Online ReporterChronicle Reporter
Across Zimbabwe, there are families whose lives have been marked not only by political tensions but by the long and painful silence of loved ones who fled their homes years ago and never returned.
For many relatives, the hardest part is not knowing whether their children, nephews, nieces or siblings are alive or safe.
In villages and small towns, memories linger — empty homes, abandoned fields and the unanswered question of when, or if, those who left will ever come back.
A home reduced to ashes
In the Inyathi area of Matabeleland North, the family of Joseph Mlambo still remembers the night their lives changed.
Relatives say Mlambo fled the area after their rural homestead was allegedly burnt down by suspected Zanu-PF supporters because of his affiliation with the opposition MDC-T.
The incident forced him into hiding and ultimately into exile.
Nearly two decades later, his family says they still have no idea where he is.
His uncle, who remains in the area, says the last time they spoke to him was in 2006.
“We last communicated with him in 2006 and since then we have not heard anything from him. We do not know where he is or whether he is safe,” he said.
The uncle says the uncertainty has weighed heavily on the family over the years.
According to him, Mlambo had been politically active during a tense period in the country’s political landscape, something that relatives believe made him a target.
When the family home was destroyed, he fled the area and disappeared.
Today, the family continues to hope that one day they might hear from him again.
Living with fear
In Lower Gweru, another family recounts a different but equally painful story.
Relatives of Nokuthula Crystal Tshuma say her life changed after she allegedly survived a violent attack while returning from a political rally.
According to a relative, Tshuma had attended an MDC rally in Mkoba, Gweru, when the incident occurred.
The relative says the young woman was allegedly raped on her way home.
Before the incident, Tshuma had been living with her grandmother in Lower Gweru while her mother worked in South Africa.
After the alleged attack, the family says she struggled with fear and trauma.
“She stayed inside the house most of the time. For more than a year she lived in fear and hardly went anywhere,” said the relative.
The situation eventually forced her mother to travel from South Africa to take her out of the country.
She relocated to South Africa to start a new life, away from the environment that reminded her of the traumatic incident.
Fear across borders
But while moving to South Africa offered a sense of safety, relatives say new fears soon emerged.
Family members worry that she may now face another danger — xenophobic tensions that have periodically erupted in parts of South Africa.
The relative expressed concern over movements such as Operation Dudula, which has targeted undocumented migrants and foreign nationals in some communities.
“We fear that even there she might not be completely safe because of the xenophobic situation,” the relative said.
The unseen victims
For families like those of Mlambo and Tshuma, political conflict does not only affect those directly involved.
It also leaves behind parents, grandparents and relatives who must cope with absence, fear and unanswered questions.
Years after the events that drove their loved ones away, many families still live with the emotional toll.
In quiet homesteads and rural villages, some continue to wait for a phone call, a letter or a message that may never come.
For them, the passage of time has not healed the uncertainty.
Instead, it has only deepened the longing to see their children again — even if only once more.
Londile Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu