In a sombre ceremony on Thursday, 11 July 2024, Enick Makaza, a Cyclone Idai survivor from Chimanimani, collected seven death certificates for his family members who perished in the devastating disaster in March 2019.
According to The Manica Post, the event was held at Ndima High School in Chimanimani East constituency, where about 30 relatives of the 279 victims received civil documents during the handover ceremony.
Out of the 279 people who lost their lives in Cyclone Idai, 133 were male and 146 were female.
The death certificates were handed over by Benjamin Kabikira, the deputy to the Local Government and Public Works Minister, Daniel Garwe, who represented the ministry at the event.
Makaza, who resides in the Kopa area of Rusitu in Chimanimani, was among the worst-affected survivors of the tragedy.
He collected death certificates for his two wives, Shylet Sabona and Letwin Jambaya, as well as his children – Ernest, Enrich, Silma, Shalom, and Enia Makaza.
They were all swept away without a trace by the floods from their Madhomeni residential area. Said Makaza:
Yes, this somehow consoles me and brings closure to this problem. I have been trying to get these civil documents so that I can know, and accept the fact that they are all dead and will never locate them.
I would have loved to see all their remains, but as it stands, together with others who were affected in the same way, we just have to accept the fact that they are all gone and we will never see them again.
Makaza recounted the harrowing events of the fateful day when his entire family was swept away by the raging floodwaters, describing how he managed to survive by climbing and clinging to a tree for at least seven gruelling hours. He said:
I had tried to rescue them from the house since a strong tide of water was almost covering the whole area.
When I had instructed them to go uphill, they met a police officer who ordered them to go back, saying the water would subside.
Unfortunately, the tide increased in force, and our house was struck by rock boulders, resulting in the whole family being swept away.
Chimanimani and Chipinge districts in Manicaland Province were among the worst affected by Cyclone Idai.
The cyclone caused extensive damage to homes, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure across the affected areas.
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