The Sunday News
Peter Matika, Senior Leisure Reporter
THE Homestead Conference Centre in Bulawayo will this year offer free HIV testing and counselling and has also engaged marriage counsellors to be part of this year’s edition of the wedding expo event, as it seeks to protect marriages from collapse.
Lately there has been a surge in divorce cases, where 673 divorce applications were received between January and December last year, marking a sharp decrease compared to 820 in the previous year.
However, the number of couples who had their marriages solemnised by magistrates at the Bulawayo’s Tredgold Building increased to 1 267 in 2019 compared to the previous year when 1 192 couples exchanged vows.
The statistics show that out of about 2 000 summons filed, divorce applications ruled the roost.
According to one of the organisers of the event Nqobile Mpofu, this year’s edition will run under the theme Setting Trends in 2020.
“We are offering a 20 percent discount this year to all service providers and those that will be showcasing their products at the event. We are inviting those planning to get married to attend the expo.
“One of our stalls will be for AHF Zimbabwe, who do free HIV testing,” said Mpofu.
This would be the expo’s third year running and organisers hope to introduce a variety of programmes and products every year.
Homestead Conference Centre manager Desiree Malaba-Zhou said wedding expos contributed to the country’s economic development, through domestic tourism.
“Wedding expos develop the economy, considering that people invest a lot in their weddings. You find people coming from overseas to hold their weddings back home. This year we will be showcasing the latest trends in weddings and we will also be promoting trust, choice and competitiveness among services providers and couples,” said Malaba-Zhou.
She then called upon the Government to loosen up bills and import duties on wedding equipment.
In relation to the increase in divorce cases she said the main cause was lack of counselling and economic challenges.
“Most young couples are divorcing because they lack counselling, this time around we are engaging marriage officers who will give advice to them before marriage.
Another cause of this surge in divorces is due to the current waning economic situation, poor planning, exorbitant charges by service providers, public service providers, rentals, food, rates and so forth.
“This year we are actually calling upon couples to get affordable services and products for their big day. They should do things that are within their means,” added Malaba-Zhou.
@peterkmatika
