Devolution turns community trauma into joy
ON January 2, 2015, the Mhondoro-Ngezi community woke up to the tragic news of a deadly accident on the Ngwazani River bridge.
Eight people, including seven from one family, perished in tragic circumstances when a car they were travelling in was swept away by a strong current while attempting to cross the flooded Ngwazani River bridge along the Battlefields-Turf Road in Kadoma.
Lifeless bodies of the eight were retrieved about 150 metres from the bridge a day later, with all the victims trapped inside the Honda CRV vehicle.
The deceased were identified as Nomatter Ndodo (40), his wife Magneta Musariri (26) and their two-year-old son Tawanda.
Edes Musariri (31), who was Magneta’s sister, her three children Benedict (9), Cathrine (4) and Chris Mhande (20-months) also perished in the accident.
The other deceased, whose relationship to the family could not be established, was identified as Ngonidzashe Gavi.
For years, the local community has struggled to come to terms with the deadly disaster that took place at of their most important bridges.
Police at the time said the driver “did not take heed of the calls not to cross a flooded bridge by other motorists who were patiently waiting for the river to subside.”
Wanganui Primary School headmaster, Mr Moses Mazise, recalled how the disaster robbed his institution of two bright pupils.
The school is a stone’s throw away from the bridge, which provides passage from the famous Turf township to Kadoma.
“We rushed to the bridge after hearing about the accident, so that we could render our help,” he said.
“Upon arriving, we could not see the vehicle, which had been submerged right in the middle of the river. No one had the guts to rescue the victims because the current was very strong.”
Mr Mazise said the bridge had been submerged as a result of incessant rains that had pounded the area for three days.
“It was so disappointing that we couldn’t do anything to save the family and the poor little souls,” he added.
Mr Joseph Sigu, who lives in Ngezi and is related to one of the victims, said the accident brought to the fore the pressing need to rehabilitate the local road infrastructure, which had been neglected for years.
“There was always great concern about the integrity of the bridge among villagers and the motoring public,” said Mr Sigu.
“During rainy seasons, connecting from Zimplats and Kadoma using the Battlefields Road was always a challenge.
“The first bridge that led to the death of eight people including my aunt, was a death trap. Sadly, it took time for the responsible authorities to act.”
Transformed
Seven years later, the community’s trauma has slowly turned into joy. Ngwazani River bridge has been rebuilt. The Mhondoro-Ngezi Rural District Council has used funds drawn from Government’s devolution programme and the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP-2) to rebuild the key conduit.
The council has modified the bridge from an old-fashioned low lying structure to a standardised edifice that is high enough to allow water to flow underneath, even in the case of flash flooding. This flagship project also birthed an era of bridge rehabilitation across the district, which is notorious for incidents of flooding, drowning and the washing away of people and vehicles by bulging water bodies.
Council engineer Miriam Njima said from the $90 million allocated to the local authority last year under ERRP-2, over 190 kilometres of road had been rehabilitated.
Focus now, she said, was on refurbishing damaged culverts and small bridges in the district.
“On ERRP2, we planned to do 198 kilometres in Mhondoro-Ngezi and Muzvezve constituencies,” Eng Njima said.
“Five of the roads are 100 percent complete, while the other remaining roads are 70 percent complete, with work now left to be done on culverts. We have dedicated our resources to work on culverts to avoid accidents such as the 2015 Ngwazani River bridge disaster.”
Eng Njima said while their share of funds under ERRP2 was relatively equal to appropriations received by neighbouring districts in the province, Mhondoro-Ngezi refurbished close to 200 kilometres of road network using in-house equipment.
“We have our own road equipment, which made it easier for us to rehabilitate roads in all the 16 Wards.
“Unlike other councils, we managed to maximise and stretch each dollar we received from the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) and central Government.
“The funding from Government has gone a long way in improving roads in the district because council’s revenue collections were constrained,” she said.
Mhondoro-Ngezi RDC has also constructed two concrete footbridges across Ngezi River to shorten the walking distance to Turf Township.
The footbridges constructed in Ward 5 and 11 have also helped school children who now travel using shorter and safer routes to school.