FOR more than a decade, a haulage truck trailer has been lying on the side of Victoria Falls Road in Dopota, Hwange, abandoned, forgotten, neglected and untouched by thieves, leading to more questions about the trailer and its owner.
Some people believe it was guarded by a supernatural being
that would assault anyone who dared touch it or try to strip it. It was now a
permanent feature on the side of the road because of such stories.
Some say there was nothing supernatural about the trailer, it was untouched because the Nambya and Tonga people who reside nearby respect other people’s properties.
However, one morning a few weeks ago, villagers woke up and
were shocked to discover that the trailer had disappeared. While that may feel
like the end of the story, questions remain. If the trailer was not protected
by a supernatural being, why was it not stripped for over ten years? Why didn’t
the owner haul it away the very year it broke down?
Villagers said the trailer was left in 2010 after it broke
its chassis and its driver, who was ferrying coal from Hwange to Bulawayo,
abandoned it.
Later on, another truck came and loaded the coal and the
trailer was left on the scene and the unnamed owner never bothered to tow it.
The person believed to be the owner reportedly engaged a
couple, Ngikhumbula Tshuma, who is now late, and his wife Benita Mguni, whose
homestead is a few metres from the scene, to keep an eye on the trailer.
They were, however, told not to bother guarding it at night
as “whoever dared touch it would regret it.”
Mguni told Saturday Chronicle that she kept some parts like
side panels which she took home because they were falling off after being
tampered with by suspected thieves.
She said people who took the trailer may have used cutting
torches to cut the chassis and loaded the pieces away.
Saturday Chronicle observed recently that nothing remains
at the place where the trailer was once parked.
“My husband used to guard the trailer and when he died, I
remained taking care of it. The owner used to pass by whenever he travelled
from Namibia to Harare but since the outbreak of coronavirus, I have never seen
him.
“He would park his car and talk to me and tell me not to
worry about guarding at night. I always told him how I was troubled by people
during the day who wanted to steal some parts and some would even tell me that
the trailer is not mine and I should not stop them. He would tell me that even
if I hear movements at night, I shouldn’t worry about going there,” said Mguni.
Mguni said she had lost the owner’s contacts and did not
know how to inform him that it had been stolen.
She said two men (names supplied) approached her and told
her that the law allowed them to take it away. She suspects that they wanted
the trailer’s scrap metal.
“I think the owner had done something because he insisted
that in as much as we were guarding it, we should not go there when we heard
movements at night. Now we are confused that if it was true that there was
something, how people now managed to steal it. Probably whatever he put there
had expired since it’s been a long time since he last came by,” said Mguni.
She confirmed claims of mysterious slaps.
“Just touching it was not a problem. Locals would attempt
to touch it but we would hear the stories from truck drivers and some motorists
and we suspect those who knew about this issue would have tried to steal or
witnessed someone trying to steal,” she said.
The woman said the truck owner sometimes paid her US$10
when he passed by and promised to reward her handsomely. Now she is not sure
that she will get paid.
Her neighbour, Trynes Ngwenya, who is the Dopota village
head, confirmed that the trailer was known to be haunted but said there was no
report of any local villager who fell victim to it.
“We live here and pass by the truck every time but none of
us has ever been slapped or seen anything. We always heard the stories and we
all believed that the motorists and passersby were the ones affected trying to
steal,” she said.
Another villager, Maphendu Ndlovu played down the
mysterious stories.
“That wasn’t true. We would hear about it but we always
passed by the truck and saw nothing. I think the disappearance of the trailer
is confirmation that this was just a story created to scare away thieves,” he
said.
Chief Nelukoba said traditionally a person can use
invisible creatures to guard his property.
He said everyone believed the story was true because the
trailer stayed for many years untouched.
“Yes, people used to say so and we also wondered why it
stayed all these years without being stripped since people are fond of doing
so. No one knew the owner but at the same time, we suspect that those who
circulated that story knew it because they tampered with the trailer.
“This is not unusual though for someone who grew up in
rural areas. People can use lightning to attack enemies,” he said. Chronicle
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