Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
PERHAPS for the first time in more than three decades, the late Dynamos legend Angirayi “Durawall” Chapo’s family will not be part of the Harare Derby.
The high stakes Premiership fixture comes to life tomorrow at Rufaro with city giants Dynamos hosting perennial rivals CAPS United.
Unlike last year when both sides were blowing hot and cold in the league resulting in average excitement around the battle, this time Dynamos and CAPS are enjoying a good run increasing anticipation.
DeMbare sit in position five on the log standings with 17 points to their name, while Makepekepe lead the race with 22.
The hosts will be looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season after a 2-1 defeat to Chicken Inn last week, while CAPS were in the same predicament after falling 1-0 to Bulawayo Chiefs on the same day.
The anticipated battle for redemption has generated an unusual hype and the availability of advance tickets for the fixture has left many eager to be at the ceremonial home of football tomorrow.
But one of the ever-present duo of spectators for that fixture, Chapo’s widow Sarudzai and her son Milton will not be at Rufaro, as the latter battles ill-health.
“I feel heart broken and lost at the same time, watching my son struggling with ill-health everyday has left me questioning God a lot,” she said.
“Life has not been easy for my family for about a year now and the situation does not appear to get better any time soon . . . I wonder if at all my prayers will ever be answered.”
Chapo, a former Dynamos captain, died on September 30, 2025.
He played for Dynamos in the 1980s and 1990s and was also part of the Warriors squad during that period.
His son Milton who is in desperate need of medical assistance was diagnosed with Thoracic spine nodules (abnormal growths on the mid-back spine).
The nodules caused pressure on his spinal cord, leaving him paralysed from the waist down forcing him to resign from his job as a Registered General Nurse at Harare’s Sally Mugabe Central Hospital a year ago.
Since then, Milton has been in and out of hospital without any promises of full recovery.
Doctors have since recommended a Cervical Spinal Canal Stenosis operation in India to alleviate the pressure on his spine and stand a chance to get off the wheelchair and get back to his feet.
However, the Warren Park family is in a hard place and pin their hopes on well-wishers to get Milton to India.
The estimated cost for the operation, flights, accommodation, upkeep and caregiver’s expenses is at least US$15 000.
“He was the breadwinner and since he stopped working due to this medical condition, life has become difficult for us,” his mother said.
“We are trying to raise the funds to take him to India but nothing concrete has availed yet, our hopes are on well-wishers, we are appealing to anyone or corporates to kindly assist.”
Sarudzai, herself a netball legend, admits that attending the Harare Derby to support Dynamos has been her family’s tradition for decades.
However, with her son bedridden, the family will forgo this edition.
“My family’s life has largely revolved around sport considering that Chapo was a football legend and I am a netball legend. So, having met in sport, it became our family DNA,” she said.
“The Harare Derby remains a family tradition and we will not attend it without Milton, we want to just focus on finding help for him.
“If Chapo was around, maybe the situation would not have been this dire.
“My heart bleeds daily, I am still grieving and wished my son to grieve in his own manner too, not in the wheelchair.
“We love Dynamos because it gave us life, our wish was to be part of the crowd tomorrow but we cannot.”
