Monday, 2 September 2013

EMAKHANDENI FIRE VICTIMS TO BE BURIED TODAY

THREE family members who died in a house fire in Emakhandeni suburb on Monday morning will be buried today.
Report by Pamela Mhlanga
Family spokesperson, Luckson Mudinzwa, yesterday told Southern Eye burial preparations were now in full motion after well-wishers had chipped in to help the family.
“We are currently making the necessary burial preparations, and if nothing goes amiss, the burial will surely take place tomorrow (Friday),” he said.
Chipo Mudinzwa (58), her 29-year-old daughter Christine and son Cleopas, died in a mysterious fire on Monday.
Mudinzwa said burial proceedings were expected to begin with a church service at 10am at Exodus Funeral Services in Kelvin North before the burial at 11am at West Park Cemetery.
“We are thankful to the well-wishers including Exodus Funeral Services, helping us with preparations needed to give the deceased persons a decent burial. Words alone cannot express how grateful we are,” he said.
Exodus Funeral Services on Wednesday said it would foot all the bills for the burial of the three victims, including coffins, hearses, transport for mourners, a church service and food, all free of charge.
Prior to the gesture from the company, Mudinzwa had expressed fear that the burial of the victims could be postponed due to inadequate resources.
http://www.southerneye.co.zw/2013/08/30/emakhandeni-fire-victims-buried-today/

EXODUS FUNERAL SERVICES PAYS BILLS FOR FIRE VICTIMS

EXODUS Funeral Services in Bulawayo has said it would foot all the bills in the burial of the three people who perished in a fire that gutted an Emakhandeni house on Monday morning.
Report by Pamela Mhlanga
The company’s manager Winnie Ndlovu said they had been moved by the tragedy and had decided to address the plight of the family members, who desperately needed help to give the victims a decent burial.
“We went to talk to the bereaved family yesterday and we saw the sad situation there. They had nothing, from food to the coffins,” she said.
“We then assured them that we would take care of each and every burial preparation, including the provision of coffins, three funeral hearses, transport for the mourners, a church service and food. And it will all be free of charge.”
Ndlovu said the company had also embalmed the bodies for the burial, including transferring them from the hospital mortuary to the funeral palour yesterday.
“We were concerned about the state of the bodies at the hospital mortuary and as soon as the family gives us the necessary documentation, we would transfer them to the palour in Kelvin North,” she said.
Exodus sales and marketing manager Liberty Dzimwasha said the gesture was no publicity stunt, but they were doing it for the community.
“We decided to lend a helping hand since we are in this funeral services business. We had to reach out to the bereaved family in their time of need,” he said.
“We hope all organisations would do the same and not shy away from such corporate responsibilities. Developments such as these cannot go unnoticed.”
Prior to the gesture from the company, the family’s spokesperson, Luckson Mudinzwa, had said the burial of the three victims had initially been set for today or tomorrow, but there was a possibility of it being postponed due to inadequate resources.
“After the family discussions concerning the burial, it is now very difficult at the moment to set a definite day for the burial, as we have not yet received enough support in terms of resources for the burial arrangement,” he had said.
Meanwhile, the Bulawayo City Council’s Fire Brigade is yet to ascertain the cause of the fire that killed Chipo Mudinzwa (58), her 29-year-old daughter, Christine and son Cleopas (37) who were sleeping in the house when it caught fire.
According to reletives and neighbours, the cause of the fire is still a mystery to them, although they suspect supernatural causes, with reports that one of the deceased, Cleopas claimed he had seen goblins in the house on several occasions, threatening to burn him.
In an interview with Southern Eye yesterday, the department’s senior divisional officer Edward Mpofu said the cause of the fire was a mystery and they had since recorded it as such.
http://www.southerneye.co.zw/2013/08/29/exodus-funeral-services-pays-bills-fire-victims/

RELATIVES APPEAL FOR HELP TO BURY FIRE VICTIMS

RELATIVES of three Emakhandeni family members who died after fire gutted their house on Monday are appealing for help to bury the victims.
Pamela Mhlanga, Own Correspondent
Chipo Mudinzwa (58), her 29-year-old daughter Christine and son Cleopas (37) were sleeping in the house when it caught fire.
Relatives yesterday said Christina was the only one who was mentally challenged not the entire family, as claimed by neighbours on Monday.
Family spokesperson Luckson Mudinzwa said while relatives were yet to discuss burial arrangements, they needed help to give the three a decent burial.
“We really need help from the whole community and well-wishers who can offer their support in burying the deceased persons. We need help from people who can offer any kind of
assistance, be it monetary, material or help with coffins for the deceased or transport for the mourners,” he said.
Mudinzwa hinted the three could be buried in the city although relatives had not yet set a date for the burial.
“The incident shocked us and we are still trying to come to terms with how all three family members could perish in a fire in such a terrible way,” he said.
Mudinzwa said the cause of the fire was still a mystery, although he hinted they suspected involvement of a supernatural force.
“People have been talking that Cleopas used to complain that he was seeing scary goblins in the house threatening to burn him such that he sometimes used to sleep at the neighbours because of fear. However, we all place everything in the hands of God as he is the only one who knows why this had to happen,” he said.
The Bulawayo City Council’s fire brigade is still investigating the cause of the fire.
http://www.southerneye.co.zw/2013/08/28/relatives-appeal-help-bury-fire-victims/

FIRE KILLS THREE FAMILY MEMBERS

THREE family members died yesterday after the house they were sleeping in caught fire during the early hours of the morning.
Pamela Mhlanga
Bulawayo Council chief fire officer Richard Peterson confirmed the incident saying two of the victims were burnt beyond recognition.
“I confirm that the department received a fire alert call around 0044hrs from Emakhandeni suburb,” Peterson said.
“The inferno which gutted the house left three people dead. Two were burnt beyond recognition and another person is believed to have suffocated to death.”
Peterson said the dead included a 58-year-old woman together with her 29-year-old daughter who were burnt beyond recognition.
Her 37-year-old son is suspected to have died due to suffocation caused by smoke inhalation.
“The perished family is believed to have been mentally challenged and we are yet to establish the cause of the fire,” Peterson said.
“When the fire brigade arrived, there was a lot of junk in the house and two rooms were totally destroyed by the fire.”
He said since there were claims that the whole family was mentally challenged,
one of them could have started the fire while trying to cook, but said investigations were underway.
“We are informed by neighbours that the family was isolated and reclusive, but survived from food brought to them by neighbours, church members and well-wishers,” Peterson said.
The victims were identified as Cleopas, Chipo and Christina Mudinzwa. Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the incident.
http://www.southerneye.co.zw/2013/08/27/fire-kills-three-family-members/

ST MARY'S EARNS BASILICA STATUS

MORE than a thousand Roman Catholic Church congregants from the Archdiocese of Bulawayo yesterday thronged St Mary’s Cathedral to attend a colourful church mass, held in honour of the church, which had just been bestowed the Minor Basilica status by Pope Francis I.
REPORT BY PAMELA MHLANGA
The church could not hold the multitudes and several hundreds of them had to follow proceedings from a huge television set fitted for the ceremony.
Pope Francis’ representative from Harare and various priests from different Catholic parishes in and around Bulawayo also took part in the event.
St Mary’s Cathedral becomes the first Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe and southern Africa and the 17th on the continent to be bestowed the Minor Basilica status.
A Basilica, according to Catholics, is a designation or status given to a church by the Pope through a proclamation passed by the congregation for Divine Worship and sacraments.
The governing body of the Roman Catholic Church confers this honour to churches of historical significance, as well as the local area, diocese or even region the church is located in.
Addressing congregants at the event, Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, Archbishop George Kochery, representing Pope Francis, said the status given to the church was a symbol of its loyalty to God and the Roman Catholic Church as a whole.
“I have seen that you love God, you love the church and you love the Pope and I pray that this loyalty increases each day,” he said.
Bulawayo Archbishop Alex Thomas said the special status granted to St Mary’s was a great blessing and a privilege to all the Catholics of Zimbabwe in 2013, which has been designated as the Catholic Church’s year of faith.
“This is a privilege granted by the Pope to a church for its architectural beauty, its history and its role in the formation of faith,” he said.
Bulawayo town clerk Middleton Nyoni said the city was humbled and excited on this distinction that had been accorded to St Mary’s.
“Given that the term basilica comes from a Greek word meaning regal or kingly, it is only befitting that St Mary’s be conferred with Minor Basilica status, a royal recognition coincidental to both the City of Kings and St Mary’s Cathedral,” he said.
Nyoni said Bulawayo appreciated Catholic basilicas were designated Catholic pilgrimage sites, receiving thousands of visitors per year and he had no doubt that the hospitality industry of the city would greatly benefit from this new development.

KING MZILIKAZI CELEBRATIONS ON

COMMEMORATIONS to celebrate the life of King Mzilikazi Khumalo are set to take place on September 7 at Mhlahlandlela, 22km south of Bulawayo along the Old Gwanda Road, organisers said yesterday.

Report by Pamela Mhlanga

In a statement yesterday, Mthwakazi KaMzilikazi Cultural Association spokesperson, Rodgers Mthethwa, said the commemorations, which have been held annually since the year 2000, were an important event to celebrate the life of one of Africa’s greatest icons in living memory.
“King Mzilikazi left the then Zululand in the 1820s with less than 500 people and fought his way up to present day western Zimbabwe,” he said.
“He was able to persuade some tribes in the Transvaal to join his crusade.”
Mthethwa said Mzilikazi crossed the Limpopo River and finally settled in Matabeleland, establishing his capital at Mhlahlandlela, which was now a recognised historical site and this was the place where they had been hosting such celebrations since the year 2000.
“This year we have invited two traditional chiefs from Swaziland and Mpumalanga province of South Africa and these are Chief Makhosikhosi Khumalo and Chief Mthayiza Khumalo, respectively.”
He said transport to Mhlahlandlela would be available from the City Hall car park from 8.30am at a charge of $2 including the return fee. Efforts were being made to provide free transport to the elderly.
“Any cultural group or individual praise singers wishing to participate, including well-wishers wanting to support this noble cause are most welcome,” Mthwethwa said.
“They should contact me or the organisation’s public relations officer, Nhlanhla Khumalo on mobile numbers 0712 508 870 or 0775 184 390.”
http://www.southerneye.co.zw/2013/09/01/king-mzilikazi-celebrations/