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Temba Dube Deputy News Editor
THE police officer who is responsible for the deadly crash that claimed a Shangani man’s life on Sunday is going to be charged if he is proved to have committed a crime, police have said.

Mpilo Mpofu, 32, suffered multiple fractures and died on the spot while a colleague was seriously injured when a Mazda B1600 crushed them against a Honda Oddesy that they were pushing along the Bulawayo-Gweru Highway on Sunday night.

Sergeant Givemore Alfere allegedly asked the four to push his vehicle for about a kilometre, to his homestead after it ran out of fuel.

The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe condemned the police officer for asking the villagers to push the car on the highway, saying he should have known the dangers associated with the action.

Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said there would be no official action taken against Sgt Alfere.

“There would’ve been an official reprimand if the officer was in uniform or they were pushing a police car. As it is he was using a personal car on personal business. He’ll be charged as a civilian if any charges are raised,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.

Mpofu’s family said it was disappointed by the response.

A family spokesperson Nomagugu Mathuthu said yesterday, “We’ve lost a brother, a son and a cousin. It’s not unreasonable that we must ask that someone must be held accountable for this tragedy.

“A whole police sergeant, who should know better, took the shocking decision to push his car on a busy highway, at night, putting the lives of others at great risk.

“This was foreseeable, those helping him were, as far as we’re concerned, acting on the command of a police officer. His culpability in this tragedy is without question.”

The family also said the driver of the Mazda had, “clearly not exercised caution on the road. “The driver was evidently speeding or he’s so dangerously incompetent that he failed to react when an accident appeared imminent,” Mathuthu said.

The family insisted that despite the involvement of a police officer, they retained “full faith in the ZRP to give us closure and avoid the investigation turning into a whitewash.”

The tragedy occurred when Mpilo and his friend were about to turn into a road leading to Sgt Alfere’s base adjacent to Mpilo’s home, separated by Harare Road.

Mpilo’s nephew, Trynos, heard the impact and rushed to find his uncle gasping for breath, his legs crushed and head banged up.

His mum, hearing Mpilo’s screams soon arrived on the scene and begged passersby to take him to Shangani Clinic where he took his last breath.

He was buried in Shangani on Wednesday.

Sgt Alfere reportedly arrived during the burial and left before the ceremony was over.

The family is yet to see the driver of the Mazda vehicle.

TSCZ spokesperson Ernest Muchena said it was ill-advised to push a car on a highway, especially at night. “We’ve vehicle moving at speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour and they need at least 130 metres to react and stop. Even with good headlights, it’s difficult to see more than 100 metres ahead at night,” said Muchena.

He said the police officer should have parked his vehicle on the roadside and put reflective triangles 30 to 50 metres in front and behind it to warn other motorists, before calling for help.

Last year, seven people died on the spot near Kombo resetlement about 40 km from Shangani business centre along the Shangani-Bulawayo road when a vehicle veered off the road and hit them as they attended to a broken down car on the roadside.