Online Reporter
Mugove Chigada
Zimpapers Sports Hub
IT is a Saturday afternoon at Harare High, in Mbare, and the air is electric.
Mafious “Sugar Sugar” Chihweta, clad in Prince Edward colours, is weaving a spell on the pitch, leaving opponents grasping at thin air.
Twice, a fullback is left stumbling, bewildered, as Chihweta dances past him with ease.
On another raid, he cuts inside, dragging his marker out of position like a puppet on a string. The fans are entranced, mesmerised by the young maestro’s skill.
This four-team tournament, featuring Mbare High, George Stark, Harare High, and Prince Edward, is where future stars are born on this side of town.
And Chihweta, just one year later, is donning the black and white of Highlanders at Barbourfields.
Coach Kelvin Kaindu has taken a bold gamble, trying to give Bosso their own “Yamal,” a player who dazzles and sets the mood at BF.
“When I first saw him play, I saw him do something that I have not seen here in a long time,” Kaindu says.
He was speaking exclusively to Zimpapers Sports Hub.
“I talked to the coaches about him. They said, “Didn’t you watch the videos we sent you?’ I then said, “I don’t judge players that way.”
Kaindu has confronted every coach’s worst fear, playing a kid in a heated Premiership title race.
“We saw potential in him, and we wanted to be patient with him, introducing him at the right moments,” Kaindu explains.
“When we did, he took his chance.”
For now, reality dictates that Chihweta is being carefully managed by the Zambian coach.
“We don’t want him distracted, and we have to protect him,” Kaindu says.
The bond between Chihweta and the Bosso faithful could soon become palpable. As he feeds off the Barbourfields atmosphere, the fans will feed off his genius.
But where did it all start?
“He was meant to enrol at PE for Form 1, but something happened and he went to Waddilove,” reveals Lions Academy coach Norman Taruvinga.
“He later joined PE in Form 2. Then I started coaching him directly from Form 3 until he left both the school and academy in May 2024 on a loan deal to Ajax Hotspurs in the Southern Region Division One league.”
Taruvinga has known Chihweta for a long time.
“Coach Mauto started coaching Mafious when he was still in primary school, in Grade 6. Sugar would come to the PE Academy, now Lions Football Academy. He had exceptional dribbling talent, and there was no doubt where his skill and work ethic would take him,” Taruvinga says.
At 18, Chihweta made it into the Zimbabwe Under-20 COSAFA squad, and his future began to take shape.
“Now that he is at Highlanders Football Club, an institution that strongly supports talent growth and development, I believe he has an even brighter future ahead,” Taruvinga says.
The question on everyone’s lips: Why Highlanders, and not Dynamos or CAPS United, teams that were just a stone’s throw away?
“We strongly believe that is the best place for him. Before that, Sugar had training stints with other Premier League sides here in Harare. But like I said, his style of play could only be appreciated, supported, and further developed at an institution like Highlanders Football Club. And we are very pleased that the belief is becoming real.”
Reality is, Soweto will love the trickery that is yet to come. But the question remains, could Bosso be witnessing another legend reborn?
It may just be too early to say.
