Victim of political violence battles for life

Nqobani Moyo

An eight-year-old boy is still battling for his life in Johannesburg, 10 months after he sustained extensive burns in a fire that killed his mother and brother during politically motivated violence in the western regions of Zimbabwe.

Nqobani Moyo (8) was the only survivor out of three family members who were the occupants of a thatched hut when it was set on fire in the Seshanke area of Nkayi in Matabeleland North in an attack allegedly launched by members of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

The boy’s deceased mother – Bohle Ncube (36), was a known active supporter of the mainstream Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the district, according to MDC members who are now taking care of the boy in Johannesburg.

Nqobani is still undergoing treatment after he was smuggled out of Zimbabwe by some members of the MDC’s Johannesburg district committee last week.

A neighbour in Seshanke, who had been taking care of the child since the attack on the Moyo family, says the family was attacked by known Zanu-PF members, some of them war veterans, in January this year, after several threats on Ncube for her unwavering support for the MDC.

“The mother told me that the three were sitting in their bedroom at around 7pm on January 9, 2009, when they heard a blast,” said the neighbour.

“She left her children and went outside to investigate what was happening, but had to rush back when she heard her children screaming. When she got back, the whole house was on fire and when she got in, trying to rescue her children, the door closed behind her and she could not open it.”

It took neighbours more than 30 minutes to chop down the door, which is said to have been secured from outside with wire.

“When we finally opened the door, we dragged out the three, who had already sustained horrific burns. Nothing could be salvaged from the house.”

Ncube and her three children were ferried in donkey-drawn carts to the nearby Nesigwe Clinic. On the following day they were transferred to Bulawayo’s Mpilo hospital in a car owned by a local pastor. He apparently demanded a cow upfront as payment for his service.

The elder child, Mehleli, who was 11 years old, died on the way to Bulawayo, while the mother died four days later after admission to Mpilo.

The surviving boy was, however, prematurely discharged allegedly due to a shortage of medicine in the hospital. Nqobani’s burns deteriorated due to lack of proper medical care back in Nkayi.

“We had no other option but to treat him with traditional medicine, which is not suitable for such extensive burns,” said the neighbour.

The chairman of the MDC’s Johannesburg district, Remember Moyo, told The Zimbabwe Times that his committee took action last week after they were informed of the plight of the boy by one of their activists, who is a cross-border transport operator.

“We then met as a committee and raised money that we used to transport the boy and this lady (the neighbour) here, so that he can undergo treatment,” said Moyo, himself an exiled victim of brutality.

“We were shocked to see him and are now contributing towards his medical fees and well-being here. We do not have enough and would like to appeal to the public to assist us save this innocent soul and bring his life back to normal.”

Nqobani’s burns are so severe that his bare skull is visible in some parts of his head.

“Bohle was a very active MDC member and taking care of her child is the little we can do for her as one of our heroes. We want him to say one day that, ‘My mother and brother died for the struggle, I was injured alongside them, but the party took care of me,’ instead of suffering for the rest of his life as was about to happen.

“We want him to recover from both the wounds and the trauma and be able to play and pursue his dreams like any other child.”

The boy’s father, who was self-employed in neighbouring Botswana when his family was attacked, is now said to be mentally disturbed, after he was traumatized by the incident, while relatives are said to be shunning the boy after they were threatened by Zanu-PF supporters.

Seshanke is said to be one of the most politically volatile areas in Nkayi District.

Moyo said that the MDC’s Johannesburg district had plans to open a trust to fundraise for Nqobani’s treatment, general welfare and educational needs.