Memorable Xmas turns tragic

We mourn about political violence, elect Members of Parliament whose responsibility is to enact laws that should govern us, but it is as if the transport sector (even in the waters), is governed by laws of the jungle.
Our MPs hold workshops and seminars in holiday resorts to seek solutions on political violence, but when our roads kill hundreds every year, they seem not to be bothered. They are not bothered because the Civil Protection Unit is there to cover funeral expenses when national tragedies occur, despite the fact that Government announced a fortnight ago that transport proprietors have to bury people killed by their vehicles and take care of medical bills.

Our MPs are unperturbed as hundreds of children are left behind to fend for themselves. In their destitution, some end up as street kids, child prostitutes and child slaves while those transport owners continue to make fortunes.
On Christmas day eleven children perished at Lake Chivero when an overloaded boat they were “cruising” capsized. This was in addition to the deaths and injuries on our roads. We know that some people will come up with obnoxious conclusions regarding the deaths of these children, chief among them being that “vakachekereswa” (ritual murder).

The other aspect that will arise is witchcraft, where goblins are will be claimed to have been used. Others will start saying that Lake Chivero is now a black spot and haunted too. These strain family relationships at a time when love should abound.
However, the boat that killed the eleven children has received very little attention except that its carrying capacity is a maximum of five people. We have also heard about its skipper and now the owner and manager, whose initial attitude to the tragedy leaves a lot to be desired.

For want of super profits during this festive season, there was no problem packing so many children whose swimming abilities they did not know, in such a small boat.
On parents’ side, while they thought that they were giving their children a memorable Christmas, however, as adults their judgement was short-sighted as they had no qualms allowing so many children into such a small boat.

I know that in Shona we say, “Afirwa haatariswi kumeso”, but when do we learn to take responsibility for our actions? When do we say we are to blame as adults when we lead children to their deaths? I know that one parent has owned up, but how many more will say that they erred?
As a person who uses public transport, I have never stopped wondering when a 15-seater commuter omnibus ends up with more than twenty passengers. I have also wondered at a lot of parents who would rather have their children sit at those uncomfortable places behind the driver’s seat – now popularly called “kadoma”. Why, because they want to save five rand. Their children’s comfort is a non-issue.

Currently, there is a blitz on our roads by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other units. What shocks this writer is that when so-called human errors occur, most of these killer vehicles would have passed through a number of road blocks.
They are not road blocks where road-worthiness is checked and certificates of fitness are issued. They have become road blocks where so many allegations are levelled against our police force. The running battles between the police and motorists are also cause for concern for since they can lead to tragedies.

As I pondered on this disaster whose script reads like the Nyanga Bus Disaster of 1991, I realised that although drownings occur every year, Lake Chivero however, is becoming a cause for concern. Just like buses and commuter omnibuses, a number of lives have already been lost at the Lake.
On December 1, 1996, 22 Form One and Two pupils from Moleli High School in Selous, Mashonaland West Province perished when their boat capsized during a school-outing.
Soon after the disaster, a five-member commission of inquiry headed by Reverend Griffiths Malaba was set up, and it found that the accident was “a result of negligence, and that the State had a sound case to press criminal charges against the boat owner and his coxswain”. The killer boat was owned by Gary Clive Stafford and his company Admiral’s Cabin. The skipper was Bernard Zvega.

Stafford, his company and Zvega were tried, found guilty and convicted. The court dismissed Stafford’s claim that Zvega had taken it upon himself to hire out the boat, which was also mired in racial controversy.
Before highlighting the Malaba board recommendations, it is important to interrogate the black masks and white faces in the current indigenisation and black economic empowerment policy programme.
The company name is Chasura Boats – a sub-totem for people whose totem is Shiri (bird). In Ndebele it’s Nyoni. The owner is Latif Ameer; boat captain Fadil Ramon Weale and the skipper, Enock Yorani Zulu. The former two are alleged to have swum to safety, leaving the children to drown.

At the time of writing, they three were in police custody, and expected to appear in court. When the Moleli (Lake Chivero) disaster happened, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo was minister of Transport and Energy. The commission made findings on why the accident happened and recommended beefing up lake safety through legal and administrative changes.
The commission made 36 recommendations on safety for all users of inland waters for recreation, including schools, tourists and holidaymakers.

The Malaba commission found that “the Inland Waters Shipping Regulations were silent on important areas such as boat construction and stability, bad weather, sailing, communication, fire-fighting, fire prevention and first aid. Another area of concern was that of the Lake Navigation Control Unit, which the board found to be “critically understaffed”. The board also noted that there was poor supervision of activities on the lakes.

As the Lake Chivero Christmas disaster is tried in our courts of law and in the court of public opinion, it should be done from a perspective that we are not reinventing the wheel. The instruments are already there. The Malaba board findings can be used as a foundation to strengthen safety on our waters.
We should also realise that such tragedies befall ordinary people and the movers and shakers in our society.

In February 1996, Angela Chabveka and Alice Chiyangwa (daughter to tycoon Philip Chiyangwa) drowned in a school swimming pool at Jameson High School in Kadoma.
President Mugabe who paid condolences to both families said, “Let this be a lesson to us all. A few months ago, we had the Chivero disaster when 22 young lives were lost. It turned out that inadequate measures had been taken . . . Tears do not help in this case. Let us unite as a family and accept the grief which has befallen us.”

Another high profile figure who encountered a drowning tragedy is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. His two-year-old grandson tragically drowned in a swimming pool, a month after the tragic death of his wife Susan.

Painful though it might be, it is people like PM Tsvangirai and Mr Chiyangwa who should lead the drive toward zero-tolerance to accidents in whatever form, especially during this rainy season and when more cars are now on our roads.

I reiterate the sentiments I raised on April 24, 2009 regarding bus accidents: “As a nation we cannot proceed like this when diseases such as malaria, Aids and cholera (then) are claiming even more people. There is, therefore, need for behaviour change among drivers and passengers where both parties should realise that life is God-given, and too precious to lose needlessly.”

As an endowed nation, we should match the blessings we have with caution and maturity.

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