Popular Gweru socialite, Gamuchirai Mudungwe (30), allegedly shot dead in a frenzied gun attack on four people by a local polygamous businessman, was given an emotional send-off at a local cemetery yesterday.
The assailant accused his second wife of cheating on him.
Mudungwe was buried at Senga cemetery in Senga high density suburb.
Scores of mourners defied Covid-19 restrictions which limit
funerals to 50 people as they paid their last respects to Mudungwe who was
buried around midday.
The mourners also didn’t observe social distancing or wear
face masks which are some of the ways to mitigate against the spread of
Covid-19.
Mudungwe’s burial was attended by fellow socialites,
relatives, and friends who eulogised her as a “philanthropist with a heart of
gold.”
The sleepy suburb of Senga came to life as top-of-the-range
vehicles lined up in a procession to the cemetery.
The road leading to Senga cemetery was totally sealed off
as light flashing cars clogged all ends of the road following a Nyaradzo
Funeral Service hearse on its way to Mudungwe’s final resting place.
Shops, bars and tuck shops in the area recorded brisk
business as mourners sought the wise waters, soft drinks and food from Monday
evening when Mudungwe’s body returned from Bulawayo where it had been taken for
post-mortem.
It was indeed a befitting send-off as women of different
shapes and sizes, from the onion shaped to the pencil slim, all clad in black,
thronged the late Gamu- as she was popularly known- parents’ house in Old Senga
High Density suburb near Midlands State University (MSU) to celebrate her life.
Mudungwe was shot at close range from the back as she fled
through the staircase of a flat at her friend’s residence in Gweru Central
Business District (CBD) on Friday after her alleged killer, Peter Dube
confronted her together with the other three as he accused Gamu of being
involved in his second wife’s acts of infidelity.
Mudungwe was killed together with Dube’s suspected second
wife’s lover, Shelton Chinhango while the second wife Ms Nyasha Nharingo (31)
and her sister, Nyaradzo (34) sustained serious gunshots wounds.
Nyasha and Nyaradzo are still hospitalised with their
condition reportedly now stable after undergoing lifesaving operations. Residents
described it as the most emotionally moving funeral they had ever witnessed.
“This has been the most attended funeral in Senga High
Density suburb. From the huge numbers of mourners to the top of the range
vehicles, the black suits they were wearing and ladies in their best make up,
the tears and the moving speeches, we have never seen anything like this.
Shops, bars and tuck shops recorded brisk business,” said Mrs Mitchell Sibanda,
a bartender. “We are very saddened by her untimely death because she was a lady
of the people. For a very jovial lady like Gamu to die violently like that was
the most cruel thing she least deserved,” commented one of her neighbours, Ms
Elizabeth Chidoori.
Gamu’s aunt, Mrs Entrance Takaidza said they were still trying to come to terms with her sudden departure.
“She was a hardworking young lady and we are still in
shock, we did not even know that she was as popular as this, it’s disheartening
that she died a violent death,” she said.
Mr Simbarashe Dzuka, father to the late Gamu said they were
not expecting payment from the Dube family but were keen to have the alleged
assailant brought to book.
He confirmed the Dube family had reached out to them and expected
them to foot burial and other related costs. “We are still in shock as the
family and we are in mourning. The death of my daughter was just cruel by all
measures but what can we do?
We can’t bring her back to life. What we wish is to have
justice in the end. This Dube guy should face justice. That is all we can say
at the moment,” said Mr Dzuka.
Gamu is survived by one child (5). Meanwhile, a convoy of
over 100 cars drove from Kwekwe to Gweru to pick Chinhango’s body. He was also
buried yesterday.
The convoy made up of gold dealers and artisanal miners
made its way past Bensam Flats where Chinhango was shot while seated on the
driver seat of his Toyota Hiace.
From there they proceeded to Mixed Blend Car Sale where
they honked and skidded while singing the song, “Ndimi makauraya” (you’re the
ones who killed). The car sale is owned by Dube.Fears were that about three
vehicles which had not been removed from the car sale were going to be
destroyed- but the mourners drove off to Kwekwe in peace. Chronicle
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