The survivor, 25-year-old Calton Panashe Munyimi, lost his pregnant wife in the accident. They had just boarded the vehicle at the Musasa Bus Stop near the Zvishavane-Shurugwi and Mandamabwe-Shurugwi T junction when the car went off the road and fell into a 30-meter deep mine pit.
Out of the five people in the car, Munyimi was the only one who survived. The mine pit is only a few kilometres away from President Mnangagwa’s rural home.
Munyimi and his wife, Hazel Funhiro, had been coming back from an Apostolic church service and were on their way home to Ritfontein, just 21 km away, when the accident occurred. Said Munyimi:
Without this open pit which is mined by Mhazo, we could have had high chances of surviving. The car plunged 30 metres under water and that reduced our chances of making it because if you survived the accident then the second hurdle was to swim out of the water. I plead with the Ministry of Mines to enforce laws and ensure that these pits are filled up. Cattle and goats are drowning.
Munyimi said the accident happened just 1 km from his bus stop. He said the driver was speeding at 160 km per hour, had the radio blasting, and no one could stop him from driving so fast.
Sadly, his wife, Hazel, was buried on Thursday.
Munyimi is also frustrated because the community is not allowed to mine in the area, even though there are old, unused mine pits that pose a danger. He said:
We lost young children who go to herd cattle; they were drowned. I think we have lost more than ten children in these pits, and today it’s my family. I can feel the pain.
His plea to the President remains urgent: “Dear President, come and attend to this before we all perish whilst you are in Harare.”