Online Reporter
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
VILLAGE leaders in Madlambudzi, Bulilima District, Matabeleland South Province, were forced to draw on their peace-building skills as they sought to calm tensions yesterday during the burial of five community members, killed in a shocking murder spree allegedly carried out by Phamani Sibanda, a suspected mentally ill man.
The victims — Elliot Khupe (101), Butho Tshuma (97), Constance Sibanda (66), Tiffan Surprise Ndlovu of Bellas Village, and Catra Matsika (72) of Central Village — were buried simultaneously during a sombre affair that cast a dark shadow over a community that is still struggling to come to terms with a bloodbath that shook Zimbabwe.
The blow delivered by the killing spree was felt sharply in one household in particular, where three members of the same family were laid to rest in three adjacent graves.
Tshuma, a highly regarded elder in the village, was buried next to her daughter-in-law, Constance Sibanda and her great-grandchild, Tiffan Ndlovu.
The three are said to have been relaxing at home when Sibanda allegedly took them by surprise during a shocking orgy of violence.
On Saturday morning, family members wept as dirt was piled on the members of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), who bade farewell to the trio with hymns and their signature dances.
With the funerals being held at once, village heads split among the gatherings, urging restraint amid simmering anger. Their message was simple: senseless violence must not be met with more violence.
Speaking on the sidelines of the burial of Catra Matsika, Central Village head Mr Earnway Sibanda thanked the community for keeping the peace.
“I want to thank all the families that had the misfortune, because it could have been easy for them to agitate for violence after what happened. However, throughout this time, they have maintained peace and heeded messages from village leadership.
Some might have felt the need for retaliation, but we have to understand that when a spirit of evil takes hold, it is not always necessary to act in the way that makes us seem like we are animals.
“As leaders, our most urgent task was to advocate for peace because this is something that was done by someone from within the community, so some might have been compelled to retaliate in some way,” he said.
Mr Sibanda said while traditional leaders stood ready to guide the grieving families, the next steps would be determined by them.
“We have informed the families that we are leaving the decision on what to do next in their hands. We cannot rush ahead and decide for them. If they feel that there are measures that they want to take as we go forward, they will inform us.
“We had the impression that they wanted to wait for the burials before taking any steps. At the moment, they have not informed us of anything, and that is also largely because the person who did this is now locked up,” he said.
Mr Sibanda acknowledged that for many in the village, the issue was not closed, with more discussions within the community needed if the grieving were to be properly comforted.
“We know that the community is nursing an open wound at the moment, and we have to take care not to lose sight of this. We will be closely monitoring the situation going forward because we don’t want this hurt to turn into anger. As leaders, we have resolved that we will be having regular meetings and giving back feedback to the community,” he said.
A relative of Matsika, Mr Enock Moyo, said that the family was still in shock at how her life had been cut short so suddenly. Matsika’s husband died a few months ago.
“It is hard to swallow because she had just been going about her day when her life was brutally cut short. She was washing clothes by the dam and, one minute she was alive and the next she was not. How do you explain such a thing?
“We are deeply hurt and angry at the same time before we recover from such a blow. We are thankful for the Government and the local village leadership for their help and guidance because without them, we don’t know what might have happened after such a heartbreaking incident,” he said.
Meanwhile, a relative of the three who were killed at Bellas Village, Mr Busani Mhlanga, said there was a deep sense of regret within the entire community, as some felt that the incident was preventable. The suspected murderer, Sibanda, had reportedly been showing signs of violent intent the previous day of the incident.
“There is a feeling of regret among us here because the person who did this had shown signs that he was having a breakdown. The previous day, he had been violent, destroying a goat pen and generally showing violent intent towards the people in his own homestead.
“He was reported to the police, but the feeling was that you cannot arrest a person for what you think they might do. This is why we have some regrets because we feel that if we had done more, perhaps all these people would be alive today,” he said.
Mhlanga said the community was worried about the consumption of drugs and other illicit drugs by those who were known to be on medication.
“We have noticed that a lot of people here, who are outpatients are still indulging in the abuse of drugs and other illicit substances like njengu. I would like to find out from medical professionals if this is advisable. In my understanding, such substances can be a trigger and in our community, there are several people who we know to be having such issues, but at the same time, they are mixing their medication with drugs. We feel incidents like this should be prevented in the future,” he said.
