CHIVAYO TO BE BURIED AT GLEN FOREST ON THURSDAY AFTER FATAL CRASH
HARARE — Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, declared a provincial hero by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to be buried at Glen Forest Cemetery in Harare on Thursday, days after he was killed with his wife and three others in a helicopter crash.
Chivayo, 43, and his wife, Lucy Muteke, 35, died on Wednesday, Sept. 30, when a private helicopter crashed at Kudenga Farm in Marondera Rural, about 70 kilometres east of the capital.
Police said the aircraft had five occupants and that there were no survivors.
The others killed were Muteke’s aide, Saneliswe Magagula, and pilots Captain Calvin Tafirei Soda and Captain Courage Mutavirwa.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police said the aircraft went down at about 5 p.m. Investigators and forensic specialists attended the site.
Authorities have not released a cause. Early accounts said the helicopter left Gandami in Chikomba district, where the couple were building a rural home, and came down roughly 40 minutes later.
A senior security aide travelling in a second aircraft said the flight encountered bad weather.
Family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo confirmed the deaths to the state broadcaster ZBC.
He later said there would be no public viewing of the remains because of the condition of the bodies after the impact and fire. The remains were taken to Doves Funeral Services pending identification
Mnangagwa visited the family home in Gletwyn, Harare, and accorded Chivayo provincial hero status, an honour short of national hero designation.
Provincial hero status allows the state to meet funeral costs and provides for an official send-off organised at provincial level.
Chivayo, founder of Intratrek Zimbabwe and widely known as “Sir Wicknell,” built a public profile through energy and infrastructure contracts, including the long-delayed 100-megawatt Gwanda solar project, and through high-profile gifts of vehicles and cash.
He was a political ally of Mnangagwa and had faced fraud and related charges over the years that ended in acquittals or dismissals.
He was born on Nov. 22, 1982, in the Gandami area of Chivhu.Mourning has been held at the family home
Relatives said sisters who were abroad needed to return before final arrangements could be settled, and earlier listed Glen Forest among sites under consideration, alongside ancestral land at Gandami and other family properties.
Soda is due to be buried in Marondera on Sunday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and police said investigations into the crash were continuing.