Sundaymail Editor
Tinashe Kusema
One of the biggest tragedies of the life and times of Sinikiwe “Sneeze” Mpofu – and there were many – is that the former Lady Chevrons all-rounder probably died without fully appreciating the impact she had made on both cricket and the many lives she touched during her short life.
Mpofu was last weekend pronounced dead upon arrival at a medical facility, after collapsing at her home in Masvingo.
She was 37.
Sneeze, as she was called in cricket circles, received a befitting send-off last week and was buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
By all accounts, it was a “heroes farewell”.
Former teammates, fans and the current Lady Chevrons’ national team players thronged her former childhood home in Njube suburb, Bulawayo, during the funeral procession.
But even in death, Mpofu’s impact on the sport and those who knew her continues to be felt.
Zimbabwe Cricket has since made a commitment to honour the former player by sponsoring her two children’s education.
After all, Sneeze highly valued cricket and her family.
“Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) have pledged to meet the school fees needs of the late Lady Chevrons assistant coach Sinikiwe Mpofu’s youngest child at a private school in Marondera,” read a statement from the country’s cricket governing body.
“ZC will take care of tuition fees for her other child who is in primary school up to university.
“Her contribution to sport was acknowledged through the granting of a State funeral.”
Mpofu was married to the late Zimbabwe senior men’s fielding coach Shepherd Makunura, who also passed away a month ago.
Since her death, many former teammates, cricket players and fans have since come out to offer glowing tributes to the late great Lady Chevron.
“I first heard of Sinikiwe’s passing away from Caroline (Nyamande), and it didn’t seem real to me,” said Julia Chibhabha, a former teammate of Mpofu.
“It only became real when I noticed Caro’s distraught demeanour, and soon enough she began to cry hysterically.
“If I am to describe the feeling, I would probably say I was lost in that moment, and I still found it hard to process the fact she was gone a couple of days later,” she said.
Chibhabha and Mpofu have a shared history after being among the pioneering members of the Lady Chevrons outfit in the early 2000s.
They are also the most-decorated players. Chibhabha led Zimbabwe in their first One-Day International, a three-match clean sweep in the first World Cup pre-qualifiers in Africa in 2006. The 40-year-old holds the distinction of being the first captain of the Zimbabwe women’s team.
As recent as 2020, she was named the convenor of the Zimbabwean women’s selection panel.
It only made sense that she had to be the one to break the news to the Zimbabwe Under-19 Women World Cup-bound team, of which “Sneeze” was an assistant coach at the time of her untimely death.
“When it was time to tell the Zimbabwe Under-19 girls that their coach (assistant) had passed away, they were left devastated,” went on Chibhabha.
“It was really a sad sight as all the kids just started crying.
“It is unfortunate, but they had to be told because they were going to find out about it on social media or something.
“We thought it best that we break the news as best as we could as they were preparing to depart for the World Cup in South Africa,” she said.
Chibhabha went on to share a bit of their history together with the late “Sneeze”.
Their relationship was rooted in a friendly rivalry of sorts, one that nurtured a friendship that lasted the distance.
“We first met back in early 2001. Back then, she played for Matabeleland and I played for Mashonaland, if I am not mistaken.
“We were all very competitive back then and I remember, it was one of the things I first noticed about her.
“She was a fighter and very competitive. As an all-rounder, she wanted to open the batting and the bowling.
“She wanted to do everything, and it was hard to tell her ‘No’,” she said.
When the two played together at senior level, a compromise was reached: Mpofu opened the batting for the Lady Chevrons, while Chibhabha came in later.
The two belonged to one of the most-talented Lady Chevrons ensembles, together with the likes of Sharne Mayers, Modester Mupachikwa, Christabel Chatonzwa (a junior at the time), Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Nonhlanhla Nyathi and Precious Marange, among others. While a few – including Mugeri, Chatonzwa, Mayers and Marange – are still active, Chibhabha and Mpofu called time on their playing careers and went on to carve even more impressive careers afterwards.
Mpofu was part of the technical teams that have seen Zimbabwe women dominate in Africa, earning One-Day International status and recently finishing just one win away from qualifying for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
At the club level, she guided Mountaineers women to victory in the inaugural Fifty50 Challenge – Zimbabwe’s provincial one-day championship for women – in the 2020-2021 season.
Last season, she led them to another final, finishing as runners-up in the Women’s T20 Cup. In between all this, she met and married the late Makunura, forming one of the most prominent power couples in Zimbabwe cricket.
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