Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku-Bulawayo Bureau
THE death of 32-year-old Ms Sanelisiwe Magagula has left a huge void in her family, with her mother saying she was the family’s pillar and breadwinner who was also responsible for the welfare of nine grandchildren.
Ms Magagula, who died alongside prominent businessman and philanthropist Wicknell Chivayo, his wife and the two pilots in a helicopter crash on Wednesday, was an aide to the late businessman’s wife, Lucy Muteke.
She was originally from Daluka village in Lupane, under Chief Mabhikwa, in Matabeleland North province.
In a telephone interview, her mother, Ms Duduzile Magagula (56), said Sanelisiwe was the last-born in a family of four and is survived by a 12-year-old child.
She said her daughter had been supporting the family and paying school fees for nine grandchildren.
“I don’t know where to start or what to say. My world has collapsed. I stay with nine grandchildren, and she is the one who was looking after them. She would pay school fees for them and do everything for them, including their upkeep,” she said.
Ms Magagula revealed that during school holidays, Sanelisiwe would take the children to Bulawayo and later to Harare after securing employment there.
“The grandchildren are heartbroken. Their shining light has gone. Who will now take them to town and buy them new clothes and pay for their school fees?” she lamented.
Sanelisiwe, she said, had also invested in her future, building a house at their rural home and was planning to establish a business for her.
“As I’m talking to you via the phone, I am sitting on a chair in the bedroom she built for me and she was in the process of building a bottle store for me so that as a family we could survive on it, but all that has been shattered,” she said.
A woman who lived with Sanelisiwe in Bulawayo’s Mzilikazi suburb described her as humble, kind-hearted and easy-going.
“She was a tenant here and we stayed together for a couple of years before she got a job in Harare. She was like a sister to me and I stayed with her son and her 19-year-old sister’s daughter.
“She was humble. I am devastated and at a loss for words as to why she had to depart from this earth at such a tender age. She had so much love to give,” she said.
Ms Magagula said her daughter completed Form Four at Zwangendaba High School in Lupane before joining the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA).
While serving in the ZNA, she was injured and later resigned.
She then joined the Bulawayo City Council as a municipal police officer.
“It was while she was at BCC that she secured a job as an aide to the late Chivayo’s wife, where she worked until her untimely death,” she said.
Ms Magagula said the family was waiting for burial arrangements after relatives travelled to Harare to collect Sanelisiwe’s remains.
“For now, I cannot say when she will be buried. We are waiting for feedback from family members who went to Harare to collect the body. However, what I can confirm is that she will be buried here in Daluka village, Lupane,” she said.
