Online Reporter
There was a time when marriage was the cornerstone of society, the sacred union where two souls became one, the “small heaven on earth” that our grandmothers prayed for and our grandfathers laboured to build.
It was a refuge from the storms of life, a partnership of equals, a covenant sealed not just by law, but by love, respect, and an unshakable commitment to weather every season together.
But at Brethren in Christ Church in New Lobengula on Tuesday, three coffins were wheeled into a sanctuary overflowing with mourners. We could not help but wonder: When did heaven become hell? When did the altar become a crime scene? When did the one we vowed to love and cherish become the one we fear the most?
Nothabo Zandile Tshuma and her daughters, Natalie and Nala, did not die in a car accident. They did not succumb to illness. They were not victims of a random act of violence. They were killed in their own home and the man accused of ending their lives is the very man who stood at an altar and promised to protect them. The irony is so bitter it chokes the throat.
Bulawayo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Judith Ncube, captured the collective anguish of a nation when she stood before the mourners and asked a question that should haunt every one of us: “Marriage must be a small heaven on earth, but our homes have now turned into hell. What has gone wrong?”
Minister Ncube’s call for “home care programmes” is not just a policy recommendation; it is a moral imperative. We cannot simply pray away the violence. We must act. We must create safe spaces where women can speak without fear, where men can seek help without shame, where families can heal without stigma.
But more than that, we must reclaim the meaning of marriage. We must return to the covenant that values partnership over power, love over control, and sacrifice over selfishness. We must teach our children — both boys and girls – that marriage is not about finding someone to complete you, but about becoming someone who completes the other. It is not about demanding your rights, but about fulfilling your responsibilities. It is not about building a kingdom for yourself, but about building a sanctuary for your family.
Nothabo, Natalie, and Nala are gone. They will never return to their grandmother’s embrace. They will never walk through the gate of their family home again. But their deaths must not be in vain. They must be a wake-up call, a piercing cry that shatters our complacency and demands that we answer the question: What has gone wrong?
The answer lies with us. We have made our homes hell because we have forgotten that they were meant to be heaven.
It is time to reclaim the sanctuary. It is time to rebuild the covenant. It is time to say, with our words and our actions, that the violence must end, and the healing must begin.
We are very sorry about what happened we all wish it had never happened. The four looked all handsome and pretty, a beautiful family it was .Reading between the lines from the testimonies given, she was a wonderful mother who would do everything good for her children.Human beings to a certain extend are just like animals, it could be that the husband felt jealous and excluded, just like dogs do and no longer wanted and ended up doing the unjustifiable as a human being.So please vanamai children are a part of us and that man, we did not have vana before we had that man. Lets from now on use the word vana vedu inside a household.We all know she was doing all this to protect her children. May our God give them rest in Heaven.