admin“The now deceased Oscar Ncube visited his friend in Esigodini on Wednesday. They decided to go for drinks and went to a nearby bottle store.
“During the course of the drinking, Oscar left for the toilet leaving his half full Lion Lager pint unattended,” said Mangena.
She said Ncube discovered when he came back from the toilet that the taste of his beer had changed though he chose to continue drinking it.
“Oscar proceeded to another village after the beer binge. On the next day, his friend who had initially invited him received a report that Ncube was not well and that froth was coming out of his mouth.
“Ncube was rushed to Esigodini District Hospital by some of his unidentified friends and was transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital after his condition deteriorated,” said Mangena.
She said Ncube died at Mpilo Central Hospital on Friday at around 5am and post mortem results proved that he died due to chemical poisoning.
“After his death a post mortem was carried out and it is suspected that he died due to poisoning,” she said.
Mangena urged members of the public to be careful when eating or drinking and never leave their food or drinks unattended.
“Not everyone appreciates what we are, so people need to take heed of who they interact with because anyone is capable of doing anything,” said Mangena.
His brother Ben confirmed that post mortem results indicated that he had died of cyanide poisoning.
He said as a family they would leave everything to law enforcement agents whom he said they were confident would do a good investigation job.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered at West Park Cemetery for the former businessman and miner’s burial.
Ncube was admitted to the hospital after complaining of severe stomach pains on Wednesday night.
In his heydays he turned out for four local teams East Rovers, Triangle, Hwange and Highlanders before crossing to South Africa where he played for three clubs that is Alberton Callies, semi-professional side Welkom Eagles and Bloemfontein Celtics.
Ncube won the Smirnoff Cup in 1993 with Alberton Callies. The competition attracted over 1000 amateur clubs from South Africa.
He did not stay long at Bloemfontein Celtics as he did not have bona fide travelling documents.
After retiring, he ventured into the tyre business in 1998 after years of grooming by Sam Ncube at Bulawayo Tyre Services. He was in a partnership with the late Collen Ncube with whom he had played with at East Rovers.
“Oscar was a son to me and I can tell you that we have lost a cheerful young man who loved the game. I saw him play at East Rovers and on his return from South Africa he started a transport business, ventured into tyre business before diversifying to mining in 2008. He will be greatly missed,” Sam said.
Veteran gaffer Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu spoke glowingly about Oscar.
“During his days he exploded into space and had speed like a grenade. He passed the ball with precision and was gifted in dribbling,” Zulu said.
Oscar’s childhood friend Bekithemba ‘Hloka’ Khumalo who is into passenger transport business said the late was a unifier at the S’gubhu Social Soccer Club.
“He was a special force in our team and to me he was a brother as we were groomed by Sam Ncube to be business minded. It really hurts to lose him as he leaves behind a big gap. But since it is God’s will, we just have to accept this,” said Khumalo.
Oscar’s burial included friends, business executives, representatives from Highlanders and Chicken Inn FC.
Former greats Douglas Mloyi, Willard Kumalo, and Johannes Tshuma were some of the yesteryear players at the funeral.
Online Reporter