A Zimbabwean man, Lawrence Ndlovu, who is a cellphone dealer at Unity Village flea market in the city centre, faked his death in a bid to avoid massive debts.

Ndlovu reportedly sent his friends text messages claiming he was dead.

“I’m sorry, Lawrence has passed away. He died a few moments ago,” became the standard response after Ndlovu’s “death” on Sunday night.

In a state of shock, his friends shared the message while some rushed to his home in Nketa suburb to ascertain if the message was true.

“When we heard about his death, I decided to go to his house but I was surprised when I found him sleeping,” said Mgcini Sibanda, who works with Ndlovu at the flea market.

“I asked him about the death message and he said it could have been sent by his sister who had panicked when he collapsed.”

Ndlovu’s girlfriend Beauty Magagula was devastated after being informed about his “death”.

She said: “I was shocked when his sister called me between 10 and 11 PM informing me that Lawrence had died, considering that he was well during the day.

“In the morning, my uncle went to his house to inquire on what happened and he found that he was alive.”

Beauty said when she asked him about the death message, Ndlovu had told her that “there were people harassing him about debts.”

On Thursday, Ndlovu insisted he had not sent the message and denied he was trying to flee piling debts.

“I collapsed on that night and the person who was with me mistakenly assumed that I was dead and started sending that message,” he said.

He also denied faking his death to escape paying his debts.

“If I really wanted to avoid paying debts, I would have run away. Whoever said I was trying to escape paying debts was lying. I don’t even have debts, and if I have them, it might be just a mere $5 or less,” he said.

However, friends at the flea market at Unity Village said Ndlovu owed several people money.