adminNorthern Region Division One side Black Rhinos Solomon Mujuru, describing it is a huge blow to the domestic game that benefitted from his material and morale support.
Mujuru died at his Beatrice farm following an inferno at the family farm house early on Tuesday. He was 66.
Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede said yesterday that his association had been saddened by the tragic death of the retired army General who he also described as a passionate football follower.
Gumede said Mujuru was the force behind the formation of Black Rhinos in 1983.
The army side, then under the guidance of Shepherd Murape and the late Ashton “Papa” Nyazika, then held the nation spellbound when winning the championship in their debut season in the Super
League the following year after assembling a strong and talented outfit that drew some of its players from the cream of Dynamos and CAPS United sides. That Rhinos team became a dominant force in domestic football as it built its league and cup successes on the exploits of talented players like Japhet Mparutsa, the late Stanley “Sinyo” Ndunduma, Stanford “Stix” Mtizwa, Maronga Nyangela, Hamid
Dhana, Jimmy Mbewe, Fanuel Nyamukapa, Lovemore Chikunha, Ernest Mutano and the late trio of Jerry Chidawa, William Chikauro and Simon “AK” Mugabe.
During the golden era that followed their entry onto the Super League scene by storm, Rhinos also became a force in the global Military Games. Gumede was a Zifa committee member during the formative years of Rhinos.
Yesterday the Zifa vice-president revealed that up to the time of his death the late Mujuru had continued to work closely with the association but from behind the scenes in a bid to improve the game in the country.
“He had a passion for football, he was very instrumental in the formation of Black Rhinos and always wanted to see the army side succeed.
“As Zifa there were many times when we were stranded for transport and other materials and he would personally ensure that we had access to the luxury bus that had been donated to Rhinos by
Zimoco or the other army buses. We are thoroughly saddened that he died in tragic circumstances at a time of our reformation at Zifa,” Gumede said.
Gumede also spoke of his last encounter with Mujuru and said the former army commander had – apart from helping source material assistance for Zifa – also offered the current board advice and
support to overcome the many challenges being faced by the cash-strapped association.
“I last had an opportunity to talk to him during the Cosafa Women’s Championships final at Rufaro.
“His wife, who is the Vice President Joice Mujuru had been invited to be the guest of honour at the final between Zimbabwe and South Africa, but he also saw it prudent to come and offer his support to the Mighty Warriors. And as I sat next to him he asked a lot of questions pertaining to our football and was keen to know what was going on.
“He also gave us tips on how we could deal with the phenomenon that affect our game. He even commented that we had done a great job to come up with the Asiagate report.
“I must also add that as Zifa we could have never achieved some of the things that we achieved had he not bent over backwards to use his resources to help us and our football will be poorer without such a pillar it,” Gumede said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter