A short video is warming hearts online, and the timing makes it all the more touching.
The clip shows Sonja Madzikanda, ex-wife of the late Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, strapped into a harness seat beside her daughter at a “Dinner in the Sky” experience.
The two are suspended high above a glittering city, laughing and clearly thrilled, their reactions captured in a small inset on the screen. The video is undated, but it has resurfaced just weeks after Chivayo’s death.
The 43-year-old tycoon died on September 30 in a helicopter crash near Marondera. His wife, Lucy “Lulu” Muteke, and four other passengers also lost their lives. The couple were laid to rest side by side on October 8 in Harare.
Sonja and Chivayo share two children: a son, John Chenjera, born in January 2018, and a daughter, Atarah Minana, born in March 2019. At the funeral, Sonja arrived dressed fully in black, and her presence drew plenty of attention.
She did not speak herself. Instead, a friend read her message, which centred on forgiveness and on putting the children first.
Chivayo was known as a flamboyant businessman and the founder of Intratrek Zimbabwe. His love of luxury cars, grand public gestures and a lifestyle that rarely stayed private kept him in the headlines for years.
For many fans, the resurfaced video tells a gentler story. They have praised the bond between mother and daughter, calling it a beautiful sign of family in a painful season. Whatever the day was that this was filmed, it shows a mother making a happy memory with her child.
In the middle of loss, that may be what her children need most: a parent who keeps showing up, and moments of joy they will carry with them long after the headlines fade.