The Sunday Mail
The sun was setting this past Tuesday and any passerby would have mistaken the people idling along the railway line that runs from Mbizi siding to Triangle for sun-bathers, what with the temperatures, even in the ever-hot Lowveld, having dipped to single digits.
SUMMARY
** Hunger stalking temporary camp
** Three months no rations
** Minister Mahofa promised relocation, but no action
** Villagers “surviving” on looting sugar cane
With relocation seemingly a pipe-dream, Chingwizi villagers have gone for months without receiving food rations and their salty water sources are quickly running dry. Due to the incessant hunger stalking the villagers, they have turned to unorthodox means of obtaining food, whereby they ransack sugarcane transporting trains passing by, in the process putting their livestock in danger when they come to feed on the residue of sugarcane which they would have thrown around the railway tracks – Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara
But a curious eye would have caught one or two more details that would make this group of idlers fail the sun-bathing theory. Close to each “sun-bather” was a stick, anything up to three metres long. The curious eye would have noticed the composition of the sun-bathers, a mixture of school children, adolescent boys and girls, men and women. And that would easily tell the story: this was no ordinary sun-bathing.
Thirty minutes to an hour earlier, a goods train that transport raw sugar cane from Mbizi siding to Triangle had gone in the direction of Mbizi.
“When the train passes we give it an hour or so, and it will be back. We now know its routine and in the next 10 or so minutes it will be coming,” narrated Brian, one of the hundreds of youths who have finished their O-Levels but have been left idle by the settings of Chingwizi.
And true to his prediction, within the distance the goods train could be heard advancing and all the “sun-bathers” took their positions, on either side of the rail track, sticks in hand, ready for the kill. And in a flash, all the waiting seems like it was not even worth it. The goods train had waltzed by and the luckiest of them would have two sugar cane sticks.
“This is how we are surviving,” explained one girl, Privy, not more than 18, “as she began eating her sugar cane.
“Today has been a bad day but with nothing to eat in this wilderness, this has become our source of energy.
“The food rations that our family gets is not enough and we have to look at other ways of finding food. Dangerous as it looks, many find this an easy alternative.”
As Privy concurred, stalking the goods trains is not just dangerous, but not even worth the effort because of the “harvest” that one gets.
But that is just but one of the many train stories to be witnessed in Chingwizi, where about 5 000 families have been relocated from around the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam in Chivi.
On Mondays, the Chingwizi folk say it is the happiest day for them all week as the train from Chiredzi brings with it traders, who bring a number of wares for sale.
“History has a knack of repeating itself,” reminisced Isaac Museva, as the Monday train days reminds him of life back in time when the arrival of the train meant a lot to any local community.
“We have traders coming with all sorts of wares and because here in Chingwizi we don’t have any stores, that is the day we stock up. That is if you have the money. But still, if you don’t have money, you will use anything that you might have to barter-trade.”
With relocation seemingly a pipe-dream, Chingwizi villagers have gone for months without receiving food rations and their salty water sources are quickly running dry. Due to the incessant hunger stalking the villagers, they have turned to unorthodox means of obtaining food, whereby they ransack sugarcane transporting trains passing by, in the process putting their livestock in danger when they come to feed on the residue of sugarcane which they would have thrown around the railway tracks – Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara
The third of the train stories is a rather sad one. When the villagers raid the train for sugar cane, most of them will be so hungry that they eat their sugar cane on the rail track, throwing away what would have been left of chewing on the tracks.
In a case of what goes around coming around, the villagers’ cattle whilst scrounging for foliage, get onto the tracks and feast on the sugar cane left-overs. Most often, they then get to chew the cud whilst on the track. And the train comes back again!
“Last week the Maswera family lost four beasts at one go, they were hit by the train by the railway track. This is one of the reasons why we are asking the authorities to relocate us elsewhere as we are losing our animals on a weekly basis,” that from Museva.
“Add to that, that this is Region Five area, not even fit for human habitation.
“ Even as we learnt in school, Region Five is only suitable for ranching, as no crops survive in such conditions.”
Whilst the Provincial Affairs Minister for Masvingo, Cde Shuvai Mahofa, promised the residents of Chingwizi to be relocated to about seven different locations, which are more habitable, four months after that promise nothing has been done.
With relocation seemingly a pipe-dream, Chingwizi villagers have gone for months without receiving food rations and their salty water sources are quickly running dry. Due to the incessant hunger stalking the villagers, they have turned to unorthodox means of obtaining food, whereby they ransack sugarcane transporting trains passing by, in the process putting their livestock in danger when they come to feed on the residue of sugarcane which they would have thrown around the railway tracks – Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara
Minister Mahofa defended herself, saying: “As a ministry responsible for Masvingo, we have done our part. We are now waiting to hear from the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement on the way forward. We should be getting a response by the end of next week.”
But the villagers are having none of such promises: “We are tired of talking about our issue. Many of you reporters have come here and nothing have come out of discussing our plight. We think it is better that we keep quiet, it is for our own good. We talk, nothing happens; we keep quiet, nothing happens. So it is better we keep quiet,” said one middle-aged man, who refused to be identified.
“Even if I tell you my name, what will that change?” he asked rather scornfully.
Museva is of the view that if the Government was really keen on moving the people of Chingwizi, that time should be now.
“That will give us enough time to set up our new homes and be ready for the next summer cropping season. What would be the point in moving us when the rains have started? Everyone knows that huts are built during this dry season, but then we are dealing with people who don’t seem to have the logic.”
The mixed signals coming from central Government has confounded the residents of Chingwizi even more. Whereas they have been told not to build permanent structures as their fate is yet unknown, Government is building a permanent structure for a clinic.
“It is these mixed signals that have us more confused. Maybe, even if we go, they will still use the clinic for whoever is coming here. We are told this is going to be a sugar cane estate, so maybe the new occupants will have a ready clinic,” added Museva.
“But they should do more than just building a clinic and circumcising men,” he continued, “the present staffing at the clinic is deplorable.
I am on lifetime medication and the other time I had to spend the whole day at the clinic to receive my monthly dose. You could not fault the only nurse on duty as she did everything within her means to attend to everyone, but she was simply overwhelmed.”
With relocation seemingly a pipe-dream, Chingwizi villagers have gone for months without receiving food rations and their salty water sources are quickly running dry. Due to the incessant hunger stalking the villagers, they have turned to unorthodox means of obtaining food, whereby they ransack sugarcane transporting trains passing by, in the process putting their livestock in danger when they come to feed on the residue of sugarcane which they would have thrown around the railway tracks – Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara
Whilst the residents of Chingwizi sweat on the promise by Minister Mahofa to move them to more habitable locations, the end of the winter season means they are in for some roasting. Literally.
Temperatures in the area hover in the 40s and with the area endowed with saline water, life cannot be any cruder for the residents.
“We are still drinking water that runs from the Runde River, water which is pumped for cattle in this ranch but we have to share it. The borehole water is too salty for human consumption. After eating my sugar cane, then I go to the water hole and that is it, I would have had my supper. Tomorrow is another day,” summed up Brian.
