Opinion / Columnist
The tragedy and shame of the Durban Deep Mine disaster
08 Mar 2014 at 17:08hrs | Views
As dawn broke over the Limpopo river this morning a convoy of hearses crossed the border into this ruin of a country which, as one writer put it, is aptly named after a heap of ruins in the forgotten town of Masvingo. The hearses were bearing the remains of the victims of the Durban Deep Mine disaster in the Roodeport area of Johannesburg, 23 bodies of young Zimbabweans cut down in the prime of their lives as they eked out a living in the dangerous disused mine shaft in a foreign land.
As news of the disaster spread last week individuals across the diaspora chipped in with contributions in cash and kind to help in the repatriation of the bodies home and ferrying to as far flung places such as Zhombe and Nkayi in Matabeleland North. The consulate in Pretoria helped in the preparation of identity and travel papers for both the victims and relatives accompanying the bodies. For it is a fact that besides being illegal miners the victims were also illegal immigrants in South Africa, or more fittingly they were economic refuges in South Africa. According to a family spokesman when the convoy arrived at the South African border they were further delayed by the South African Immigration officials who insisted on clearing the bodies singly, surely it would not have been asking too much for one of our officials at the embassy in Pretoria to accompany the bodies. After all the government help was limited to the documents aforementioned and a lot of spiel from the spin doctors. I suppose they could not be torn away from their weekend game of golf.
When the news of the disaster was reported early last week the nation was already dealing with floods in Masvingo in the Tokwe dam area and someone had whispered in the ears of the mandarins in Harare that there were also floods in a district called Tsholotsho in the hinterlands of Matabeleland North. Now the mere mention of that district is guaranteed to turn the bowels of every loyal party member in shake shake building to water. That district is associated with a school called Dinyane, the venue of an unsuccessful palace takeover bid a few years back. The wounds of the ensuing fallout have just healed in some comrades who had been left off the gravy train in the past few years, so that word Tsholotsho is taboo, so after the quiet whispers a tour was quickly organized to view the floods and their effects and doll out the usual spiel on government concerns. At this point I am sure it would not be blasphemous to suggest that it did indeed cross a few minds that the floods would have done well and swept the place away from the face of the earth and wiped some painful memories from the minds of the touring party. The point being made here is the government was already dealing with emergencies on the domestic scene and had already set in motion the bureaucratic machinery, surely it would not have been too much to divert a few dollars to the tragedy at Durban Deep. But our government kept quiet and folded their arms and watched its refugee population fight with the South African officials for the rescue efforts not to be abandoned. When the bodies were above ground and individuals had again sourced and raised funds for the repatriation of the bodies, only then did the government attempt to wipe the egg off their faces with the offer to help with travel documents.
Once the word filtered through that the bodies had arrived in Bulawayo at Kings and Queens Parlour in Kelvin the vultures descended in their 4 X 4s to negotiate the potholed road leading to the funeral home.
They came in their t-shirts, caps and ntsaros ostensibly to pay the respects to the bereaved families. And while the families rushed around organizing transport for mourners to Nkayi, Zhombe and Tsholotsho after the brief service the vultures got into their twin cabs and drove off, obviously miffed that the families had refused them a chance to speak during the service. What hypocrisy!!! They should have come to offer their apologies to the Siziba family who lost six members and to the Mlambo family who lost four members.
And to the other families who lost their loved ones in that hole in far off Roodeport. They should be ashamed that while they were dining, marrying, dancing, giving away twenty thousand dollar cars to singers and spending over $9 000 000 in two weeks some citizens of this country they are supposed to be leading were gasping their last breaths in a disused mine shaft in a foreign land. They were not even ashamed to drive their twin cabs on the rutted and potholed road to Kings and Queens to offer their insincere condolences and to drive away once denied the microphone.
The blood of those young people is on the hands of the regime which has driven this country to ruins. If Nkayi, which after 34 years of independence has been reduced to a ghost town, full of incomplete and abandoned buildings, had been able provide a source of livelihood for its locals those young people would not have sought economic refuge in South Africa. Indeed the only distinction this regime has achieved, in all its years in power, is the total destruction of all means of livelihood for the young people of this country. They have succeeded in closing down factories and industry and in the process driven the young people of this land to foreign lands where they abused as menial labourers. The young people of Zimbabwe now carry the curse of Noah, they are known worldwide as the black sons of Ham, carriers of water and hewers of wood. Indeed the tears in the eyes of the young people as they recite Lamentations 5 which has become their prayer whenever they meet is a curse of damnation on the souls of the political leaders of this country who have failed the young people of Zimbabwe.
The only motivation that drove those unfortunate souls and indeed continues to drive many more into those unsafe disused mines is a desire to earn a living and support parents, spouses and offspring back home. Now they are gone and those dependants will be the worse for wear because this unhappy regime has no money to pay social grants to the elderly and the orphans. After all the CEO salaries are paid nothing is left over for social responsibilities to such an extent that the government had to ask for money from the often insulted colonial master to fund school fees for disadvantaged children in the country. The bottom line is: this regime has failed to govern and no matter how much they scream sanctions they are ultimately responsible for the deaths of the unfortunate young people in Roodeport. Their corruption and greed has ruined this country and the future of its youth. As Deuteronomy says in chapter 17 verse 16: "… only he must not multiply horses for himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses…." These rulers have multiplied wealth for themselves and caused our youth to return to the land of oppressors to look for wealth. The tragedy of Durban Deep is a shame on the leaders of this country.
As news of the disaster spread last week individuals across the diaspora chipped in with contributions in cash and kind to help in the repatriation of the bodies home and ferrying to as far flung places such as Zhombe and Nkayi in Matabeleland North. The consulate in Pretoria helped in the preparation of identity and travel papers for both the victims and relatives accompanying the bodies. For it is a fact that besides being illegal miners the victims were also illegal immigrants in South Africa, or more fittingly they were economic refuges in South Africa. According to a family spokesman when the convoy arrived at the South African border they were further delayed by the South African Immigration officials who insisted on clearing the bodies singly, surely it would not have been asking too much for one of our officials at the embassy in Pretoria to accompany the bodies. After all the government help was limited to the documents aforementioned and a lot of spiel from the spin doctors. I suppose they could not be torn away from their weekend game of golf.
When the news of the disaster was reported early last week the nation was already dealing with floods in Masvingo in the Tokwe dam area and someone had whispered in the ears of the mandarins in Harare that there were also floods in a district called Tsholotsho in the hinterlands of Matabeleland North. Now the mere mention of that district is guaranteed to turn the bowels of every loyal party member in shake shake building to water. That district is associated with a school called Dinyane, the venue of an unsuccessful palace takeover bid a few years back. The wounds of the ensuing fallout have just healed in some comrades who had been left off the gravy train in the past few years, so that word Tsholotsho is taboo, so after the quiet whispers a tour was quickly organized to view the floods and their effects and doll out the usual spiel on government concerns. At this point I am sure it would not be blasphemous to suggest that it did indeed cross a few minds that the floods would have done well and swept the place away from the face of the earth and wiped some painful memories from the minds of the touring party. The point being made here is the government was already dealing with emergencies on the domestic scene and had already set in motion the bureaucratic machinery, surely it would not have been too much to divert a few dollars to the tragedy at Durban Deep. But our government kept quiet and folded their arms and watched its refugee population fight with the South African officials for the rescue efforts not to be abandoned. When the bodies were above ground and individuals had again sourced and raised funds for the repatriation of the bodies, only then did the government attempt to wipe the egg off their faces with the offer to help with travel documents.
Once the word filtered through that the bodies had arrived in Bulawayo at Kings and Queens Parlour in Kelvin the vultures descended in their 4 X 4s to negotiate the potholed road leading to the funeral home.
They came in their t-shirts, caps and ntsaros ostensibly to pay the respects to the bereaved families. And while the families rushed around organizing transport for mourners to Nkayi, Zhombe and Tsholotsho after the brief service the vultures got into their twin cabs and drove off, obviously miffed that the families had refused them a chance to speak during the service. What hypocrisy!!! They should have come to offer their apologies to the Siziba family who lost six members and to the Mlambo family who lost four members.
And to the other families who lost their loved ones in that hole in far off Roodeport. They should be ashamed that while they were dining, marrying, dancing, giving away twenty thousand dollar cars to singers and spending over $9 000 000 in two weeks some citizens of this country they are supposed to be leading were gasping their last breaths in a disused mine shaft in a foreign land. They were not even ashamed to drive their twin cabs on the rutted and potholed road to Kings and Queens to offer their insincere condolences and to drive away once denied the microphone.
The blood of those young people is on the hands of the regime which has driven this country to ruins. If Nkayi, which after 34 years of independence has been reduced to a ghost town, full of incomplete and abandoned buildings, had been able provide a source of livelihood for its locals those young people would not have sought economic refuge in South Africa. Indeed the only distinction this regime has achieved, in all its years in power, is the total destruction of all means of livelihood for the young people of this country. They have succeeded in closing down factories and industry and in the process driven the young people of this land to foreign lands where they abused as menial labourers. The young people of Zimbabwe now carry the curse of Noah, they are known worldwide as the black sons of Ham, carriers of water and hewers of wood. Indeed the tears in the eyes of the young people as they recite Lamentations 5 which has become their prayer whenever they meet is a curse of damnation on the souls of the political leaders of this country who have failed the young people of Zimbabwe.
The only motivation that drove those unfortunate souls and indeed continues to drive many more into those unsafe disused mines is a desire to earn a living and support parents, spouses and offspring back home. Now they are gone and those dependants will be the worse for wear because this unhappy regime has no money to pay social grants to the elderly and the orphans. After all the CEO salaries are paid nothing is left over for social responsibilities to such an extent that the government had to ask for money from the often insulted colonial master to fund school fees for disadvantaged children in the country. The bottom line is: this regime has failed to govern and no matter how much they scream sanctions they are ultimately responsible for the deaths of the unfortunate young people in Roodeport. Their corruption and greed has ruined this country and the future of its youth. As Deuteronomy says in chapter 17 verse 16: "… only he must not multiply horses for himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses…." These rulers have multiplied wealth for themselves and caused our youth to return to the land of oppressors to look for wealth. The tragedy of Durban Deep is a shame on the leaders of this country.
Source - Patrick Ndlovu
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