City mourns Maenzanise

Sports Reporter
THE death of former Warriors captain Nqobizitha “Humpty” Maenzanise has plunged the football community in Bulawayo into mourning with many describing him as a rare breed of a footballer. Maenzanise died on Sunday at 10.30PM at Mpilo Central Hospital from diabetes and tuberculosis.

Condolence messages have been pouring in from all corners of the city since news of his death broke out.  Former AmaZulu and Highlanders FC coach Cosmas Zulu described Maenzanise as a rare breed of a footballer who will be greatly missed.

Zulu worked with Maenzanise in the Highlanders juniors and later in the senior team.
The veteran gaffer was to team up with the midfielder at AmaZulu where he played a key role in guiding the club to promotion into the Premier Soccer league in 1996.

“That boy was talented, no doubt about that. We had  difficulties in understanding him at times but that never took the gloss from his immense bag of talent,” said Zulu.

Zulu said Maenzanise always wanted to be communicated to in a particular way. Once that was not done, he would be completely misunderstood.

The former AmaZulu, Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints midfielder was described by Zulu as a player endowed with a great winning mentality who would go all the way even at practice to ensure that he ended on the victorious end. “Even during training sessions, Maenzanise showed a great appetite to win things, he took his job too seriously,” said Zulu.

The former AmaZulu head coach recalled travelling to Scotland with Maenzanise in 1987 where the star emerged as top goalscorer and second most skillful player.

“Nqobizitha was quite an intelligent and very skillful player. He kept the ball up with more than 230 touches in a skills contest in Aberdeen and was one of the stars of the tournament. I remember him taking a dig at Adam Ndlovu on why the striker was fluffing chances.

“Adam cried at halftime and wanted to be substituted. During the second half, we scored through Nqo and Adam and won the tournament. Later on in life, he slowed down and became more mature and we worked well at AmaZulu,” said Zulu.

In another incident after a training session, Maenzanise disappeared before the team for the weekend could be announced. “We announced names of our team for the weekend. He was part of it but when we now did a head count when the guys were standing on one side, Maenzanise was nowhere near the practice venue, such was his character,” said Zulu.

Life Long Footballers Trust president, Francis Zimunya joined the chorus of those mourning the legend.
“We mourn our hero and we are with the family in this moment of their sorrow. Maenzanise was a good player who set stadia alight with his skills and workmanship on the field,” said Zimunya.

Juniors coach, Dumaza Dube, who played with Maenzanise at Zimbabwe Saints juniors in the early 1980s, described Maenzanise’s death as a sad chapter.

“We played together in the juniors. He was a talented player, very skillful,” said Dube.
Stephen Chitofu, who engaged Maenzanise as coach at Bulawayo Arsenal, one of the exciting projects in Bulawayo lower division football in the mid 2000s, described the death of Maenzanise as the passing on of a true legend.

“As a player, he was impeccable. He had fewer peers, he was a midfield genius and I employed him soon after his retirement and he showed so much potential for the future. He was often misunderstood because of his character but he had great humility and love for the game,” said Chitofu.

Another renowned football administrator Vincent Pamire mourned the passing on of the legendary Maenzanise. “We are saddened by the loss of Humpty, he was a unifier having played for both Zimbabwe Saints and Highlanders. Mind you, he also played for Olympics and AmaZulu, making him one of a few to have done so. He was a good football talent and may his soul rest in peace. He indeed was a good ambassador for Bulawayo and the country, he united the nation which is what sport is all about,” said Pamire.

Bhekubuhle Zondo of Gwabalanda, a Highlanders supporter from Donkwe-Donkwe in Kezi described Maenzanise as having been a brilliant talent.

“He was a good ball winner, dribbler, he had skill and was ever nice to watch,” said Zondo.
Maenzanise was part of probably the most exciting Highlanders team after Independence which had legends Madinda Ndlovu, Tito Paketh, the late Mercedes Sibanda, Douglas Mloyi, Peter Nkomo, goalscoring sensations Tobias Mudyambanje and Amin Soma-Phiri. They won virtually everything on the local scene except the league in the 1980s.

He was to win a league championship title with AmaZulu in 2003, a club he captained with distinction.
A church service will be at Baptist Church in the city centre at 8.30AM today before burial at West Park Cemetery.