Harare – The bail ruling for Sonja Madzikanda, estranged wife of controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo, and her mother Tabitha Madzikanda was postponed to Friday after the presiding magistrate, Nyaradzo Manokore, reportedly fell ill, the court heard on Thursday.

A charge sheet glimpsed by this publication confirmed that the other charges – including fraud, unauthorised distribution of content, undermining the authority of the President, contempt of court, and alleged digital manipulation involving AI-generated imagery – have been dropped.

The state will now proceed with a single count of cyberbullying against the two suspects.

The original allegations, detailed in court documents, painted a complex web of financial and legal transgressions.

Tabitha Madzikanda, a senior card manager at FBC Bank, was accused of attempting to siphon US$1.4 million from a trust account established for Chivayo’s children – an account originally funded as part of a US$5 million divorce settlement. Investigators also alleged she tried to remove Chivayo as a signatory and that AI-generated images depicting Chivayo with an African head of state were allegedly traced to her mobile device. There was another contempt charge related to an alleged breach of a High Court order governing access to the couple’s two minor children.

Sonja Madzikanda, who was arrested on Monday, had also faced accusations linked to unauthorised distribution of content and undermining presidential authority.

Despite the withdrawal of those charges, the state is expected to argue against bail on the remaining cyberbullying count, citing potential witness interference.

In a Facebook post made roughly seven hours before her initial court appearance, Sonja Madzikanda defended her divorce settlement demands, drawing comparisons to some of the world’s most expensive divorces.

Speaking from Highlands Police Station following her arrest, she also alleged that the accusations were linked to a “compromising” video involving Chivayo and a regional head of state.

“This is a man who is heavily guarded as you are all aware,” she said in a video circulated online. “He has so many security guards around him and somehow I managed to get access to one of his devices and get a video of him with a president that’s very compromising.”