Justice Delayed, Closure Denied: The Soul-Seering Saga of Princess Shoko

By Ilyana Sithole

The odor of injustice lingers in the atmosphere, heavier and more rank than the despair crushing Nomsa Sibanda. Since the past months, this traumatized mother who, as a child, lived an institutional life which left its frost in her very being, has had to witness a living horror. Her dearly beloved Princess Shoko was abruptly snatched in July 2023, and her tender life was callously extinguished with a cruelty that brings chills to the heart.

Let us not beat about the bush. Princess was not only abducted; she was reportedly killed in cold blood by the same individuals who were placed in her care – her own aunt, Alister Sibanda, and Alister’s alleged accomplice, John Zvivi. The circumstances which later came to light paint a dark picture of betrayal and unimaginable brutality. This innocent child, whose laughter should still be ringing in her mother’s heart, was allegedly brutally murdered in a fatal attack at their rural home in Zvimba. Her tiny, lifeless body was thereafter cruelly stuffed into a 25kg bag of mealie-meal, her face reportedly twisted – a grim reminder of the brutality she suffered.

And the motive? A horrifyingly ridiculous claim by Alister that Princess had been attacked by “zvidhoma” – evil spirits. This desperate, near-satanic effort to deflect suspicion contributes further to the horror of this crime. Either a misguided superstition or a conscious lie, it had the effect of Princess’s small body being treated with contempt, cast aside like garbage in a shallow dam in Dzivarasekwa.

Imagine the anguish of Nomsa, first being told a heartless falsehood that her daughter had died from natural causes and been buried in Masvingo. The clever deceptions, the deliberate lies – each another knife thrust into an already shattered mother’s heart. Truth finally came to light, the vile betrayal revealed, and the so-called offenders fled to South Africa like the cowards they seem to be.

But suffering is not over yet. Even in death, Princess is deprived of peace. DNA was taken out to know what a mother’s heart had already known, but the reply lies somewhere in some bureaucratic repository, an unconscionable delay which still has Princess’s body rotting in a mortuary. For months now, Nomsa has been deprived of her basic human right to lay her child to rest, to be buried with dignity and to start the long healing process.

What cold-blooded insensitivity permits such a travesty to go on? What bureaucratic inefficiency can account for the extended ongoing torture of a bereaved mother? Officials responsible for administering these life-and-death DNA results are, in a very material sense, culpable in perpetuating this ongoing cruelty. Their silence shouts its message loud, their inactivity a brazen disregard of Nomsa Sibanda’s raw anguish.

To this intolerable load is added the ordeal of Nomsa’s other surviving daughter, who was physically assaulted by her assailants who were supposed to defend her. She is injured, not only in body, but certainly in spirit, having been subjected to or having witnessed inexpressible horrors.

The testimony recorded by Zimba Wave News provides a chilling insight into the minds of the accused and their family members. A relative of John Zvivi pleads with him to take responsibility, to account for his role in this horrific crime. Zvivi himself, in a chillingly matter-of-fact way, admits to having driven the car to get rid of the baby’s body, claiming he “panicked” and fled to South Africa on a spurious excuse. His father’s outrage at his son’s dishonesty makes the situation even more serious.

This is not only a crime; it is a fundamental breach of trust, a violent assault on innocence, and a stinging indictment of a system that seems to be incapable of providing swift justice and loving closure. We, the people, demand action!

The public demands that Princess Shoko’s DNA results be released without delay so that her bereaved mother can at last bury her. They demand that Nomsa be helped to be handed over the body of her daughter and be able to bury her with dignity. The public demands that Nomsa and her other living daughter, who carry the unsaid wounds of this terrible experience, be provided with holistic counseling and psychotherapy.

Princess Shoko’s blood demands justice. Nomsa Sibanda’s tears demand action. Let the authorities listen to our outrage and finally give this grieving mother the closure she so badly craves. Let Princess finally rest in peace.