Tragedy at Sulu show…. fan dies after being hit by car

By Godwin Muzari

The Summer Pork and Music Festival held at Ice ‘n’ Fire Pamuzinda over the weekend ended tragically after a fan was hit by a car on his way out and died on the spot.

Suluman Chimbetu, who was the last performer at the festival, prematurely cut his act around 10.30pm on Saturday after the incident.

“I cannot continue performing. We have to end the show because one of our fans has been hit by a car outside. He came here on stage to dance and you all saw him, but he is now dead,” said Sulu before he went off the stage.

Lloyd Ngwarai, who was popularly known as Lodza, was an avid Sulu fan and he had gone on stage earlier for some dance paces.

Fans streamed out of the venue and gathered around Ngwarai’s lifeless body that lay in a pool of blood on the tarmac on the Harare-Bulawayo highway outside the popular watering hole.

Sulu also went to the scene and he was evidently devastated.

“It is painful. I cannot believe it. I cannot say much now because I am in shock. It is painful my friend. I cannot believe he is gone,” said Sulu.

Witnesses said Lodza was hit while crossing the road to get a lift to Norton where he lived.

They said he decided to go home early because he did not have a car on the day and knew transport to his area would be scarce in late hours.

A barman at the venue said Lodza was a regular patron and on Saturday he had come in the afternoon and was in merrymaking mood.

However, the barman said, Lodza had turned violent during the night and had a heated argument with a female bar attendant, which saw him throwing empty bottles onto the counter threatening to harm the lady.

The bar attendant, who refused to be named, said she was lucky to escape without injuries.

“He gave me a dollar saying he wanted beer and I told him that a pint was costing $1,50. It was surprising that he seemed not to know the price when he had been buying beer since the afternoon.

“He then took back his dollar and produced R5 saying he was topping up the money for the beer. When I told him that he had taken his $1 note back he became violent,” she said.

“He accused me of being a thief and he started throwing empty bottles into the counter.

“|He said he wanted to kill me and I had to run away. I had to take refuge for the better part of the event because he would return intermittently looking for me. I was surprised to hear that he had been hit by a car outside a few hours later.”

A man who knew Lodza said he had been behaving wildly during the day.

“He was in a jovial mood and later became angry with almost everyone. It was his character, he would threaten people when he got drunk and he would at times be violent.

“When it happened today, we were not surprised, but his death has shocked us. He was a serious music fan and also a bouncer who got contracts for various activities. We are really shocked,” he said.

Such was the sad ending to the Summer Pork and Music Festival that had started on a high note on Friday with Jah Prayzah’s performance.

Jah Prayzah’s show was a full-house and people enjoyed the festival on the first day that also featured Peter Moyo.

Sulu was the main act of the second day that had artistes Tocky Vibes and Seh Calaz n the line-up.

It was the second edition of the Pork and Music Festival that started last year in Chivhu and is run by Swine Company.

Organisers of the show said it was sad that the exciting festival had ended tragically. The Herald