MUKOVHAWABALE – The family of Mrs Tshifhiwa Munyai of Gunda village is rejoicing after she went missing on the 10th of last month and resurfaced a month later. Her experiences between “zombies,” however, have left everyone confused and speechless. Tshifhiwa went to visit one of her elder sisters, Tshavhungwe, at Makwilidza village four days before her disappearance.

She was in the company of her three-year-old daugter, Thivhakoni. Her disappearance was reported to the police. He sister-in-law found her standing at the Tshilamba Taxi rank on the 9th of this month. When her sister-in-law questioned her about her disappearance, Tshifhiwa started telling things that convinced everybody she was mentally ill.

When they questioned her further, they realized that she was repeating the same things over and over again and thus making people believe that there was an element of truth in what she was saying. Tshifhiwa told Mirror that, while on her way from visiting her sister, she decided to do some shopping at the Thohoyandou Shopping Centre. She said that she left her bag with a relative who works as a hawker at the shopping centre.

It was after dropping the bag that she started hearing a strange woman’s voice calling her and giving her directions to take. That, ac-cording to her, was the starting point of her trip to the zombies’ place. What happened thereafter is what Tshifhiwa cannot recall clearly.

She said she remembers entering into a hall that is situated next to the mountain. On arrival, she was given a sponge and a blanket by a woman, whom she described as short and white in complexion.

She revealed that life in that hall was hell. According to her, there were more than 100 people in the hall, all women and children. According to her, it was difficult for her to understand the language used by those people, as it was as if they did not have tongues.

She said they spent most of their time sleeping and that the only time they would move out of the hall was when their master opened the door for them to sit in the sunshine for a little while in the morning. She said she used to share the small blanket and sponge with her daughter. She further revealed that the woman (master) brought them a basket full of bread and some tea every morning and pap and potatoes every evening.

According to her the food was so little that it was rare for any of them to have a full slice of bread in a day.

She described the way in which she escaped from the “slavery hall” as a miracle. She said she opened the door early in the morning before the master arrived and managed to escape with her daughter.

After opening the door she lost consciousness and regained it when she was standing at the Tshilamba Taxi rank at about 11:00 that morning. According to her brother, Mr Reckson Tshiphongo, the family had consulted numerous sangomas and prophets during her disappearance in a bid to get her back.

He said that all the people they had consulted told them a similar story. “Tshifhiwa is still alive and is kept like a zombie.” He said they demanded a lot of money in order to bring Tshifhiwa back. “We did not have money and as such we could not give them a go-ahead to bring her back,” he said.

A friend advised them to consult a spiritual healer, Bishop Obert Sibanda at Shayandima. According to him, the bishop gave them certain things to use and told them that Tshifhiwa would return within a month, although she had already been turned into a zombie. During an interview with the bishop, he stated that it was not the first time for him to bring people who had been turned into zombies back to normal life. He said that so many people have returned through his spiritual powers.