In April 1987, 75 people died and only three people survived a horrific bus crash in Nyamandlovu, Matabeleland North Province. Sikhangelweyinkosi Phiri who was only one month old, was one of the survivors.
Now 34 years old, the businesswoman said since birth, her
life has been a blessed one as she has seen God’s favour through and through.
“When I was a month old, I was involved in a fatal accident
involving a bus and a train. Out of 78 passengers, only three survived and were
all from one family. That was my mum (Elizabeth Ndlovu), aunt (Oppa Godwe) and
myself. Then my mother named me Sikhangelweyinkosi as it was only through His
grace for me to be alive,” said Phiri, who was born in Bulawayo and lived in
Pelandaba suburb.
She said her coming into the world was by chance as her
mother had already reached the age of menopause.
“I was born into a family of five. My brothers and sisters
are way older than me as my mother fell pregnant with me when she was 47. She
told me that she thought that she was not going to have another child given her
age.
“She said she started having strange symptoms and after
some time, she visited the doctor who told her that she was pregnant. She left
the doctor’s office laughing saying there was nothing like that because she was
old.
“Three months later, the pregnancy started showing and she
said she felt embarrassed because she was now a mother-in-law and to tell
people that she was pregnant was just embarrassing,” said Phiri.
She said when she was born on 28 March 1987, her mother and
father named her Catherine. A month after her birth, Phiri said her mother’s
brother invited her to his rural home in Tsholotsho so that she could rest as
she had given birth to her through Caesarean section.
“Before the journey, my brother, Singa Sibanda said he had
dreamt us being involved in an accident and was told in the dream to warn my
mother not to board the bus called Ndamina. This bus used to travel using a
route that didn’t pass through our home. When she was told this, my mother said
she did not believe in dreams and we travelled to Tsholotsho,” said Phiri.
At the bus rank, Phiri said her aunt who was accompanying
her mum, met her long-time friend and they took the journey together seated
next to each other. Her aunt was the one who was carrying her.
“I was told that we were seated on the third seat from the
front and when we were in Nyamandlovu, the bus driver tried to beat the train
at the rail-level crossing and the bus was crushed by the train and everybody
perished except the three of us” she said.
Phiri said her mother told her that word reached Tsholotsho
that everybody who was on the bus had perished.
She said when her mother regained consciousness, she looked around and saw bodies covered in blankets and concluded that she and the aunt were among the dead. “She said she was so distraught that God had given her a child at her advanced age and barely a month after the child’s birth, he took her away,” said Phiri.
She said when her mother was pondering on the next move,
she heard her aunt crying out for help. Phiri said her mother told her that
when people went to rescue the auntie, they found her still holding her but her
back had been burnt.
“I only had a scratch where a glass entered the side of my
left eye,” said Phiri. After the accident and the miraculous escape, her
parents renamed her Sikhangelweyinkosi (Protected by God).
“I’m always referred to as an angel that saved lives of my
mother and aunt. Even our neighbours acknowledge that. When I was growing up,
my mother would tell me about the power of God and that he always fights our
battles and that is what I also believe,” said Phiri.
She said she has been prayerful all her life. “I’ve been a
firm believer in God from a young age. I remember when I was learning at Manqe
Primary School in Tsholotsho, there was this girl, Glennis who took the first
position in the class. I was always a first student and winning school prizes,
but that term, she took number one. “I remember going down on my knees praying
to God to help me not to come second after her. Since that time, I was always
top of the class,” said Phiri.
Following her survival in the crash, Phiri who runs a
business that deals with curtains, ceilings and other fittings such as
bathrooms, said she does not take anything for granted hence she celebrates
every victory even when its small.
“I celebrate every achievement because I know how sleeping
on an empty stomach feels or to eat isitshwala with umkhemeswane. I don’t have
a lot of money, but I share what I have with the needy. I believe that God
blesses someone who is humble,” said Phiri.
A mother of one, Phiri had the last part of her lobola
ceremony last week with artiste, Madlela Skhobokhobo and his sidekick Sibande
being part of the negotiation entourage. She said the ceremony went well
according to God’s plans and grace. Chronicle
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