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Albert Marufu in LONDON, England
THE body of the late former CAPS United midfield kingpin, Joe Mugabe, is set to be repatriated to Zimbabwe for burial.
Mugabe, who had been based in England since the turn of the millennium, succumbed to cancer in the early hours of Sunday morning.
He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and three children Ireen, Ashley and Alvin.
His brother, Innocent, who is also based in England, yesterday confirmed Mugabe’s body will be flown to Zimbabwe, for burial.
“I can confirm that Joe will be buried in Zimbabwe. Now, I do not have any information with regards to when the body will be taken to Zimbabwe, because we are waiting for some papers from the hospital,’’ he said.
“Once we get the papers, we will initiate the repatriation process.
“We do not know how the process works but we have people who are helping us.’’
Innocent, a former CAPS United player, added they haven’t sat down as a family, to decide if Joe will be buried in Harare, or at their rural home in Masvingo.
“There are people back home we will need to consult,’’ he said.
Innocent confirmed the family were scheduled to hold a meeting with the Nyaradzo Group yesterday.
Chimurenga music guru, Thomas Mapfumo, who gave Joe Mugabe a coaching job at Sporting Lions, in the early 2000s, expressed shock at the untimely death of the CAPS United legend.
“This is sad, Joe was a hard worker and a very honest man. I worked well with him at Sporting Lions.
“My boys learnt a lot from his expertise, and we survived relegation.
“I was sad when he told me that he was leaving for the United Kingdom, because I knew that I was losing a good coach.
“I was happy that he was joining his family (in the UK). Unfortunately, the team later collapsed,” Mapfumo said.
Former football commentator and popular DJ, Kelvin Sifelani, described Joe Mugabe as an icon.
“Joe Mugabe has been one of the most treasured memories of a glittering CAPS United history.
“He was, for so many years, a talisman for the team that was once affectionately known as the Manchester Road Boys.
“He was easily ranked among the Makepekepe favourites like Friday Phiri, Shackman Tauro, Joel “Jubilee” Shambo, Stanford “Stix” Mutizwa and Stanley “Sinyo” Ndunduma.
“In all the games I commentated on, for many years, I never ever saw him having a bad game.
“His consistency was the stuff of legends.
“A player that could always be counted on to pull his team out of the fire, he was pure class.’’
Online Reporter