By Cde Sikhosana Bambazonke
In a tragedy so grim it silences even the village drum, five members of one family were brutally killed at Plot 9, Ona Farm, in Guruve, reminding the nation—once again—that mental health in Zimbabwe is treated like a spare tyre and ignored until the car overturns.
Police have launched a massive manhunt for Anymore Zvitsva, the suspect in the killings, who is believed to have long struggled with mental health challenges.
Unfortunately, as is often the case, this fact only became headline-worthy after a grandmother, her adult daughter, two toddlers and another family member lost their lives—proof that society prefers autopsies to prevention.
The victims—Grace Zvitsva (66), Loice Chiringaushe (37), Takudzwa Kariva (5), Tatenda Chirenje (2), and Tendai Zvitsva (40)—were wiped out in a single night of horror.
A whole family erased while the system that failed them prepares press statements and drone batteries.
According to police, a neighbour, alerted by disturbing noises, went to investigate with two others.
They were met not by answers but by bloodstains at the kitchen entrance and a scene that will haunt Guruve long after the police tape is removed.
Tendai Zvitsva was found alive but gravely injured, only to die upon arrival at Guruvé Hospital—because in Zimbabwe, survival is often a temporary condition.
Inside the house, the bodies of the other four victims lay in the main bedroom, while five grandchildren sleeping in another room were spared.
Fate, it seems, still flips coins even when the odds are soaked in blood.
Police now believe the suspect may also be linked to other murders in Zimuna Village under Chief Bepura.
If confirmed, this would suggest that warning signs were not just missed—they were ignored, postponed, or filed under “we will deal with it later,” a folder already overflowing with national regret.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police have deployed drones, canine units, horse patrols, intelligence services and elite officers to hunt the suspect, demonstrating that the state has no shortage of resources once tragedy has already happened.
What remains missing, however, is the same urgency when families quietly struggle with untreated mental illness before lives are lost.
National police spokesperson commissioner Paul Nyathi has urged communities not to ignore individuals showing signs of mental instability and to seek professional help.
It is sound advice—albeit painfully late.
For the Zvitsva family, referral forms, social welfare offices and professional assessments have arrived as condolences.
This massacre is not just a crime story; it is an indictment.
It exposes a society where mental health care is underfunded, stigmatized, and outsourced to prayer, whispers and hope.
Where families carry unbearable burdens alone until tragedy forces the nation to briefly look up—before moving on.
As Guruve buries its dead, Zimbabwe must confront an uncomfortable truth that these deaths were not only caused by a suspect on the run, but by a system that ran away long before he did.
