adminmidfielder cheated death on this date while coming from a holiday in Botswana when he was involved in a horrific road accident that claimed 29 lives on the spot.
He was one of the miraculous survivors! But he has several scars to show for the tragedy as he suffered multiple fractures that confined him to the wheelchair for one year and nearly six years on crutches.
Today he walks with a limp and has only been able to move around without the help of the crutches for a few months. Chasweka will never forget the accident for as long as he lives.
“It was horrible. I was sitting just behind the driver when we had a head-on collision with a haulage truck. The driver was beheaded in the accident, as the roof of the bus was ripped off while several other passengers were also maimed,” he recalls.
“But glory to God, I am alive. Now I am walking without crutches. It was only on 11 March 2011 when I was fully healed after attending Pastor Chris’ Night of Bliss in Johannesburg.
“I saw the power of God and I returned home walking on my own legs without need for support. I believe it was divine intervention and I am now a full Christian,” he said.
Chasweka, who is now a member of the Christ In Us Church, is one of the hot football properties of the ’80s whose beginnings can be traced to the now-defunct Highfield side Black Aces.
During his pick, they called him “Gwejegweje” because of his slender frame.
Despite being 1,6m tall and weighing only 55kg, defenders of his era can testify that it was very difficult to move the pencil-slim menace off the ball. You could underestimate the slippery forward at your own peril.
Chasweka possessed great dribbling skills and could play any position from the midfield going forward. He joined Aces as a 19-year-old and soon broke into the first team where he became one of the key players alongside the likes of Archieford Chimutanda, Brighton Dzapasi, Boniface Makuruzo, Mugove Munyorovi, Maronga Nyangela, Brenna Msiska, Sunday Masauso and Nigel Munyati, who is now Zifa board member Marketing.
He played for five years at Aces under different coaches who included Clever Hunda, Allan Davie, Daniel Chikanda and the late Zoom Rambai, before moving to Chapungu where a knee injury eventually ended his career in 1990.
“I started off as a striker but when I arrived at Aces the coach Daniel Chikanda told me that he could only accommodate me at the left wing.
“I tried to talk to him but he insisted that I had joined a classroom where I was going to learn more about football. I played two games in the reserve team and the coach realised I didn’t belong to the reserve side.
“It was not long before I established myself in the midfield and I really enjoyed it because I created and scored more goals. Later on I reverted to be a striker again,” he said.
Soon after finishing primary education at Shingirayi in Mbare in 1977, Chasweka had his first crack at then fourth division side Blackhood Hodge, who were under the guidance of the late Samson Smasco Mapani.
He was spotted by Aces scouts as a raw teenager two years later when he was picked to represent the Harare amateur districts team and scored twice against Highfield in a curtain-raiser to the Zimbabwe/Cameroon game in 1980.
Chasweka had good memories at Aces where he became a household name, popularly known by his nickname Gwejegweje, and it was during his days at the club when he was called to the national Under-20 team.
He recalls his early days at Aces as a timid youth who used to carry around training kits for senior players like Archieford Chimutanda.
“I was the youngest player when I joined the Aces senior team. There were great players then and I remember Chimutanda was our trumpcard.
“Sometimes he would come to training late in the week but was always the coach’s sure choice for first team jersey, and, on the match day he could change the game in an instant.
“The guy was extremely good. He could manufacture a goal from a zero situation, when you least expected it. We had to learn from him and as the youngest player I used to carry his training kit,” said Chasweka.
All the while his favourite player was CAPS United’s Stanford “Stix” Mtizwa and interestingly, Mtizwa had tried in vain to persuade the lanky player to join him at Makepekepe.
Mtizwa helped him to play in the then Super League.
“He did a lot for me and even gave me training kits. His wish was to persuade me to play for CAPS United. But CAPS then had vast talents who included Joel Shambo, Shacky Tauro and others. So I felt competition was stiffer there and settled for Aces where I could play regularly,” Chasweka said.
Chasweka moved to Chapungu (then called AirForce United) in 1985 and joined a host of other good players like Victor Murehwa, Bapton Nchenyela, Nkulumo Donga, Choddy Chirwa, Jona Murehwa, Bekezela Moyo and Perkins Nyamutamba.
The team coached by Lovemore Nyabeza qualified for the World Military Games staged in Italy in 1988 after coming tops in a tournament held in Cameroon.
“My heart bleeds for Chapungu because it’s been a while since they were relegated. It seems like they are finding it difficult to be stable because they had been in and out of the Premiership.
“Probably it’s because of lack of resources but I remember during our time the army teams used to go for the best talents around,” he said.
Chasweka finally called it a day in 1990 after suffering a serious knee injury and has had coaching and management stints at Blue Swallows and Chegutu Pirates.
After 20 years of service in the Air Force of Zimbabwe, he tendered his resignation in August 2005 at the rank of master sergeant (equivalent to Warrant Officer class two) and is now into voluntary grassroots development with a project called Beta Ball Schools Coaching Programme where he is identifying and nurturing talented players from as young as 10 years. Chasweka also claims CAPS United goalkeeper Edmore
Sibanda among his junior products.
“Edmore was a very good striker. I coached him from Under-12s and he could play either as a goalkeeper or central striker,” he said.
Chasweka, who turns 51 in October, is married to Fungai and the couple has four children – Edward, Nigel, Tariro and Moses (Jnr).
His plea: “Please support junior development.”
“These are the future stars. I have been working with juniors for sometime but resources are a major problem. I think people should plough back to the communities that raised them. “There are several successful players who came through from the high-density suburbs of Mbare, Mufakose and Highfield and I feel they should take part in grassroots development,” he said.
Online Reporter