Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
A DEVASTATING mix-up has left a Chipinge family reeling in shock and grief, after they discovered that they had buried the wrong corpse, mistakenly identifying it as their 23-year-old son who had met a tragic end in South Africa.
The deceased, Peace Tafura, a 23-year-old man from Manyaya village under Chief Mutema in Chipinge, allegedly died in a shootout at his Rustenburg home in South Africa on November 16.
However, in a shocking mix-up, his family collected the wrong corpse from the mortuary and repatriated it to Zimbabwe, according to Tafura’s aunt, Ms Theresa Tafirei.
The unidentified Malawian man’s corpse was buried in Manyaya village last Wednesday, only to be exhumed two days later, yesterday (Friday) after the family had been informed by South African officials that they had collected the wrong corpse.
“The family is now working to repatriate the correct body from South Africa and the exhumed body has since been transported back to South Africa. We last heard that it had reached Beitbridge but Peace’s body is still in Pretoria.
“We are still trying to come to terms with what happened. It is a difficult time for our family, and we just want to ensure that our son is laid to rest properly,” she said in an interview at their rural home in Chipinge.
Mourners were still gathered at the home, awaiting further instructions from family members who had since travelled to South Africa to collect the deceased’s body.
