Online Reporter
Innocent Kurira, Zimpapers Sports Hub
LONG-TIME Highlanders supporter and community pillar Lister Dube was laid to rest yesterday, mourned as much for her loyalty to Bosso as for her generosity at home.
Dube, who died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday morning at the age of 68 after a long battle with a spinal condition, was remembered as a woman who lived for football and for the people.
Her homestead in Natisa (Matobo District), Matabeleland South Province, was a shrine to her beloved club, with a black and white Highlanders flag fluttering high and the team’s crest painted boldly on her gate wall. It was more than decoration, family and neighbours said. It was the mark of a devotion that began in 1972 and never faded.
She first caught the Bosso bug while living at Kusile Flats in Makokoba, not far from the Ndlovu family home where Madinda, Adam, and Peter Ndlovu grew up. Watching those players rise from the township to become club and national icons gave her pride and cemented her lifelong bond with Highlanders.
But her life stretched well beyond football. At her Natisa home, Dube raised 17 children over the years, taking in orphans and neighbours’ kids, feeding them, sending them to school, and treating them as her own. To the people around her, she was more than a supporter, she was a lifeline.
Her daughter, Sikhululekile, said the family was humbled by the love shown.
“I am truly grateful to the community for showing up in such large numbers to honour my mother. Seeing the Highlanders fans come out as well meant so much to us as a family,” she said.
Others spoke of the gap her death leaves.
Sister Agnes Siziba said: “The community has lost a hero who did a lot for the people. This is truly a huge loss.”
Neighbour MaTshuma described her as a unifier.
“We are talking about a very loving woman. The community is at a huge loss. She was a unifier in the community, and everyone respected her for her humility,” she said.
For Highlanders fans, her passing was the loss of one of their own.
“As Highlanders supporters, we came to support one of our own,” said Sinikiwe Dube. “She was a strong supporter of the club, and we had to make sure we give her a big send off, which we did.”
Her funeral drew scores of mourners, including Bosso fans from as far as Bulawayo, many dressed in black and white to salute a woman whose life was woven into the fabric of the club.
