Opinion by Nigel Pfunde
THREE horrific accidents occurred in Harare Tuesday with another two claiming lives of 15 people in Masvingo and Plumtree Monday.
This comes at a time when the Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa is making frantic efforts on road rehabilitation with major success.
The assigned minister Felix Mhona has come to play and delivered with great finnese.
These accidents cannot be therefore blamed on the state of the roads but rather on human error and to a larger extent recklessness.
Why I say recklessness is because of the four accidents I mentioned above , three of them involve public transport operators save for the Pennywise traffic lights one that claimed two lives.
Most of the scenes are ‘black spots’.
A macabre incident of a soldier gunning down three people in Mash Central also easily comes to mind!
Having stayed at a block of flats opposite the aforementioned streetlights at Pennywise, I can put it to you gentle reader that a week won’t last without a horrific accident at that spot.
I used to think that the causative factor was drinking and driving since the road connects the Harare CBD to Red Fox which was then a hub of entertainment under Elder Robert Zhuwao,but accidents still occur years after Red Fox closure.
I grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist church and hence not very superstitious.
However, I have been tempted to believe some of the theories suggesting that the month of August is an unlucky and cursed month could be true.
Ironically, my father was born in August but I am lucky to be in existence.
I digress.
My point is most of these beliefs about August cannot be universally accepted, but this month has a rich history of superstitions and folklore surrounding it.
According to my research, in some cultures, August is considered an unlucky month due to its association with the decline of summer and the approaching darkness of winter.
In East Asian traditions, it is believed to be the Ghost Month, when spirits of the dead roam the earth.
The first of August also marks Lammas, a pagan festival that celebrates the harvest season and the cycle of life and death.
In astrology, the month is associated with the signs Leo and Virgo, which have their own unique energies and superstitions.
I am a Virgo have my own unique energies having being born on September 4.
I am not blowing my own trumpet, but anyway if you don’t who will do.
What we need as a nation is prayer for divine intervention.
That is my story and I’m sticking to it!
