Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
ZIMBABWE’S Embassy in South Africa has started working on the repatriation process of the 36 Zimbabweans who died in a recent horrific road accident in Makhado, Limpopo province in South Africa.
This follows the positive identification of their remains by relatives at the Siloam Hospital Mortuary on Monday morning.
The heartbreaking identification lasted the full day with South African forensic and pathological teams having worked hard through the weekend to restore and preserve most of the badly damaged remains.
In the aftermath of the bus accident, 30 adult Zimbabweans and six children perished when the bus carrying Malawians and Zimbabweans heading to Harare and Malawi plunged into a cliff outside Makhado town along the N1 road on Sunday last week.
The crash also claimed eight Malawian men, one woman, and one child.
A total of 40 other people were injured in the crash. As of Monday, 12 Zimbabweans and seven Malawians were still admitted in various hospitals in Limpopo Province.
Zimbabwe’s Charge d’Affaires in the neighbouring country, Mr Shepard Gwenzi, confirmed the latest development, saying they expect the repatriation process to be concluded this week.
“On 20 October, the physical identification of the deceased was successfully conducted at Siloam Hospital Mortuary with all the bodies positively identified by next of kin,” he said.
“It’s expected that the bodies would be handed over to Doves Funeral Services on 21 October 2025 for embalming in preparation for repatriation to Zimbabwe for burial.”
Limpopo’s premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, said on Monday that the bodies’ identification process will be thorough to ensure no family collects a wrong body for burial. The process was done in three parts, that is, using photography, physical identification and fingerprint verification and DNA tests with respect to the seven children.
