ZETDC covered the funeral expenses, which included the coffin, food, hearse, and transportation for mourners who travelled from Beitbridge for her final journey.

When approached by NewsDay for a comment, Alaina Suliwa, ZETDC’s stakeholder relations executive, declined to provide specific details about the organisation’s involvement, saying only that a thorough investigation with other stakeholders is underway. Said Suliwa:

All I can say at the moment is an investigation to establish the exact circumstance is ongoing. We will share details when the exercise has been completed.

A relative of the deceased said they had a meeting with ZETDC officials at their office. He said:

We ended up going to their office where they offered to meet all the expenses for the funeral, which they did.

We buried Nothando in Vurayayi village near Sosera Halt and Pamushana Mission.

It is alleged that ZETDC workers improperly connected an earth cable to a water tap, which Nothando and her friend approached to drink from when the tragic electrocution occurred.

When her friend attempted to pull her away, she was thrown against a fence by the electric current, which had been connected directly to test a faulty meter.

In the moments following the accident, ZETDC workers attempted to resuscitate Nothando, who had just begun school this year, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

They subsequently transported her to a doctor, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.