The Sunday News
Tinomuda Chakanyuka and Mncedisi Buhali
“BETWEEN a rock and a hard surface” is a common maxim, a convenient expression often used to express dire situations or dilemmas people may find themselves in.
The saying is as common as muck, and to many it may not be anything much more than a literary expression, yet for the Nyathi family in Lushumbe Village, under Chief Malachi Masuku in Matobo district, the maxim literally and aptly captures the tragedy that befell them about a fortnight ago.
The Nyathi family and the entire Lushumbe village are struggling to come to terms with the death of 27-year-old Nkosana Nyathi, who was crushed by a huge rock estimated to weigh more than 80 tonnes.
Nyathi met his fate while he was harvesting honey at a nearby mountain on 21 April this year in the company of his cousin, Nhlalo Dube.
Dube says he will remain traumatised for the rest of his life after witnessing his relative and best friend dying in such a nerve wrecking tragedy.
Nyathi’s body stayed for four days underneath the gigantic rock as the Bulawayo Fire Brigade, How Mine rescue team, officials from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), police and villagers battled to move the heavy rock.
A sombre atmosphere still engulfs Lushumbe village, almost three weeks after disaster struck, as villagers vainly attempt to fathom the misfortune, one that they believe is the first of a kind in living memory of their area.
Some villagers believe the tragedy to be mysterious and inexplicable, while others have accepted it as an accident, one whose reality they however, still grapple with and will remain fresh on their minds for ages.
The beehive from which the deceased and his cousin were extracting honey is said to be 50 years old and had never been tampered with.
Sunday News travelled to Lushumbe Village last week and caught up with Mr Jani Nyathi, Nkosana’s uncle, who recounted the ordeal that his family endured at the death of their relative.
Mr Nyathi explained how the rock collapsed onto Nkosana, crushing him to death.
“The explanation we got is that the boys were harvesting honey from the area. They struggled to reach the honey and decided to chisel part of the rock they thought was blocking their way. Little did they know that the piece they were carving off was what the huge rock was precariously balancing on.
“Nhlalo told us that he left Nkosana chiselling the rock, while he went to fetch firewood. Just when Nkosana succeeded in removing the part that was blocking their access to the hive, the rock immediately collapsed on him and crushed him to death straightaway. I doubt if he felt any pain,” said Mr Nyathi, who was almost in tears as he narrated.
A distraught Mr Nyathi continued recounting the ordeal, telling of how the news of his nephew’s tragic death was delivered to him and what they did after receiving the shocking news.
“I learnt of Nkosana’s death at around 10pm on Tuesday 21 April through Nhlalo’s father Mr Anot Dube who happens to be my cousin. He came to my house, sobbing uncontrollably in the company of his son who too was crying. After a while he gathered himself and told me that my nephew had died. He said Nkosana had been crushed by a rock while they were harvesting honey with Nhlalo at Gulungudze Mountain. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I still struggle to imagine and accept that Nkosana went in such a way,” he said.
Mr Nyathi said after being told of his nephew’s tragic death, he together with Mr Dube and Nhlalo went to the village head Mr Elephant Moyo who accompanied them to Lushumbe police base where they made a formal report.
“After police took Nhlalo’s statement we then travelled to the scene of the accident at around 3am on Wednesday in the company of police details. Nhlalo who was leading the way somehow got confused and could not find his way in the dark, maybe because he was still in shock.
“We decided to sleep a bit and continue with our journey in the morning. We woke up at around 6am. Nhlalo was a little bit refreshed now and he led us to the scene.
“I almost fainted with what I saw when we got to the scene. Nkosana’s body was under the gigantic rock, and we could only see his hands, part of his head and his feet. The rest of the body was under the rock. Besides him was a huge hammer and an iron bar which they were probably using,” he said.
Mr Nyathi said on realising the size of the rock and that it seemed impossible to remove, he together with the village head, police and other relatives had decided to bury Nkosana at the site, but officials from Zimparks, under whose jurisdiction Gulungudze Mountain lies, refused.
“That is when police called the Fire Brigade from Bulawayo to help us remove Nkosana’s body. The Fire Brigade arrived at around 1pm on Wednesday and battled to move the rock until 5pm but failed and they went back. They came back on Thursday with reinforcement from How Mine but again they failed to move the rock. They only managed to move the rock on Friday using quite a number of machinery and equipment, with the help of over 70 men who were also pulling the rock away using ropes and chains,” said Mr Nyathi.
Bulawayo City Council chief fire officer Mr Richard Peterson confirmed having attended to the accident scene to remove Nkosana’s body from the huge rock which he said weighed between 80 and 85 tonnes.
“We went there the same day we received the call. The first day we tried using our machinery including hydraulic jacks and Vetter bags but we failed to move the rock. The next day we called the How Mine rescue team, but again we failed to remove the rock. On Friday our team went back, managed move the rock a little bit, just enough to remove the body which was already decomposing. We managed to remove the body at around 6pm.
“From what I got from my team the rock weighs around 80 to 85 tonnes, and this was a really huge task for us, something that we had never encountered before,” said Mr Peterson.
Lushumbe villagers laboured to carry the Fire Brigade and How Mine rescue team equipment up the mountain and down the mountain, negotiating the steep gradient, the rough and rocky terrain of Gulungudze Mountain.
Nkosana was finally buried next to his parents’ graves at his homstead, at around 9pm on that same Friday. No funeral wake was held because of the bad state his body was in. Nkosana left behind a five-year-old daughter.
Mr Dube, Nhlalo’s father, said the accident had greatly affected his son, whom he said was still in a state of trauma and needed counselling to get over what he witnessed.
“My son cries each time people talk about the incident. He is still in a state of shock and trauma. He needs assistance. We have tried counselling him but he is struggling to come to terms with what happened. These two boys were very close friends,” he said.
Lushumbe Village head Mr Moyo said he had never seen anything like that, neither had he heard of an accident of such a nature in his area from elders.
Various theories have been thrown around in the area as villagers tried to explain the accident with some alleging that the scene of the accident was sacred and Nkosana had paid the price for defiling the place.
However, Mr Moyo dismissed talk of the area being sacred.
“This was the first of a kind for a man to be crushed to death by rock. I had never witnessed anything like this. Even when our elders used to tell about bizarre tales of this area, they never mentioned anything of this kind. It’s the first of it’s kind and we are all shocked.
“Some believe it’s a mystery but I would like to believe what authorities are saying that it was an accident. Whatever it was, it remains shocking and it will stay fresh in our memories for a very long time.
“That is part of Matopos National Park and we have never heard of it being sacred. People could just be talking but there is no substance in that,” said Mr Moyo.
Mystery or freak accident, whichever explanation villagers in Lushumbe may give to Nkosana’s death, his demise remains shocking and shall haunt them for ages.
