Chronicle Editor
Raymond Jaravaza, Sports Correspondent
FORMER Highlanders coach and club legend Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu believes the stability being enjoyed by the Bulawayo giants can only be sustained through leadership continuity as the club edges closer to elections next year.
Elections for positions of chairman, secretary-general and committee member are set for early February next year at the club’s annual general meeting.
With sightly over five weeks before club members go to polls to elect the three office bearers, campaigning is now in full swing, with interested candidates publicly throwing their names into the hat.
Club chairman Kenneth Mhlophe is seeking a second term and will face a challenge from Johnfat Sibanda, who announced his candidature on Monday while Victoria Falls-based Morgan “Gazza” Dube has revealed his intentions to become the next secretary-general.
Incumbent Israel Moyo is still undecided whether to seek re-election or not.
The committee member position is a two-man race between Bheka Sibanda and Mgcini Mafu. However, more names are likely to surface as the elective AGM draws closer.
Other members of the Highlanders executive, vice-chairman Modern Ngwenya and treasurer Donald Ndebele, still have a year of their tenure left.
Zulu believes Mhlophe’s leadership has managed to weather storms that confronted Highlanders, especially in 2020 when clubs faced turbulent times due to the Covid-19 lockdown that forced a ban on all sporting activities.
“The executive has just managed to clinch a (gold) mining deal that will benefit the club immensely and I know that I’m not part of Highlanders anymore, but in my experience as someone who has been in football for so many years, I think it will be unwise to change the leadership at the club,” said Zulu.
“The chairman is the face of the executive; he leads the club and that is why I’m saying club members must think deeply before disrupting the momentum that Kenneth Mhlophe has built at Highlanders.”
Zulu lauded efforts made by club members to clear a debt close to $1 million that Bosso had been grappling with for years.
“They managed to clear the debt during a very difficult time and that is not something to be taken lightly. The debt had been weighing down the club for so many years and everyone who worked hard to make sure that it (debt) is cleared must be commended for a good job,” he said.
With over 50 years experience in football as a player and coach, Zulu says he has seen how football institutions are sometimes rattled by rapid change of management. – @RaymondJaravaza
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