Police Officer Charged In Fatal Seke Road Crash

Police Sergeant James Makaranga, a member of the Police Protection Unit stationed at Tomlinson Depot in Harare, has been charged with culpable homicide following a tragic accident that resulted in the deaths of seven people. The incident occurred at the intersection of Seke and St Patrick’s roads in Hatfield on August 13 at approximately 6:45 a.m.

Makaranga, who holds a valid driver’s licence for classes 4 and 5, was driving a Toyota Hiace (AGH 1213) with 15 passengers onboard when he side-swiped a Mazda Bongo van carrying four passengers.

This collision caused his kombi to crash head-on into a Nissan Caravan kombi, which was transporting 18 passengers.

The crash resulted in the immediate deaths of three people—Wayne Chipuriro (42), Pecking Feliati (40), and Christable Makwanya (32). The collision also left 32 individuals injured, with four of them later succumbing to their injuries between August 16 and 18 at Chitungwiza Central Hospital and Sally Mugabe Central Hospital. The deceased from this later group have been identified as Lucky Gwangwanza, Andrew Chikwanda (38), Tafadzwa Sibanda (29), and Michael Manyanga (49).

National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that investigations into the accident are ongoing. “The Zimbabwe Republic Police reiterates that drivers should exercise caution on the roads to curb road traffic accidents,” Nyathi stated.

In a separate incident, another devastating accident occurred at Save River Bridge on the Chivhu-Nyazura road at around 7:50 p.m. on Sunday. A Shackman truck collided head-on with a Nissan Vannette, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals and injuries to four others. The victims were en route to a funeral at the time of the crash.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the Nissan Vannette struck a grid on the bridge, causing the vehicle’s ball joint to dislodge and the vehicle to veer into oncoming traffic. The driver of the Shackman truck fled the scene, abandoning the vehicle and some documents.

Police have released the names of seven of the deceased: Priviledge Muzanenhamo (41), Elizabeth Tomu (30), Aleck Zenda (31), George Kamhunga (34), and Anotida Zenda (one), all from Timire Park in Ruwa, along with Wadzanayi Kamhunga (30) and Angela Kamhunga (25) from Kuwadzana 1. The bodies were transported to Murambinda Mission Hospital mortuary for post-mortem, while the injured were admitted to the same hospital for treatment.