Accident victims buried

Those buried yesterday were Mrs Nokuthaba Moyo (31) and Mrs Bekezela Mnkandla (31) while Mrs Privilege Ndlovu was buried on Tuesday.

 

They were all buried at West Park Cemetery.

The fatal accident, which killed the three women who were members of a well travelled church choir, Ladies Glee Choir on the spot, occurred at the robot controlled inter-section of Siyephambili Drive and Khami Road at about 7.15 am on Sunday morning.

They were going to a funeral service of a fellow choir member, Mrs Hlengiwe Mlisa.

Mrs Moyo was married to Mrs Mnkandla’s brother, Mr Bukhosibenkosi Moyo.

Their husbands, Mr Moyo and Mr Sikhumbuzo Mnkandla, could hardly talk at the funeral service at Selborne Park SDA Church.

Mrs Mnkandla was a teacher at Bulawayo Adventist Secondary School (BASS) and was doing a degree at Solusi University while Mrs Moyo was a nurse by profession although she was not working.

Mrs Moyo, Mrs Mnkandla and Mrs Ndlovu left two minor children each, between the ages of nine months and five years.

A gloomy atmosphere engulfed Selborne Park SDA Church yesterday morning as hundreds of people mostly church members from Bulawayo, some from across the country and pupils from BASS gathered to bid farewell to Mrs Moyo and Mrs Mnkandla.

Scores of others followed proceedings from outside the church building as they could not fit inside.

The church car park was filled to capacity and hundreds of cars were parked along Gwanda Road and some along Cecil Avenue for about a kilometre towards Hillside and temporarily blocking the road.

Mr Luke Mnkandla, the uncle to Mr Sikhumbuzo Mnkandla, said the Mnkandla family had lost a binding force.

“She was polite and respectful and no one would think she was a daughter-in-law. The accident happened when they were going to a funeral of a member of the choir, which they were all members. When everybody was waiting for them to arrive and start singing, we received a phone call that they had died.

“The other one was buried yesterday and we delayed because we were still waiting for other relatives who were outside the country,” said Mr Mnkandla.

A representative of the Moyo family said the death of their daughter-in-law was a bitter pill to swallow as she was the  love of many.

“She was full of love such that she was the first to attend to any problem in the family,” said the representative.

Speaking on behalf of the church, Dr Richard Sithole, the secretary-general of the SDA Zimbabwe Union Conference, said the church was concerned about the minor children and youthful husbands the three women had left behind.

“As you can see from the number of people in attendance here, it shows they were people with an impact and active in church. They had love, were friendly and cheerful. It came as a shock to the church because no one expected this to happen.

“It is a sad loss to the church and we are worried about those left behind,” said Dr Sithole.

Mrs Effie Sithole, the patron of Ladies Glee, said the church had lost active members who had devoted their time to improving livelihoods of members.

“They started the group in 2007 and asked me to be their patron. They had travelled around the  country ministering in song and were very active in church, running workshops for children and youths,” she said.

Head Elder at Hillside SDA Church, Lovenah Moyo, described the late Mrs Moyo, Mrs Mnkandla and Mrs Ndlovu as volunteers of the word of God and said the church would not be able to go ahead with the work they were doing.

“It is painful that when you think people are serving God, suddenly they are taken away. We do not know how as the church we would carry on with the job they were doing, they were true volunteers and made changes in church. Their music was touching and we do not know what to do. Hopefully he will raise other people like them,” said Elder Moyo.

Another church elder, Mrs Lindie Mpabanga, said it would be difficult to fill the gap left by the three women as they were pillars in the church choir.