Doves burial saga rages on as firm sacks whistle blower driver

DOVES Funeral Services (Doves) has fired its hearse driver, Sam Chitsike, on allegations of failing to do due diligence after learning that he had carried an empty coffin for burial to Nyanga.

The burial mix up saga made headlines late last year after the top parlour gave a Nyanga family an empty coffin before burying his body in the same coffin with a pauper.

Chitsike claims his former employer now accuses him of concealing the mix up.

“They are blaming me for keeping the secret. They said why didn’t you tell your supervisor immediately after learning what had happened,” he said in a live recording streamed on social media.

Chitsike was dismissed on December 31 last year.

He however said he had told his superior, who is now denying it because it is being treated as an offence and can eventually end in criminal litigation.

Doves is accused of burying Maxwell Chimwamurombe’s body in the same coffin as a pauper in Harare, after realising its mistake.

It is alleged that this was done to conceal the mix-up, but conscience prompted Chitsike, who had driven the empty coffin to disclose the issue to the family.

However, Chitsike has not known any peace since the scandal started unfolding and has eventually lost his job.

“I don’t know what I did wrong. My family is now starving and I’m asking if you can help me to go back to work so that I can look after my family,” Chitsike said.

“I committed no offence and these are allegations which are just being created so that I leave the company,” said Chitsike.

Chitsike joined Doves as a security guard 12 years ago.

He said he collected the body of Maxwell from Parirenyatwa together with two plastic bags which contained his belongings.

The driver said his role was simply to ferry the body to its rural home in Nyanga adding that morticians prepared the body and the coffin.

He also said he never noticed that there was something amiss throughout the process until he was alerted by his colleagues soon after the burial.

Chitsike said he approached his superiors, but they told him to keep it a secret.

The driver also said one Tobias Mapuranga is the one who had prepared the body.

He also said his colleagues are on his side but have no powers to control the decisions of their bosses.

—New Zimbabwe

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