Sidumisile Mabena
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, [email protected]
THE Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona, has made an impassioned plea to Zimbabweans to respect the dignity of the deceased by refraining from taking pictures or videos at accident scenes and sharing them on social media.
Minister Mhona made the appeal Friday when he visited the scene of a horrific road traffic accident that claimed 16 lives, most of them mourners, along the Bulawayo–Esigodini Road.
He was accompanied by the Zimbabwe Civil Protection Unit director-general Mr Nathan Nkomo, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe managing director Mr Munesu Munodawafa, and two board members. Also present was the Matabeleland South deputy officer commanding, Assistant Commissioner Didymus Sakarombe.
“Culturally, it is contrary to our norms and values as a nation. We need to respect the dead, but we are seeing that as soon as an accident happens, videos begin circulating. Please let us refrain from that,” said Minister Mhona. He warned that the circulation of such graphic content can have devastating emotional consequences.
“There is a danger that some relatives who may come across those videos could succumb to shock,” he said.
The Minister’s remarks come amid growing calls for law enforcement agencies to take action against any member of the public seen holding a mobile phone within vicinity of an accident scene.
Online Reporter