By Correspondent
For months, 76-year-old Velile Khumalo had been counting down to December.
She was eagerly awaiting a long-overdue reunion with her daughter, Zandile Nothabo Tshuma (née Khumalo), and her two granddaughters, Natalie and Nala, who had planned to visit Zimbabwe for the first time in more than four years.
Instead, the Bulawayo mother is preparing for a heartbreaking homecoming — bringing them back for burial.
Speaking softly from her home, Velile struggled to contain her grief as she reflected on the unimaginable loss of her daughter and grandchildren.
“I last saw them when my youngest granddaughter was still a baby,” she said. “I had been looking forward to welcoming them home this December.”
She paused several times during the interview, overwhelmed with emotion.
Her only wish now, she said, is for her daughter and granddaughters to be laid to rest at Luveve Cemetery in Bulawayo.
“My only wish now is that my daughter and grandchildren are buried here in Zimbabwe, at Luveve Cemetery,” she said.
“My daughter had the sweetest daughters. They are all gone, just like that.”
Fighting back tears, she added: “If I had one more chance to talk to her, I would tell her to leave everything and come home.”
Nothabo Tshuma, 42, and her daughters, Natalie, 15, and Nala, 5, were found dead at their home in Great Denham, Bedfordshire, in the United Kingdom. Post-mortem examinations concluded that all three died from blunt force trauma.
Her husband, Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, 45, was arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 10 after British authorities linked him to the killings. He remains in custody while extradition proceedings to the United Kingdom continue.
British prosecutors have authorised three counts of murder against him. He also faces a South African charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.
The killings have sent shockwaves through Zimbabwe and its diaspora, prompting an outpouring of grief and calls for justice.
Family members remember Nothabo as more than a successful professional. They describe her as a devoted mother, loving daughter and sister who always put family first and remained deeply connected to her roots despite living abroad.
Now, the joyful December reunion Velile had dreamed about has become an agonising wait to bring her daughter and granddaughters home for their final journey.
