FOR JANI, TODAY WOULD HAVE BEEN 35 NOT OUT

Veronica Gwaze

FORMER Zimbabwe senior netball team Goal Shooter, Pauline Jani, would have turned 35 today.

And, one thing she traditionally did was to call her “sister” Perpetua Siyachitema, who was also the Gems captain.

The two would always wine and dine the day away.

However, on October 11, last year, Jani succumbed to an undisclosed illness at Parirenyatwa Hospital.

Jani and Siyachitema were best friends.

The two met in 2008 when they joined Railstars Netball Queens, became roommates, National Railways of Zimbabwe workmates and training partners.

With time, Jani would open up on how life dealt her, and her brother Mike, a heavy blow, leaving them orphaned at a young age.

At one point, the siblings lived at a car park where they had been offered an old disused vehicle to use as a bedroom.

They would retire to bed on empty tummies until netball gave Jani a chance to rewrite their story.

“As our bond grew stronger I noticed how vulnerable she was, I became protective of her,” recalled Siyachitema.

“My mother welcomed them into our family so nearly every Christmas, and family events, we would be home together.

“We became family, when she got a job at the Zimbabwe Republic Police, my mother was the guardian and she did all her paperwork.

“Mama counted Jani as her fourth daughter and, whenever, she got her salary, she would come home, buy groceries and nag mum to prepare her traditional foods.”

In 2015, Siyachitema got married and relocated to Bulawayo.

“When I got married, she would call even at midnight asking why I was sleeping during a weekend, I had to place my phone on silent just to avoid the calls.

“She was a jovial character who barely held on to issues, I miss everything about her.

“In her three last days I was tormented because the doctors had revealed to me that she was not going to make it so the only thing we could do was count down to her last breath.

“Imagine the torture of laughing with her yet deep down I held on to such information and even listening to her making plans for after hospital discharge.

“I will miss her birthday for the first time since 2008.”