BULAWAYO – War hero Dumiso Dabengwa’s body was left behind at an airport in Johannesburg on Sunday while his family travelled to Bulawayo after a flight crew failed to inform them they were unable to fit his casket on the plane.
Thousands of people waited at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport for the return of Dabengwa’s body following his death in Kenya on Thursday.
Also waiting the airport’s VIP lounge were Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri and senior Zanu PF leaders Sydney Sekeramayi and Obert Mpofu.
The ZAPU leader’s family, including his wife Zodwa, were stunned when they landed in Bulawayo only to be told his body had been left behind at OR Tambo International Airport – apparently because the casket was too big.
The furious family is now demanding answers from South African Airlink.
Siphosami Malunga, a family friend, said: “I was actually on that flight with the family and saw Airlink staff moving the remains out of the plane. I raised this with the flight crew and demanded they get an immediate explanation from the captain.
“The attendant left to get one and did not come back but said maybe they were using a different hold to load it. When we landed, and I went out, I was told the remains were not on board. I had to break the news to the family.”
Malunga, who is the executive director at Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), said the debacle was “the most sickening thing in have ever seen.”
He went on: “The captain was very insensitive too. When I asked him why he had not come back to me with an answer before we left so that the family could have disembarked to remain with Dabengwa, he did not seem bothered.
“This was so traumatic for the family. This was the most undignified treatment of this great hero and his family. It seemed like it was planned and deliberate.”
Malunga denied that the casket was too big for the Airlink plane.
“Airlink carries human remains all the time. The size of the casket was standard and consistent with the dimensions they gave to the family. They are lying to say that it was larger than required. I’m inclined to think the remains were deliberately offloaded now having reflected on everything. Whose hand is behind this? Why treat the man and his family with such indignity even in death? It’s really disgusting!”
No comment could be obtained from Airlink by last night.
Dabengwa’s remains are now expected to be flown in on Monday.
The government, which is also coming under fire for not chartering a plane to bring Dabengwa home, finally announced on Sunday that he had been declared a national hero. Vice President Mohadi made the announcement.
Dabengwa stated more than once when he was still alive that he did not want to be buried at the National Heroes Acre in Harare, preferring instead to lie next to his ancestors at the family’s home in Ntabazinduna just outside Bulawayo.
