Drinking spree granny's journey home ends in Botswana

Drinking spree granny's journey home ends in Botswana

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By Chenjelani Baraedi

WHEN Zimbabwean granny Sarah Sibanda staggered out of the shebeen she thought she was heading home.

Some 48 hours later she was found dazed and confused, wandering barefoot along the main road to Francistown, Botswana -- 50 kilometres from home.

Sarah, from Chichi village in Plumtree, on the other side of the border with Botswana, was picked up in the early hours of Monday morning after walking for two days without food and water in the bush.

Suspicious Two Makhaya of Matshelagabedi village saw the
old woman wandering aimlessly along the Francistown road.

She was frozen cold and her teeth were chattering uncontrollably. After realizing that she was lost he took her to the customary court where she was asked to explain her problem.

Sibanda revealed that she got lost following a heavy drinking spree at her home village on Saturday night.

"I was offered some local brew by a young man in the village, which I accepted with pleasure. Later when I left the drinking place, I assumed that I was heading home."

Asked how and where she crossed the boarder, the old woman who was bruised and bleeding from her bare feet said: "I don’t really understand what actually happened to me. I remember leaving the drinking spot carrying a container with the traditional beer, and wearing shoes. Now I have no container and no shoes. How I came to be here still confuses me."

When asked to produce identification papers the old woman said she had none because she had only popped out for a drink and never imagined she would end up in Botswana.

"I was not prepared for a long journey. Since the beer was sold in the neighbourhood I carried no particulars for identification. I can’t even tell you my age because the details are in my passport," she said.

Makahya who found the old woman said: "She was shocked when I told her that she was actually in Botswana."

Sarah however told the Voice newspaper that it was not the first time she had lost her way after a drinking spree.

"I once got lost sometime ago and only ‘came to’ when I was far from
home, but at least I was still in the same country.

“Whatever I drunk thus time it must have been really powerful stuff to get me this far.”

Sarah added that she was worried that the events were an omen of something bad to come.

She said: "My son is very sick and the whole thing could be a warning of death.”

After questioning the old woman was taken to the Francistown holding Centre for illegal immigrants where she is expected to be deported back to Zimbabwe as a border jumper.

Commenting on the issue Matsiloje station commander Superintendent Boifang Tume said Sarah would be deported like any other illegal migrant. "She was drunk and lost her way and ended up in another country without papers, so she is just like any other illegal migrant. We won’t be giving her any special treatment although we have to feel sorry for the old woman," he said.

He added that she would not be charged with a crime since they accepted her reasons for being in Botswana.
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