Online Reporter
H-Metro Reporter
NOMORE Mapanga, the young businessman who died in Norton on Sunday night when the Lamborghini he was driving overturned, has been described by colleagues as a man who was destined for the stars.
At the age of 32, Mapanga had already set his own car dealership in Eastlea, Harare, and was already considered a leading player within the capital’s car dealers’ community.
His friend, who was travelling in the same car at the time of the crash, was badly injured.
They had travelled to Bulawayo, on business, during the weekend and they were on their way home when the high performance luxury SUV overturned.
“He was a rising member of our family as businessmen who buy and sell cars, you guys prefer to call us dealers but we are real businessmen,” said a colleague, who chose not to be identified.
“He started from the bottom but he had focus and within a short space of time he had built his car dealership from scratch into a thriving business.
“He was young but he was focussed and you could tell that he learnt from all the established guys who gave him a chance in this business by asking him to work for them.
“It’s a tragedy and we can only wonder the things he would have done if he had lived longer but that is life, isn’t it, we never know what happens tomorrow.”
Another businessman, who buys and sells cars, said they were struggling to come to terms with Mapanga’s death.
“It’s hard to accept my friend because you see this guy was full of life and he was building a future for himself and his young family and the signs were good,” he said.
“In our business, it’s not easy to make it, the competition is tight and there are many who have already made their name who dominate the business deals.
“But Nomore took his chance, he decided to try it and he made it and it’s sad that he has died so young.”
Mapanga’s body is set to be collected from Doves, where a service will be held at 2pm in Harare today, before his burial at his rural home in Murehwa tomorrow.
“He was setting the right examples for his fellow young businessmen,” said a colleague.
“He had bought an apartment in Avondale West and he leaves behind a young wife, and a kid, who is around four months old.
“It’s sad, very sad.”
PSL champions Scottland sent their message of condolence.
“Scottland FC presidet Honourable Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya and everyone at the club mourns the death of businessman Nomore Mapanda in a road accident on Sunday night.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the Mapanga family. May his soul rest in peace.”
The young businessman’s death mirrors the way Liverpool star Diego Jota was killed in Spain in July last year.
Just like Mapanga, Jota was in a Lamborghini and there were two people in the car at the time of the crash.25,
Jota’s brother, Andre Silva, was also in the same car and was killed in the crash.
The Portuguese forward had just married his long-term partner.
Spanish police said all the evidence suggested Jota was driving when his car crashed on a Spanish motorway, and he was probably speeding.
His Lamborghini suffered a tyre blowout in northwestern Zamora province, leading to the accident.
Spain’s Guardia Civil police force said at the time the car had apparently been overtaking on the A52 motorway near Palacios de Sanabria when it left the road and burst into flames.
“Everything also points to a possible excessive speed beyond the speed limit of the road [highway],” said Zamora’s local traffic police.
Police said they studied the marks left by one of the Lamborghini’s tyres and that “all the tests carried out so far indicate that the driver of the crashed vehicle was Diogo Jota”.
The intensity of the fire completely destroyed the vehicle.
The accident happened 11 days after Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso in Portugal.
The couple had three children.
The brothers were heading to the Spanish port of Santander so Jota could return to Liverpool for pre-season training.
