Not even death could separate Machingambi couple
Ellen Mlambo
MIRROR REPORTER
MASVINGO – The Holy Bible says until death do us part, but not even that could separate Sekuru Charles Chimbidzikai Machingambi (87) and his wife Mbuya Elvie Machingambi (74) of Majange in Masvingo, who died 36 hours apart in Masvingo this week.
Sekuru Machingambi died at the couple’s home in the hands of his wife and daughter in Majange at 6 pm on Sunday, and his wife died at 6 am on Tuesday before he could be buried.
Neighbours and family members who spoke to The Mirror said the couple was inseparable. They were always together even as Sekuru Machingambi went through a seven-year illness, said the neighbours.
The tragedy has sent tongues wagging, with people saying that the two could not live apart even in death. Mbuya Machingambi did not have signs of ill health at the time of her husband’s death. She was strong and received mourners until a few hours before she died.
“Sekuru Machingambi took his wife with him. He could not leave her behind. The couple loved each other and were always together, and mbuya Machingambi is the one who nursed her husband through a seven-year illness,” said a neighbour.
The couple’s daughter Dr Margaret Machingambi, a lecturer at the Great Zimbabwe University, told The Mirror that Sekuru Machingambi died on her birthday and his burial has since been pushed from Wednesday to Thursday so that her parents could be laid together side by side at the Lawn Cemetery tomorrow.
There will be a church service at the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) chapel in Hillside at 9 am tomorrow before burial the same morning.
The couple’s death has shattered the Ancient City as they were both well known. Sekuru Machingambi was a former bakery supervisor, while his wife was a teacher at Victoria Junior Primary School.
Dr Machingambi said Mbuya Machingambi woke up weak on Tuesday morning with her sugar level having dropped. She failed to make it to the bathroom and knelt.
She was taken to Philadelphia Surgery, where she died on arrival. Her doctor attributed the death to a heart attack.
Sekuru Machingambi was born at Morgenster Mission Hospital and he got married to Mbuya Machingambi in 1971. The couple wedded in 1971. The couple had six children and ten grandchildren.
