Online Reporter
Farai Diza
WHEN we were young, we used to dream. We dreamt of becoming pilots, doctors, even soldiers. As we grew older, we realised that reality was a blurred version of those dreams. Life happened. But we persevered. We held on to our dreams — not because we fully understood what we believed in, but because we believed we would conquer.
Hello, my good friends. Welcome to a new column that embraces reality, entangles it with the past, and bubbles it out with hearty laughter. This is a column that strives to chronicle what once was.
So, let’s get back to chronicling what once was. And what better place to start than with a legend that once gripped Bulawayo?
Once upon a time, there was Jane the Ghost.
The legend of Jane
Legend has it that Bulawayo was once haunted by a dead soul, famously known simply as Jane the Ghost. She became so popular that a chill ran through the city, not with ambition, but with sheer fear.
Ghosts are scary, after all.
During the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, reports of a ghost prostitute roaming the Bulawayo City Centre and high-density suburbs like Pelandaba (Number 6), Mpopoma, and Old Magwegwe spread like wildfire.
We were just schoolchildren back then.
Jane, the ghost prostitute, was infamous for vanishing on clients she had engaged. According to media reports at the time, Jane would lure men, only to disappear mysteriously when they reached Pelandaba Cemetery.
The Chronicle newspaper was her trending platform back then. We didn’t have TikTok.
Jane’s legendary vanishing acts even caught the attention of a local film producer, and a script narrating her story was written. However, the proposed film never materialised.
A charmer and a mystery
Jane was beautiful — so I heard. She could make a man weak at the knees. Pencil heels, a short skirt, arched eyebrows. Hmm, we are weak. As men, we are weak. I’m a man, so I know.
Legend has it that Jane preyed on desperate men. She was a prostitute. She made money from sleeping with married men.
“Daddy, daddy, what’s a prostitute?”
“She’s the woman you wouldn’t want to become when you grow up.”
Jane was a celebrity ghost. Every man looking for a good time knew her name. She was a ghost, for crying out loud!
A woman once quoted in The Chronicle recounted her own experience:
“I think I met this ghost on New Year’s Eve around 2am when I was coming from church. It spoke very nicely to me. Ordinarily, I would have been scared to meet a man at that time of night, but I didn’t feel threatened. When I was about to get home, a car passed and blinded us with its headlights. When it had gone, the man had vanished.”
The same article quoted Nobuhle Hlatshwayo, 71, who claimed to have encountered a charming ghost in 2011. Imagine — a whole 71-year-old saying she met a ghost! Madoda ziyabuya.
According to Mama Hlatshwayo, she doesn’t remember much. All she knows is that she encountered a ghost. Listen to her story:
“I was coming from Botswana and arrived around 1am on Christmas Eve. I saw a well-built, dreadlocked man dressed in white. He offered to help me carry my luggage. He said his name was Bongani. He was polite and very charming. I let him carry my bags,” she said.
Although it was dark and she feared being robbed, the figure dressed in white was reassuring. But Bongani reportedly disappeared when she reached her gate.
This is not my story. It was quoted from The Chronicle.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Jane had struck. As the saying goes, Bathi itshaywa isatshisa.
Jane lives on
Jane the Ghost is a legend. She lived. She survived. And she came back to haunt the men she once serviced.
Have you ever had a physical encounter with Jane the Ghost? Let’s keep Zimbabwe informed. Do you have a story to tell? Kanda bhora.
Please email me at [email protected] or WhatsApp 0784202559.
