a sensitive topic. Her sister had not been on WhatsApp for almost three months and I was surprised. We argued until I took the phone by force. I had never used her phone before and she initially thought I did not know the password but I had seen her unlocking it on several occasions. I unlocked the phone and went to recent WhatsApp conversations. The first word I saw was ‘babe’ and I could not believe it. My heart sank as I went through the conversation. It was like a dream.”
After the discovery, Mhere tried to investigate further. He continued the WhatsApp conversation pretending to be Susan. In disbelief, he wanted to confirm the obvious. Prior messages said it all but Mhere wanted to further confirm his greatest fear — had Mahlupeka actually had sex with his wife?
Unfortunately, the cheater on the other end of the conversation should have mastered his game well. Mahlupeka realised he was no longer chatting with the same person and changed tone, which explains the inconsistency in the chats published by H-Metro.
“I tried to continue with the chat but he realised it. He began responding differently and pretending to be innocent. I am the one who sent messages about sexual encounters and car scenes. I was beginning to tie some strings together and he became evasive.”
Indeed, Mahlupeka’s responses changed colour and he became ‘the innocent brother being pestered for sex by a wayward wife of a close friend’. He actually signed off the conversation by saying a few blessings in the traditional Christian way. But it was too late.
Mhere took Susan to their pastor and showed him the messages.
“God says nothing is hidden forever. Even things that are done in darkness will be known one day. My pastor could not believe it and he just played his role at that time.”
From the pastor’s house, Mhere took Susan to Mahlupeke’s residence in Glen View. It was around midnight.
“I found him at home with his wife and father-in-law. I could not say much. I was angry and I did not want to cause a scene. I just left Susan at the house and went home.”
Despite being given the freedom to be with her ‘babe’ without Mhere to dodge or think about, Susan refused to be free. She refused to enjoy ‘freely’ what she had probably enjoyed in dark corners and hidden places. She followed Mhere that same night.
“She came home a few hours after I had arrived. I could not tolerate it. It was already in the morning and I drove to Mutare and left her at her aunt’s place.” While Susan was in Mutare, Mhere was planning the launch of his latest album “Glory to Glory”. Impending family meetings over the couple’s issue were suspended as the musician gave time to his career.
The album was launched on February 13. However, a day before the launch, information about their problems leaked to the media and Mhere says he had to manage the situation.
“We had agreed that we would have family meetings after the launch but the issue leaked to the media. I believe someone among the friends and relatives I had shown Susan and Gift’s chats after the incident leaked them.
“I was in a compromised position. I could imagine going for the launch when the whole world was talking about our domestic problem. It was going to be damaging and I was in a corner.”
Since Susan was set to return for the family meetings, it was agreed that she comes to attend the launch to try and portray that all was well and too keep the media’s attention at the launch rather than the burning issue.
At the launch, Mhere only recognised the presence of his parents and a presenter introduced Susan as the musician’s wife later. Susan was on the same table with Mhere’s parents.
It was also at the launch that Mhere once again came face to face with Mahlupeka.
“I had heard that he would be coming for the launch and I had told my brothers not to let him in. However, when he came, they could not physically restrain him. He seemed determined to be there for whatever reason and he got in. As a gospel function, we did not want to cause unnecessary commotion.”
So, the three were all at the launch and Mhere managed to suppress his emotions and the event went well.
After the launch, a family meeting was held at Mhere’s house on February 14 but there was no immediate solution.
On February 15, Mhere’s brother died and everything was suspended. Susan attended the funeral and that was also the time she told H-Metro that she wanted a second chance. According to Mhere, she has been admitting her faults and apologising at the meetings held so far.
The meetings are still underway and Mhere says there is no final position so far.
“As you know, this is a serious issue. I cannot give you the final position before we exhaust the meetings with church elders and family members. Whether we separate or we stay together, the normal channels have to be followed. We are legally married and either way, we have to exhaust the stages. At the moment I am leaving everything to God.”
The musician said the disturbances will not affect the programmes he has set for his career. The domestic issue has ironically increased demand for his music, especially the new album. However, Mhere says the songs which seem to have a link with his situation were composed well before the storm.
“It was just a coincidence. Everything happened when all songs had been written and recorded. Nothing was changed in the album’s production process.”
