Some men view themselves as perfect creatures as compared to their female partners. That is why they often believe they are right all the time. You would hear them proudly say, “Women are the weakest links”. However, they tend to forget that they also have quite a number of flaws that are mostly covered by women.

It is true when they say, “Behind every successful man, there is a woman,” Meaning that men and women complement each other. Then why do some family men always attribute every success of their families to their own strengths and wisdom? And why when they are screwed up in life do they blame their partners for failure? The response is simple: they like to take away the credit from their better halves and like to play the blame game.

Thoriso was a middle aged man; he was espoused to a stunning young woman named Bokamoso. He was a chatty man who always boasted that his wife’s survival was dependent on him. He told his friends that Bokamoso was a useless woman who did not want to work but only wasted his money. And many people saw Bokamoso as a leech.

However, Bokamoso was always trying her level best to disregard them and hide her spouse’s weaknesses. She was a humbled and good-natured woman. Her good manners were instilled by her parents at a young age; she always submitted to her husband. Deep down she knew that her husband, Thoriso, was not worthy of her respect: he was the greatest bastard she had ever come across.

By the time Thoriso married Bokamoso he was still living with his parents, who were the breadwinners of the household. After the marriage, this couple lived a happy life; they were covered with everything: food and clothes. Nevertheless, Thoriso had an alcohol problem. He would get home late at night when everyone was fast asleep. He would embark on making noise, calling for his wife to open the door for him. His parents tried several times to tell him to refrain from his bad behaviour, but he did not take heed. Then they were forced to release the couple from their house so that they could be independent.

Thoriso and Bokamoso rented a single room. They had to pay rent every month. Due to the fact that neither Thoriso nor Bokamoso were working, they were impelled to look for piece jobs. Thoriso worked in the gardens. With the least wage he got from his work, he bought beer. He refused to purchase food for Bokamoso and to pay rent. Bokamoso suffered, and she was driven by the prevailing circumstances to do something. And so she resolved to brew and sell homemade beer, mmamotsatsa, in order to earn a living.

This move was not supported by Thoriso. He said by doing so she would be a disgrace to their family. How could he stand against her plans when he was only drinking his money and feeding her nothing? What would she do when Thoriso did not desire to pay the rent? She really needed to make a plan fast.

She secretly borrowed money from her friends and started the homemade beer business with the help of one of her home girls, Selina. She lied to her husband that the business belonged to Selina. When her husband went to the piece jobs in the early morning, she would creep out from home to brew mmamotsatsa and returned home before her spouse retreated from work. During her absence from the business, Selina continued selling the beer.

As her business started to generate more income, she was able to pay the bills and to buy some groceries. She would lie to her hubby that she made money from doing laundry for other people. And it was not a big deal to her spouse as long as she did not sell beer. Then her worries lessened and she became more beautiful.

When Thoriso saw that his wife was glowing with beauty, he felt some jealousy. He began to accuse her of engaging in extramarital love affairs. Then he ordered her to give up her laundry work to stay at home. He thought Bokamoso was seeing other women’s husbands. He sometimes returned from the work at lunchtime to check her out.

Realising that she would not be able to brew the beer anymore, Bokamoso hired a woman who would help Selina. The woman’s job has been just to brew while Selina’s job was simply to sell beer. The business grew tremendously in her absence under the full-time management of Selina, who worked with high loyalty and utmost faithfulness.

The fact that Bokamoso was now looking beautiful made Thoriso start to praise himself in the taverns that he was a strong man; he knew how to take care of a woman, and this was evidenced by his wife’s good looks.

“My wife stays home all day,” he stated, “and I give her all my money to look good.” Then his friends would give him a pat on the back and congratulate him.

He would square his shoulders and laugh, ‘You see how smooth she is? It’s my money that washes her,’ he boasted. Then he would take all the money he made that day and fill the table with the beer quarts. He would drink until he was unable to walk. His associates would support him on both sides and guide him home.

Tell us: What do you think of Thoriso’s behaviour?