Online ReporterFungai Muderere Senior Sports Reporter
THERE is something about Knox Mutizwa that refuses to fade! The goals may have slowed. The road may have become a little longer. And the uncertainty of being without a club may have tested his patience. But the fire still burns.
For the Bulawayo-bred striker, the next chapter could be unfolding across the Limpopo, with a return to South African football beckoning at Motsepe Foundation Championship side Venda FC.
At 32, Mutizwa knows better than most that football can be unforgiving. One moment you are scoring goals in front of packed stands, the next you are waiting for the phone to ring and hoping the right opportunity comes along.
Now, after months of uncertainty, the former Highlanders marksman appears to be edging closer to another Mzansi adventure. And perhaps more importantly, he believes he still has something to give.
“I am slowly getting ready for the new challenge that is beckoning. I just want to take it as it comes and give it my all,” Mutizwa said.
Those words perhaps capture where the veteran striker finds himself, hungry, patient and determined to squeeze every last drop from a career that has already taken him across some of the region’s biggest football stages. Mutizwa was in Zimbabwe during the recently concluded mid-season transfer window, where several Premier Soccer League clubs were reportedly interested in bringing him home.
There was talk of a possible move to Triangle United, but the deal failed to materialise. So, while local admirers waited, Mutizwa quietly kept working.
South Africa, a country where he built much of his professional reputation, has now emerged as his possible destination once again.
According to South African publication FARPost, Mutizwa has returned to South Africa and is due to join Venda FC. For a player who has already tasted the intensity of Mzansi football, the move would not be about discovering a new world.
It would be about rediscovering himself.
Mutizwa made his name at Golden Arrows, where his finishing, strength and willingness to outwit defenders made him a respected figure. He later turned out for Richards Bay, adding another chapter to his South African journey.
There were goals, hard yards and lessons. And now comes another test. Venda could offer Mutizwa something he has desperately needed, regular competitive football and the chance to get his rhythm back.
For the club, meanwhile, his arrival could bring experience that cannot simply be bought on the transfer market.
He has played international football for Zimbabwe, competed in South Africa and carried the expectations that come with wearing the Highlanders badge.
In Bulawayo, where his football story began, many will be watching closely.
Mutizwa came through the Highlanders system and grew into one of the club’s most recognisable attacking figures.
His journey took him beyond Zimbabwe, but his roots have always remained firmly planted in the City of Kings. That is why a possible Mzansi comeback feels like more than just another transfer.
It is another opportunity. Another beginning. Another chance to remind everyone that the engine has not stopped.
Come on Mutizwa, prove you still have the fuel.
And if the Venda move gets over the line, the veteran striker will have another stage on which to prove it.
– @FungaiMugaiMuderere.
