Chronicle Editor
Leroy Dzenga
Normally when violent events start unfolding people seek safety in their homes.
The reasoning is that the different walls and spaces that different people identify with can insulate them from the unpredictable evils of the street.
For Melody Chimwaza of Highfield, the sanctuary that she has known her home to be for the first time was unsafe.
On January 14 she felt trapped as she watched the enactment of terror through the openings on her gate.
A horror scene, with potential danger to Chimwaza and hundreds others within the vicinity was unfolding before her eyes.
Violent protestors were on a rampage, unleashing a three-hour assault on Zuva Service Station in Highfield opposite Gwanzura Stadium.
“I was at home on the day and I noticed the first group coming burning tyres on the road. This is when we ran back into our gate as the atmosphere was turning tense,” Chimwaza said.
“First to appear were kids who were armed with stones and they were pelting the service station. This is when the service station workers had to escape for cover as the more adult group joined in,” she said.
The stone storm went on for about thirty minutes before someone suggested they get into the service station.
“I saw them approach the service station, I thought they were going to burn the place. I was worried for myself, as you can see we are a few metres from the place,” Chimwaza narrated.
They went straight to the pumps and vandalised them. They then began playing with fire extinguishers, spraying the liquid all over the place,” said Chimwaza.
After destroying the pumps, display boards the violent protestors then proceeded to the kiosk at the service station.
“At first they could not get in because of the screens but somehow they found a way of removing the screens and go into the shop. They looted all sorts of things, suddenly they left the shop as if something had happened inside but you could hear them shouting they wanted to go to TM supermarket next,” she said.
She added: “The painful thing is, some of the kids who were being used to lead the violence were very young. Some of them were barely in form one.”
The service station services many motorists who have been feeling the heat of its forced closure.
“Everyone knows there is a fuel shortage and Zuva were among the consistent one in terms of supply. Now we are in trouble, now we are hearing of improved supply in other areas but here there has not been any change because Zuva is closed,” Jeremiah Mutero, a kombi driver plying the Westgate, Machipisa route said.
He told of how on the day they were forced to park despite not relating to the idea behind the so-called stay away.
“I tried to work but was threatened, I could not risk getting my employer`s bus burnt. But the few days that followed were tough as we could not work,” Mutero said.
Another motorist from the area said the damage to the pumps could have been an attempt to steal fuel.
“I think they were trying to steal petrol this is why they damaged the pumps. Others even brought axes and other weapons which they used to strike some of the infrastructure, I think it was pre-planned,” he added.
The three- hour assault on the Zuva service station, will take some time to recover from for the petroleum company.
Zuva Chief Executive Officer Mr Bethwell Gumbo said about the attack on their facility.
“We have not gotten the full report yet. I think we will have it by next week. But there was quite some extensive damage to our service station and we can only know after we finish properly assessing the damage” he said.
With the current foreign currency challenges, the people in Highfield will have to wait for a while until their oiling hole is brought back to life.
“The problem is some of the components which were affected for example pumps are imported and currently, the foreign currency is focusing on the product (fuel) than the equipment,” Gumbo said.
Petrol attendants watched helplessly from a distance as their place of work was being violently decimated.
“Luckily our employees were not injured as they moved away from the service station before the protestors could get to them. We have enlisted them for counselling services because it is not an easy ordeal for any human being to go through,” said Gumbo.
Zuva service station was one of the many places attacked during violent protests which rocked the country last week.
Officer Commanding Police Harare Province Commissioner Charles Nhete said the criminals behind the attack will be brought to book.
“We are aware that in terms of the constitution it’s a right that members of the public can demonstrate but the demonstrations should be within the confines of the law. That is my appeal that whenever there is a notification made to the regulatory authority and the demonstration is sanctioned it must be done in a very peaceful manner without destroying property,” Commissioner Nhete said.
He sympathised with businesses like Zuva who were targeted by the marauding groups.
“It is expensive to come up with infrastructure and in a day all that infrastructure is brought down. So I make a special appeal to them that they must not engage in violent demonstrations,” said Commissioner Nhete.
There is hope for businesses that were looted as some of the goods are being recovered.
“Investigations are ongoing, I’m happy to say that we have made quite considerable arrests and recoveries so investigations are still continuing and I am happy to report that we are making a breakthrough,” said Commissioner Nhete.
Zimbabwe witnessed protests which left a trail of destruction as many businesses were raided by looters.
Small companies have since appealed for help from Government as they are finding it hard to restock.
Although the economic cost of the protest is well documented, attention should be given to people like Melody Chimwaza who were left traumatised by acts of violence.
They may be in need of counselling and therapy.
Online Reporter