07 March 2017, CHECHECHE – A panic-stricken kombi driver who thought he had caused the death of many passengers in a grisly accident which killed one person and badly-injured 13 more along Ngundu-Tanganda Road last weekend fled the accident scene in shock.
The kombi was travelling towards Chipinge when the accident happened close to the 75 kilometre peg from Croco Motors Chiredzi.
Sources said the driver bolted from the vehicle wreck in which his injured conductor was also trapped and took to his heels thinking he had caused the death of many more passengers.
The kombi was reportedly over-speeding and had 24 passengers on board before it hit a pothole and overturned thrice.
The injured passengers were ferried St Peters Hospital in Checheche.local

06 March 2017, ZVISHAVANE – There seems to be no end in sight to the problems of burst sewer pipes in Zvishavane despite the sacking of council chairperson, Esau Gwatipedza Dube by the Minister of Local Governance Public Works and National Housing, Savior Kasukuwere, on allegations of corruption and incompetence.
Dube was fired in January reportedly at the instigation of Town Secretary, Tinoda Mukutu, for allegedly failing to execute his duties.
There is, however, no evidence to date that service delivery is improving in the town as pools of raw sewage and erratic water supplies of questionable quality being the order of the day.
Roads are also riddled with enormous potholes and things have worsened with the heavy rains that have been pounding the town of late.
A sewage pool near PG Hardware has not been attended to for several weeks and it has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The pool started as a pot hole which was neglected until it grew bigger with a burst sewer pipe nearby acting as its tributary.
A few meters from the pool lies a fruit and vegetable market with the popular Madeira Restaurant and other food outlets also close by.
A woman who sells food on the streets accused council of prioritising self-enrichment and partisan politics at the expense of service delivery.
“We thought we were going to see improvement now that the chairperson, who was accused of incompetence and corruption, is now gone. But what do we have now beside a deterioration of services and the I don’t care attitude of the bosses?
“It was all about politics and nothing else. The chairperson was fired simply because he belonged to the wrong party,” said the vendor.
No comment could be obtained from Mukutu by the time of going to print.pictures, local

06 March 2017, CHIREDZI – Communities around Save Valley Conservancy are losing livestock and are living in perpetual fear of stray lions from the Save Valley Conservancy as human/wildlife conflicts continue in the Lowveld and elsewhere.
Two prides of lions have reportedly been spotted in the previous two months with cattle, donkeys and goats falling prey to the dreaded predators.
Areas that have borne the severest brunt of the havoc are Ward 2 and Ward 24 in Mkwasine Range.
An aide to Chief Gudo, Aaron Maramba told TellZim News that the problem had become very familiar as the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) has shown little commitment to trap the animals.
“We are living in fear of lions every day and we have lost livestock. We also fear the lions will attack humans as well. People from the parks were here some few weeks ago but they could not trap the animals because they didn’t have bait and cages,” said Maramba.
When contacted for comment, acting Zimparks southern region manager, Luke Njiva said people should build strong enclosures for their livestock as reports of stray lions in communities adjacent to the conservancy had become perennial.
“Various remedial actions have been taken to reduce human/wildlife conflict and awareness campaigns have been held in all affected areas.
“People need to construct standard livestock pens which are more than two meters high and covered by adequate material. People in those communities should not leave their livestock unattended to during the day,” said Njiva.
Meanwhile, residents who live close to Ruti Dam, Nyazvidzi River, in Gutu are complaining that they no longer feel safe making use of the dam due to rapacious crocodiles.
“The dam is now infested with crocodiles and they are attacking both humans and livestock.  It is now dangerous to fish in the dam because the crocodiles attack at all times of the day.
“People are now afraid to cross into Buhera using the improvised canoes that had become very popular and they are now using the longer route which goes through Nhedziwa,” said a villager who lives close to Machawira Primary School.local

06 March 2017, In a suspected murder case, Prosper Zuka, a fisherman from Chipinge last week discovered a decomposing human body floating in Jersey Dam, Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa has confirmed.
“A body which was in an advanced state of decomposition was discovered in Chipinge and investigations are underway. The conditions show that the person might have been murdered and thrown into the water.
“People with missing relatives should go and identify the body at Chipinge General Hospital. Members of the public with any helpful information should report to any nearest police station,” Inspector Kakohwa said.
The unpleasant find happened when Zuka, of Small Deel Makande Estate under Chief Mapungwana in Chipinge, saw a floating object that turned to be a human body about three metres away from where he was fishing.
Zuka alerted Silas Siyani, a security guard at Small Deel, who then reported the case to Chako police base in Chipinge.
The police quickly went to the scene and retrieved the body which they inspected and found that it was bruised on its back with a stone weighing about 23.5 kg tied to its waist.
The body was sent to Chipinge General Hospital mortuary.local