Ex-Senate president stops accident victims burial Matabeleland South Zanu-PF secretary for lands Jabulani Phetshu Sibanda (left) stresses a point during a private discourse with the Nkomo family at their homestead before the burial of the four accident victims. Following proceedings from right are the Zanu-PF Politburo member Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu and Central Committee member Molly Mpofu
Matabeleland South Zanu-PF secretary for lands Jabulani Phetshu Sibanda (left) stresses a point during a private discourse with the Nkomo family at their homestead before the burial of the four accident victims. Following proceedings from right are the Zanu-PF Politburo member Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu and Central Committee member Molly Mpofu

Matabeleland South Zanu-PF secretary for lands Jabulani Phetshu Sibanda (left) stresses a point during a private discourse with the Nkomo family at their homestead before the burial of the four accident victims. Following proceedings from right are the Zanu-PF Politburo member Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu and Central Committee member Molly Mpofu

Mpumelelo Nyoni/ Mbuso Nkalakatha Chronicle Reporters
A ZANU-PF Politburo member yesterday abandoned the burial of four victims of the Friday night road accident that claimed seven lives in Kombo near Shangani after the family refused to bury the bodies at the village cemetery as he had suggested.
Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, the former Deputy President of the Senate and Insiza Senator, only took part in the burial of the fifth victim, Nkosiyabo Fuzwayo at the village cemetery.

He told the Nkomo family that had already dug four graves it was “illegal” to bury people at their homestead when others used the village cemetery.
“It does not matter that you have already dug the graves. The issue is that the graves were dug at the wrong place,” said Cde Ndlovu.

“You can always fill up the graves. What is so special about the Nkomo family? Bodies can be exhumed and reburied if need be.”
The burial of the four victims had to be delayed by five hours as the family tried to convince Cde Ndlovu and the Insiza District Administrator Sithandiwe Ncube to allow them to proceed with the burial at their home.

The Nkomo family said the deceased, Christopher, Daniel, Nkosiyabo and Simbarashe Mbano had requested to be buried at their homestead despite the local leadership’s insistence on using the village cemetery. Tempers flared when some members of the Nkomo family stormed out of a meeting with Cde Ndlovu, the DA and Zanu-PF central committee member, Cde Molly Mpofu vowing to defy the directive.

“We are tired of directives. We have been mourning our brothers and they are being scorched by the sun in the coffins. Please let them rest,” bellowed a member of the Nkomo family as he left the meeting.

The atmosphere was tense as the Nkomo family insisted it would not budge from its decision. “We sent a request through the headman, Nkosiyabo Dladla on Sunday that our wish was to bury our children at the family homestead but we did not get any feedback so we dug the graves,” said another family member.

“To our surprise, Dladla told us this morning that we were supposed to bury them at the village cemetery.”
The burial finally took place about five hours later after the Nkomo family decided to go ahead with the burial.

Cde Ndlovu eventually snubbed the burial and Cde Mpofu and Ncube followed suit while Cde Jabulani Phetshu remained saying he would not leave the mourners as a local leader.

Dladla said it was a known principle that burial had to be done in a village cemetery.
“People know this requirement but it was not being thoroughly enforced,” he said.

The five victims were among the seven people who died on the spot while attending to a broken down vehicle along the Bulawayo-Harare highway last Friday.
The other two victims were also expected to be buried in Mberengwa yesterday morning.

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