TALENT Murengwa Madyara is haunted by dreams of his father. In his dreams, his father begs him to give him a proper burial so he can rest in peace. But Tallent, a 48-year-old man from the Makokoba suburb of Bulawayo, cannot fulfill his father’s wish due to a family dispute that led to his father’s body being kept at the Mpilo Hospital morgue for more than two and a half years.
The late Murengwa died on May 9, 2021 at Mpilo Hospital after being admitted to the health institution for four days.
The decades-long feud that is said to be tearing the family apart stems from an incident in which the late Murengwa was evicted from the family home – No. 2240 in the Makokoba suburb – after his wife Jane Madiara accused him of infidelity in 2005. It was not, his son Talent narrated, that he was allowed to return to family and resided in Fondue Flats in the same suburb until his death.
“I was in South Africa when my mother and sisters kicked my father out of the family home in 2005 due to what they claimed was infidelity on his part, and he left to reside at Vundu Flats all these years until his death.
“There has been tension in the family since my father left the family home but my hope was that one day we would find each other and resolve our differences. Unfortunately, the dispute was never resolved despite my many attempts to sit down as a family and talk about our problems and now things have gotten worse because my father He has been in the morgue for more than two and a half years. Talent.
Matters came to a head when Tallent was banned from contacting his mother Jane and sisters through a restraining order issued by a Bulawayo court in 2022, just months after Murengwa’s death.
“My father died in May 2021 and I immediately flew home from South Africa to bury him, but we could not agree on anything with my mother and sisters. They announced that they did not want to have anything to do with his burial and that I should do it alone. I returned,” Tallent said. “To South Africa in the hope that they will come to their senses and that we can reach an agreement to bury the old man and let him rest in peace.”
Months have passed and the two warring parties still do not agree.
Months turned into years and today the talent is still haunted by dreams of his father as he requests a proper burial. He returned to Bulawayo permanently in early 2022, and once again tried to convince his family to see reason and bury Murengwa.
His constant visits to the family home in the suburb of Makokoba to talk to his mother, Jane, soon landed him on the wrong side of the law.
“I am not allowed to go near the family home because of a restraining order that my mother and sisters applied for and was granted at Tredgold (Bulawayo Magistrates Court). They have accused me of being a nuisance in the family home, so I am not allowed to contact them in any way otherwise I will go to prison For violating the restraining order.
“All I want is to bury my father. He keeps coming into my dreams begging to be buried.”
He is appealing for help in conducting DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) tests at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) so that the authorities can be satisfied that the correct body will be handed over to the correct family for burial.
“The hospital authorities said that the body has been in the morgue for a very long time and his body can only be exhumed when DNA tests confirm that he is my biological father. The DNA tests cost US$170, so I am appealing to well-wishers to help me pay the amount to Nost so that I can start preparations for my father’s burial.
Talent also sought help from Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Raj Modi, who is also the Zanu-PF Member of Parliament for the Bulawayo South constituency, which covers the Makokoba suburb, to obtain funds for the burial of his father.
Minister Modi said he would send his team to find out how he can help the talents.
A cellphone number Talent provided to the Saturday Chronicle for comment from his mother, Jane, was unreachable, and on Thursday afternoon, a woman at the family home told a news crew that Jane was visiting a relative out of town.
The late Murengwa worked for a local courier company for 45 years until his retirement.
His youngest daughter is reportedly experiencing mental health challenges, and in Tallent’s words: “My sister says she went crazy because our father was angry because we didn’t bury him. Now my family is also accusing me of witchcraft, saying I’m the reason my little sister lost her mind.”
Those who wish to help him bury his father can contact Talent on 0773956768.
