By Costah Nkomo

Thousands of MDC followers gathered in Harare’s Glen View suburb for late Glen View South MP Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java’s farewell gala which was presided over by party president Nelson Chamisa and his leadership.

Tsvangirai-Java, daughter to late former Prime Minister and MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai, on Monday succumbed to injuries sustained in a fatal car crash in Kwekwe last month.

The accident killed two other party activists.

Tsvangirai-Java’s body was Wednesday taken to the funeral service’s venue in which the mood of the crowd was mixed between that of mourning and celebration.

MDC politician, Paul Madzore’s protest music played from the public address system mounted at the venue.

Party co-vice president Lynnette Karenyi and women assembly secretary Paurina Mpariwa, among other party senior officials, took turns to lambast the Zanu PF government over poor health service delivery.

In his address, Chamisa recounted the events that followed the fatal crash and how they took three hours to rescue one of the MDC officials, who later died of the injuries.

Chamisa expressed dismay at the state of Zimbabwean hospitals which are no longer able to provide patients with basic drugs let alone urgent treatment.

“One of the problems with our hospitals is the lack of drugs. They are death cage. We had to go and buy drugs including pain killers at a local pharmacy because it is a hospital with nothing. That is the nature of our crisis,” Chamisa said.

Tsvangirai-Java will be buried in Harare’s Glen Forest cemetery this Thursday with Parliament speaker and Zanu PF official Jacob Mudenda set to attend the event.