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Keith Mlauzi
DEBT ridden Highlanders has pulled out of one of its revenue generating ventures — Manwele Beer Garden — in Mzilikazi suburb, which the club has been operating for years.
Bosso also operates a bar and a restaurant at the Highlanders Clubhouse.
The club says the decision to pull out of Manwele Beer Garden, which is wholly owned by the Bulawayo City Council, was because it was no longer making a profit.
“Manwele was not making a profit. It was now a liability to the club so the only way to deal with the issue was to simply pull out.
“Manwele does not belong to us as we were running it on a lease from Ingwebu Breweries,” said Modern Ngwenya, the Highlanders vice-chairman.
He allayed fears that the clubhouse would also close if it starts running at a loss.
Ngwenya oversees the two revenue generating projects, Manwele Beer Garden and the Highlanders Clubhouse.
But surprisingly figures released by the club treasurer Donald Ndebele in July last year showed that the two joints were making a profit.
According to Ndebele, for the first time in four years, the clubhouse made a profit of $15 953,35 while Manwele Beer Garden contributed $7 881,46 to the Highlanders coffers.
“Fear not; your club is on the right trajectory. Despite the debt being high, it is, however, on a downward trend. If all goes well and we maintain or manage our costs, we might come right at the end of the year, especially if we factor in the expected prize money from the league sponsorship,” Ndebele told club members at a review meeting in July 2018.
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derick.khumalo