Online Reporter
Blessed Katiyo in JOHANNESBURG
TRAFFIC came to a halt in the Johannesburg Central Business District on Friday afternoon when hundreds of Zimbabweans bade farewell Tafadzwa Michael Takaruza, a former member of the Dynamos Kidznet project.
Takaruza died here last week.
He was 41.
He died at Helen Joseph Hospital with his relatives saying he had been complaining of a nagging headache.
He was admitted to hospital on Tuesday and died in the early hours of Wednesday.
Popularly known as Gazza or MaCoach Manyama, Takaruza was part of the famous Dynamos Kidznet project under the guidance of Moses Chunga.
The DeMbare youngsters set the domestic Premiership alight at the turn of the millennium.
He played alongside the likes of Samson Choruwa, Nyasha Chazika, Leo Kurauzvione, Eddie Mashiri and the late Norman Maroto, among others.
Hundreds of mourners escorted the hearse from the Great Hope Funeral parlour in Johannesburg to Windsor East where Takaruza lived.
With horns blaring and in song and dance, many remembered the ex-football star who was now coaching a social soccer team called Mafaro FC.
His teammates donned their team’s green golf T-shirts, which were emblazoned Coach Manyama 00.
Many could not hold back their tears as the funeral procession made its way around the suburb.
“This is a huge loss and we never expected to lose such a nice gentleman. He was ever smiling and never fought with anyone,” said one of the friends Luke Zobha Chikwenya.
Local pastor Kelvin Zivavose led the mourners in prayer before the hearse made its way onto the N1 freeway that leads to Beitbridge Border Post. In their traditional “salute”, the mourners blocked traffic on the national highway for almost ten minutes as they bade farewell to their colleague.
Takaruza was laid to rest in Harare yesterday.
Mathew Masinge