AN EIGHT-month pregnant Zimbabwean woman was found dead in South Africa following massive flash floods which killed seven people and displaced hundreds in the neighbouring country last week.
Caroline Sithole (34) of Mzilikazi suburb in Bulawayo, who worked as a florist in Johannesburg, was found dead in Eastleigh stream in South Africa’s commercial capital on Saturday.
Her body was found a day after the discovery of her car, some kilometres away.
Sithole’s relatives are still to agree on her burial place between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Speaking from South Africa yesterday, her uncle, Mr Munyaradzi Chiguri, said Sithole went missing on Tuesday evening following flash floods that hit Johannesburg.
“Her roommate, Refilwe, phoned to notify me that Sithole had called her saying she was stuck in town because of the floods and that was the last she had heard from her. Sithole was on her way home from work and was supposed to pass through picking up Refilwe’s son from his school. After she called her saying she was stuck in the floods, her phone went off,” he said.
Mr Chiguri said police phoned on Friday to inform him that the wreckage of her car had been found. The next day they told him about the discovery of her body.
“I phoned home and informed Caroline’s mother who was in Chiredzi to immediately come to South Africa so that we search for her. On Saturday morning, I got another call from the police informing me that her body had been found on an embankment of Eastleigh stream,” he said.
When The Chronicle visited the late Sithole’s grandmother, Ms Farai Khumalo (70) at her residence in Mzilikazi yesterday, she said burial arrangements were still underway.
“I raised the girl from birth to the time she left for South Africa about 15 years ago, and because of that, I demand that she be buried here in Mzilikazi where she grew up.
“Her father who resides in South Africa wants her buried there but we are still discussing that she must be buried here,” she said.
Sithole’s childhood friend said the community was in shock.
“I last saw Caroline last year when I visited her in South Africa and I’m heartbroken that she has died in such a painful way.
“I rarely watch TV and I was told by neighbours that my friend was dead. I checked on social media and indeed learnt that she was dead. It’s unbelievable but it’s real and we’re waiting for her body so we lay her to rest,” said the friend who preferred anonymity.
