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Seven of nine road accident victims buried at Mandalay Farm

by Staff Reporter
31 Jul 2013 at 22:01hrs | Views

Seven of the nine people, who died in an accident along Bulawayo-Nyamandlovu Road in the Mimosa area on Sunday have been buried.

The accident occurred when the driver of a Nissan UD truck, Mr Dumisani Sibanda, lost control of the vehicle before it overturned and rolled three times.

The passengers were on their way to Nyamandlovu for a music show and rally that was organised by Zanu-PF National Assembly candidate for Umguza constituency, Dr Obert Mpofu.

Out of the 65 passengers who were in the truck, nine people lost their lives, seven on the spot while 57 were seriously injured.

Sincengani Dube (50), Bigboy Mguni (31), Mary Mahlangu (66), Mavis Moyo (67), Petros Moyo (77) and Sethekelene Nkomo were buried at Mandalay Farm while six-month-old Gladys Maphosa's body was taken to Clouf Farm, Umguza, for burial.

Betty Nxumalo who was from the same family with Dube and Mahlangu was buried in Inyathi on Monday, while the ninth victim will be buried today. The ninth victim's name could not be ascertained yesterday.

The mourners, who included villagers, politicians, church leaders and Zanu-PF supporters wept when the bodies arrived at the farm from Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.

The church leaders kept on encouraging the mourners to sing and comfort the families of the deceased as everyone emotionally broke down while the seven bodies lay in front of them.

The seven were given a heroes' send off by the people as the party supporters from Matabeleland North and Bulawayo Provinces bid farewell to the patriotic Zanu-PF supporters whose death touched the entire party leadership.

The mourners were unanimous in describing the party supporters as patriotic children of the soil.

In his address at the funeral before the bodies were laid to rest, the visibly touched Dr Mpofu, said he was still trying to come to terms with the tragic incident.

"When I got the message on Sunday I could not believe it and I failed to address people during the rally. This is painful. I know there is nothing we can do about it but I keep asking myself why it happened on that day.

"On Saturday I was in Magobo, where we have more than 3 000 supporters. We were all happy and busy preparing for Sunday's event. Nobody knew that we would lose our loved ones in such a painful way. Even President Mugabe, Vice-President Joice Mujuru and the National Chairman, Simon Khaya Moyo were touched by this incident. I have been receiving calls since Sunday," said Dr Mpofu.

He pleaded with pastors to pray against traffic accidents on the country's roads, saying the devil was at work.

"The devil is all over and I believe he was in that vehicle on Sunday. May our pastors pray for all leaders because as we try to unite people and build the country, the devil works against us to bring sorrow and shame.

"It is evident that these people loved their party. I therefore would like to encourage all of us to go in our thousands to vote for Zanu-PF tomorrow (today) on behalf of our loved ones," said Dr Mpofu.

Governor and Resident Minister for Matabeleland North Thokozile Mathuthu consoled Dr Mpofu, his wife and the families of the deceased, saying the devil was there to destroy the people of God.

'When people are happy, the devil always finds ways to destroy that happiness. I am really sorry to the Mpofu family and the entire Umguza community. This is a difficult situation, but let us takes solace in that our beloved ones are among the people that died for this country.

"Tomorrow is a big day. Let us all go and vote for our party that brought freedom to all Zimbabweans," said Mathuthu.

Zanu-PF Matabeleland North Provincial chairman Richard Moyo said 25 people were still receiving treatment at Mpilo.

He advised members of the public against spreading wrong information about the accident victims to avoid hurting the already distraught families.

"We would like to appeal to people to stop spreading wrong information about the accident victims. We are working very closely with the hospital and the police and we will inform the affected families if there are any developments," said Moyo.

Dr Mpofu assisted the affected families with coffins and food.

He is also paying for the medical expenses and food for the patients at the hospital.

Zanu-PF National Assembly candidate for Makokoba constituency Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube also donated food for the mourners.

Among the mourners were Zanu-PF Central Committee member Lot Mbambo, National Assembly candidate for Pelandaba-Mpopoma Joseph Tshuma and Dr Mpofu's wife, Sikhanyisiwe Mpofu.


Source - Chronicle