Chronicle Editor
Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
About 15km from Gwanda Town, along the Gwanda-Blanket Mine Road in the Vumbachickwe Mine area is Churu Farm.
On the farm are shanty shelters which have become a saving grace for the homeless seeking accommodation in the area.
To access the shelters, one needs to put in some footwork as they are located on a rocky slope.
The houses at Churu Farm accommodate about 15 families which have grown to be a close-knit community.
The sweltering Gwanda sun had forced many of them onto their tiny verandas as they sought some fresh air.
From the stares and the silent chatter, it was easy to tell that new faces were not readily welcomed.
While some were said to be living at the one-roomed houses rent free, others were said to be paying between R120 to R300 for the accommodation which has no electricity, just running water.
The owner of the farm, Ms Siphilisiwe Moyo who was at the nearby shops when a Chronicle news crew met her said she acquired the farm in 2000.
“We don’t do much crop production because there are a lot of monkeys around. We’re just rearing cattle, goats and chickens as a result,” said Ms Moyo, who had been having a chat over drinks with some locals.
She said when she acquired the farm in 2000, she found some old women living there.
“Their husbands have since passed on but they used to work on the farm and some of them at the mine. The women continued to stay on the farm as they had nowhere else to go. A lot of them are originally from Malawi and their husbands were migrant workers,” said Ms Moyo.
She said it has been years since the widows started staying on the farm and most of them now accommodate their grandchildren there as well.
“A lot of the old ladies do piece jobs around the area in order to earn a living,” said the sultry farm owner.
One of the widows who live at the farm, Gogo Selina Banda (75), has to wake up early in the morning to do menial jobs in the Vumbachikwe Mine area in order to survive.
She lives alone at the farm, and earns a living by working on nearby fields and selling chickens which she keeps at home.
“I was married to Isaac Mutarimanja Mlauzi and we had two children while we were staying in Bulawayo. He worked at Kezi PTC (Post and Telecommunications Corporation). In 1969, he deceived me and took my son to Malawi, leaving me with a daughter who was still breast-feeding, but later died. After my daughter died, I was left by myself.
My wish is to see my son. Since he went to Malawi, he never came back. I wish to see him before I die,” said Gogo Banda.
She said she started living on the farm in the 1990s and had relatives in the Vumbachikwe Mine area although they were not in touch.
“I have been living on this farm from as far back as the land redistribution exercise. I have been living alone and once worked as a house helper for seven years before I started doing piece jobs which I’m surviving on now,” she said.
One of the locals, Ms Livia Muranda said it was sad to see the old women having to work in order to earn a living.
“These old ladies should be living a comfortable life and have their children taking care of them but we’re always seeing them working in people’s yards and all that,” said Ms Muranda.
She said despite having it hard, a lot of them are found drinking alcohol by the shops after a hard day’s work, which was ironic.
“It’s probably because they’re battling depression and other issues, angathi kha kuthi dlwe,” said Ms Muranda.
Despite having on one hand those that are considered to be very poor, on the flip side are those who can afford to drink alcohol, barbecue some meat, play snooker and dance to some music every day.
No one really knows how they get their money although some locals said illegal gold mining and the selling of illicit drugs are common trades in the area.
“There are a lot of illegal gold miners in the area. A lot of people also sell mbanje and other drugs. You also find that a lot of things happen undercover.
There are people who spend most of their time drinking here at the shops but no one knows how they get their money. They have money to splash and binge,” said Mr Mlungisi Dube, another local.
He said turf wars among omakorokoza are always breaking out on the farm during beer binges.
“People here are always fighting, and get to a point of almost killing each other. With some, you find them sitting around here looking like they’re doing nothing but they’ll actually be selling all sorts of drugs,” said Mr Dube.
He said some of the illegal gold miners live at Churu Farm and whenever illegal gold miners from other areas visit the farm, it spelt trouble.
“They take out okapi knives and all sorts of other weapons. You really don’t want to be around when it happens,” said Mr Dube. — @Yolisswa
Online Reporter