Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
FORMER Highlanders board member, Colonel (Rtd) Thomas Ngwenya, has strongly criticised the current state of affairs at the country’s oldest professional football club, calling for a fundamental shift in how the club is run.
Ngwenya believes that long-serving board members and a loss of club culture have stifled Highlanders’ growth and success.
Speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday, Ngwenya said the club is now poorly managed, with individuals treating it as their personal property.
“At the moment, its run by individuals who think Highlanders is theirs — they’ve put it in their pockets,” said Ngwenya.
He emphasised that Highlanders belongs to its members, and therefore, all decisions should be subject to their scrutiny.
“It belongs to the members; every issue must be taken to them to decide. Whatever is happening should be brought back to the owners of the club — not executives who are putting it into their pockets,” he said.
Highlanders is a community club, sustained by its membership and the generosity of both individuals and the corporate sector.
Ngwenya claimed the club has become so captured that even proposed constitutional amendments are ignored. He argued that this undermines the collective spirit needed to make Highlanders great.
He further alleged that during meetings, his contributions are deliberately overlooked.
Last year, Ngwenya submitted a letter outlining concerns he believed warranted constitutional review at the club’s extraordinary general meeting. However, he said his proposals were disregarded.
“I submitted. I was never called up to clarify my points, nor were they brought up at the extraordinary general meeting. Nobody contacted me. I did not insult anyone — what I did, I believe, was in the best interest of the club,” he said.
Ngwenya also criticised board members who have served beyond the 10-year mark.
He noted that he stepped down after completing his 10-year term, followed by Judge Nicholas Mathonsi, and argued that any extension of service should be subject to approval by bona fide club members.
“Board members are now serving as life members — who has given them the mandate?” he asked.
He also expressed concern over the erosion of club culture.
“The culture of the club has been lost. For instance, what I know is that you take care of the situation — you guard the stadium all night before the match. And if you’re playing at home, you’re the first to go onto the field, not the enemy,” Ngwenya lamented.
In a statement through the club’s media office, club chairman Kenneth Mhlophe could not be drawn to comment.
