… likely to receive pauper’s burial as no relatives are showing up for him
Melody Musuva
CHIREDZI-Former Hippo Valley Estates employee and newspaper vendor popularly known as ‘Dzungu’ or ‘Chauke’ was recently hit by an unlicensed biker and later died at Chiredzi General Hospital after sustaining head injuries.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) are still gathering more detail about him since he had no national Identity Document and known relatives as he was living in the streets.
ZRP are yet to establish proper documentation for Dzungu as he had no registration certificates or known relatives but this publication established that he was known as Solomon Chauke and is remembered for pioneering newspaper vending in Chiredzi in the early 90s after he parted ways with Hippo Valley Estates.
Masvingo Provincial Police Spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said Dzungu was hit by an unlicensed biker, Tafadzwa Muperi (26) at around 1200 hours along Lion Drive in Chiredzi.
“Dzungu, who was more like a street man as he had no fixed residential address, was hit by Tafadzwa Muperi with a motorcycle and the biker had no license. Dzungu died at Chiredzi General Hospital a few minutes later and since then nobody has claimed his body,” said Dhewa.
District Social Welfare Officer, Admire Emmanuel also said that there is little information pertaining to relatives, real name and age for the deceased as he did not even had a National Identity card or known relatives.
“Dzungu was known by many in the streets of Chiredzi by selling newspapers and begging for help but there is little information of his life history including relatives, date of birth and National Identity card. Many myths are surrounding him as some are saying he came from South Africa while others are saying he came from Malipati,” said Emmanuel.
Dzungu was well known for inflating newspaper prices and his target market were known businessmen who could not question his pricing system.
Before Covid-19, Dzungu was known for drinking ‘Black Label’ lager at supermarket entrances before he shifted to Eagle and later Cane Spirits as his revenue base was shut down due to the pandemic, and was arrested multiple times by police officers who were not familiar with him.
Though Dzungu was well known for selling newspapers, he was illiterate and could not read what he was selling but had a tactic to find someone explain him the contents of every front page stories which he could master in order to lure his customers into buying.
