Zimbabwe News Update
herald_improved
1 min read
FOR Davison Raphain, the coughing never stops.
He sits on a wooden chair at his son-in-law’s house in Waterfalls, Harare, a thin blanket draped over his knees.
At 70, his breathing is heavy and laboured — a haunting rhythm shaped by decades spent underground in South Africa’s gold mines. He coughs, then pauses, scratching his swollen legs, the itch relentless.
“They say it is TB (tuberculosis),” he murmured, forcing a weak smile.
Smart Paundi Davison left Zimbabwe in 1974 as a 20-year-old to chase hope in the neighbouring country.
He joined thousands of Zimbabweans recruited under the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (Wenela), the labour pipeline that fed Southern Africa’s gold mining empire.
Cephas Zimbudzi For 40 years, he only knew heat, darkness and dust.
He subsequently married and had three daughters, one of whom has since passed away.
When his wife died in 2022, Davison had already begun feeling that something was eating him from the inside.
He now shuttles between his rural home in Mhondoro and Harare to receive treatment, supported by his son-in-law.
“I feel like I am carrying a bag of stones. But I thank God I can still speak. Many of my friends did not make it,” he said, pressing his legs gently.
When his old friend Smart Paundi (66) visits from the same village, the reunion is both joyous and tragic.
