The late controversial athlete

Fungai Munyoro
Thembelani Dhliwayo, the owner and coach of Barrow Jets Women Soccer club, opened up on the murdered goalkeeper who was discovered to be a man after his death.

Getrude Sibanda, born Mduduzi Sibanda died on last Wednesday night soon after admission at Mpilo hospital at around 8pm after he was stabbed on the collar bone with a screwdriver by his brother Kelvin Sibanda.

“She joined us early this year and claimed to have come from several top female clubs in the capital. I cannot mention the clubs by name though. First of all her name was Gamuchirayi but when she came to registry she gave us her name as Getrude Sibanda. She then told us she was a soldier and would sometimes phone me and tell me that she was at the barracks. She swung her play between netball and soccer and sometimes would skip soccer for netball commitments. She also helped coaching the army netball team from Brady Barracks,” Dhliwayo said.

Barrow Jets was formed in 1999 as a company social soccer team and in 2011 formed the women’s team which has risen through provincial, regional and now national levels. Currently Jets are on the bottom of the log with 2 points from 9 games.

Getrude Sibanda played for Jets for almost a year and according to Dhliwayo ‘she’ would speak and act like a ‘woman’.

“Nothing suggested she was a man. I never see any of my players nude but only use identities and physical appearances to confirm they are women. Five months ago she introduced me to a man she called her husband but unfortunately I did not take his details,” he narrated.

Getrude Sibanda had featured in three of the clubs league matches and according to Dhliwayo, at the time of her death, she had been absent from the club since their four-nil defeat to Flame Lilly.

“When we lost four-nil to Flame Lilly of Harare, most of the players blamed her for the loss, so after that she never returned. She made her presence felt at the club and losing her in such a manner is a tragedy. We pray that her soul rests in everlasting peace. We knew what recognition she wanted and as our culture dictates, will give her and her family respect even in her passing,” said the gaffer.

According to Dhliwayo some team-mates only revealed after her death that she would never dress in their presence, or make use of the toilet.

“Some team-mates confided in me that she never ever urinated in their presence and they said they were afraid of her. I, myself, never had her mention the toilet when we travelled to Bindura, and she changed clothes separately. These are the small things we overlooked because we believed could have raised unnecessary anxiety and suspicion,” he said.

Some coaches did not have kind words for Dhliwayo as they blamed him for failing to stand his ground as the coach. One coach based in Harare who declined to be named had this to say:

“I just heard her story and I can’t believe it. What it means is Mr Dhliwayo anopenga. Why airega zvakadaro zvichiitika? How can a player dress away from team-mates? What was so special about her? I think he knew that she was a man,” he said.

Asked why he did not bother to ask Sibanda why she dressed away from the rest, Dhliwayo defended himself by saying:

“I only got involved in women football in 2009 and the only controversy over an alleged female or male athlete I remember was that of a long distance runner Samukeliso Moyo, whose path I never thought I would ever cross in soccer,” he said.

Sibanda once went for trials at the Bindura-based side, Auckland Queens.

“She came for trials early this year before joining Jets. There were so many players, so I didn’t have time to look at her closely,” said Auckland’s head coach Jerrymike Gumbo.

Gumbo said that Sibanda would dress like a woman but had a hoarse voice.

“One could not see that she was a man because aipfeka kunge musikana and aigadzira kuface.

“She told me that she was from Bulawayo where she played netball. She also said that she once played for Sharpshooters Queens FC in the Northern Region. We did not know her. We only posted on Facebook that we were looking for players.

Then she introduced herself as Gamuchirayi Sibanda. I also suspect the use of juju because she cheated us for a very long time,” said the youthful gaffer.