Revellers warned against drug abuse

Parents should monitor their children

Parties involving orgies and binges

Mtandazo Dube and Annah Mataruse

When three young people die during a pool-side party that is organised in secrecy and co-ordinated via closed groups on social media — and when the goings-on at the party such as abuse of alcohol by under-age drinkers, use of illicit drugs and all sorts of immoral acts are deemed to be illegal — it is never easy to get an official comment.

This is like a secret society that operates in the dark and would not want the goings-on at the event to be made public. Those at the centre of such tragedies often go to great lengths to try and gag the media and any witnesses.

And so it was not easy trying to extract any official comment on what really transpired during that fateful night at the famous Boathouse in Highlands.

Having tried in vain to get the police, the organisers of the party or the owner of the property to talk about the unfortunate death of the three young men at a pool party held at the Boathouse — The Sunday Mail Leisure went behind the scenes and spoke to the people familiar with what goes on in this sort of secret society.

Elliot Hamadziripi, a party organiser who was managing the beer stocks at the event, says there were about 150 youths on the fateful night at number 1 Grossvenor Road, Highlands, Harare.

“These sort of parties take place very often. The organiser hires some premises, residential or business, gets police clearance and a temporary liquor licence then spreads the word.

“There are Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups that are used to market the party. Those who are into these kind of parties then turn up in their numbers and pay fees ranging from $5 to $10 — people have fun and the organisers make money,” said Elliot.

He said most of the parties usually run smoothly and on that particular night, Saturday October 6 into Sunday October 7, things appeared to have gone according to the script.

“As usual the music was loud, people were drinking and just after midnight a young lady jumped into the pool, which was strange as it was very chilly that night.

“A number of boys and many other people then jumped into the pool, drinking beer by the pool side and generally having fun. Nothing seemed amiss, there were no fights or an incident of drowning,” narrated Elliot.

He says the party officially ended at 01:00 as they had to rush to the after party of that pool party, which was on at the Grain Lounge in Newlands.

“We packed the stocks and left for the Grain together with the Grain Lounge manager. We left behind Nosh (Dee Nosh, real name Kudzai Matondo) and some boys who were swimming — they were generally rounding up,” he said.

Elliot says he was shocked when he got a call from Matondo in the morning telling him that two boys from the previous night’s party had been found dead in the swimming pool.

“He sounded a bit incoherent, saying ‘ndine munyama chete ini (I have bad luck)’. He then said two boys had died and a lot of other things, but I didn’t quite get the story until I got to the other party which we had organised at Lake Chivero on Sunday afternoon,” said Elliot.

At the lake, Elliot says that is when DJ P Styles confirmed that three young adults had been found dead at the venue of the previous night’s party.

Elliot said the pool party was not even meant for young people.

“The party had not been meant for the youths, it was actually for adults, like real grown-ups, but the boys and girls just turned up. Most of them looked like college students,” he said.

It is still unclear whether the organisers of the party had acquired the relevant documents to host the event.

Efforts to speak to Adrian “Beefy” Harrison and Dee Nosh, the co-hosts of the event, were fruitless.

A visit to the Boathouse to try and talk to either the tenant or owner of the house also drew blanks as the people there were unfriendly and uncooperative.

However, The Sunday Mail Leisure established that the deceased are Timothy Moyo, Tonderai Matiwi and Washington Mashananani although their ages could not be ascertained and their particulars were not made available.

Michael Mukusha and Tanatswa Vereta of Zimre Park reported the deceased as missing at Highlands Police Station after discovering their friends’ clothes on the pool side but with no one in sight. It is said the owner of the property, Nigel Mujuru, only discovered the bodies at the bottom of the pool while cleaning up after the party and then reported to the police.

Unconfirmed reports say the deceased young men were holding hands when they were discovered.

Police investigations are still underway to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the young men.

Call to Parents by Authorities

There is a lurking danger in urban centres, especially big cities like Harare and Bulawayo.

While these mostly illegal parties are organised by DJs and promoters to make money, those in the know say the gatherings are used to push drugs and engage in other highly immoral acts like filming sex orgies.

It is said that those who attend these parties are mostly young people between the ages of 16 and 25 while those who organise the parties to sell alcohol and distribute drugs are usually older.

In Harare, these parties are attended by “flash mobs”, large groups of people moving around from one party place to the other.

Most of the youths are said to come from well-to-do families, usually with parents in executive and highly paying jobs, politics or are top business people.

The young lads drive top of the range vehicles or are dropped off by guardians or parents driving such cars. Mostly the parents or guardians are misinformed that the parties are innocent and since most of the venues are actually houses, unsuspecting parents buy their children’s stories.

A source who is familiar with how the parties are conducted who spoke on condition of anonymity said the age groups that attend some of the parties are just unacceptable.

“Most parents understandably do not allow their children anywhere near nightclubs or pubs of any sort for obvious reasons. But when a child asks to go to a party, most parents usually just give the go ahead and even give them some money.

“Some of the boys and girls are those that are in universities abroad. So as a parent you just tell yourself that if he or she can be safe alone in Australia, what can happen to them at home,” revealed the insider.

However, these parties are proving to be dangerous as perverts and drug users who would find a nightclub environment too open to scrutiny now frequent these parties.

“Teenagers are being abused at these parties and most of these cases are going unreported. In worst case scenarios they die but these parties are turning young people into drug addicts and alcohol abusers.

“Some of them will be talented singers, sportsmen and women destined for greater things in life – but hey, we read about them in the papers every day for the wrong reasons. It all starts at these parties and someone has to put a stop to it all.”