My blood is black and white: Ndlovu

incumbent Andrew Tapela and city businessman Donald Ndebele during next Sunday’s elections that will also see members turning to the ballot box to choose the chairman and a committee member.
“I am what I am because of this great institution and I feel it’s pay-back time for me to plough back what I have learnt all these years. If I was a football player people would probably say I was coming back home,” said Ndlovu who briefly worked for Bantu Rovers after severing ties with Highlanders.
He said people need to know that when he moved to Bantu Rovers, it was not because he had deserted Highlanders but it was due to the fact that he is a family man and had to fend for his family as he was unemployed then.
“I never left Highlanders but the club left me when I needed it most. I was not feeling well and needed about R7 000 to go to South Africa for medication and when I came back I was rendered jobless hence my move to Bantu Rovers where I was an employee and honestly I must thank Bantu Rovers for what they did for me,” he said.
He said if voted into office he would make sure that players’ contract negotiations are done on time to avoid past experiences before acknowledging the move by the Themba Ndlela-led executive to give players contracts of between three to five years but noted that even five years expire.
On rumours that he was involved in the botched Chinese deal where the club lost about $14 000, Ndlovu said he had no clue what actually took place as he did not see or even come close to the whole process.
Asked to comment about his alleged role in the Obadiah Tarumbwa case where part of the proceeds from his sale were embezzled by members of the executive Ndlovu said: “Somebody is serving a sentence right now and surely if I was involved I would definitely have been quizzed either as a witness or defendant but I was not because I am clean. The investigation was carried out by respectable people who command a lot of respect in the community and certainly would have quizzed me and maybe I could also be serving a sentence just like Enerst Maphepha Sibanda.”
Born 45 years ago at Bethesda Mission in Jambezi near Victoria Falls under Chief Mvuthu, Ndlovu is married and has three sons and a daughter.
He describes himself as a self-starter and a relentless hard worker who achieves set targets. He describes his effective communication skills both in writing and verbally.
“A natural leader who can work under pressure and dovetail with hierarchical levels of the club, a natural winner endowed with an insatiable desire to succeed and acquire more knowledge, and a team player with a purposeful and focused outlook,” reads part of his manifesto.
He goes on to describe himself as a unique individual privileged to have worked with various leaders, managers and coaches “in my football career both at club and national levels”.
He said his past experiences qualify him to the post of secretary of Highlanders FC .
“My complete and total understanding of football players’ needs, wishes, pressures, successes, failures, frustrations, expectations and dreams has its origins in the many seasons that I have worked with players at various levels, inter alia, promoting their welfare, negotiation of players’ contracts, renewal or extensions as well as taking care of their treatment”, said Ndlovu.
He said he understands the role of the secretary.
He said: “One of the critical duties of a secretary at Highlanders FC is to keep records of players, their contracts and ensure timeous renewal of such contracts and registration of players with the appropriate bodies. I shall not disappoint.”