Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza and Gibson Mhaka at Barbourfields Stadium
THOUSANDS of mourners have converged at Barbourfields Stadium to pay their respects to the late three Highlanders executive members and female supporter who perished last Thursday night in a horrific car accident.
The three fallen Bosso executive members- club chairman Colonel (Retired) Kenneth Mhlophe, vice chairman Sifiso Siziba and treasurer Nkani Khoza together with club supporter Mbalenhle Sibanda perished in a car crash when a Ford Raptor that they were travelling in hit a cow and collided with a bus along the Bulawayo-Gweru Highway.
From politicians, businesspeople, traditional chiefs, civic leaders, members of the Joint Operations Committee (JOC), football supporters from various Premier Soccer League clubs and Bulawayo residents, Barbourfields Stadium is a sea of mourners.
This Monday afternoon, Siziba and Khoza will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo. Mhlophe will be buried at the same cemetery on Tuesday while female supporter Sibanda will be laid to rest in Filabusi on the same day.
In a scene rarely witnessed at Barbourfields, the fierce rivalry between Highlanders, Dynamos, Bulawayo Chiefs, MWOS FC, Caps United among other teams, was replaced by unity and grief.
The football supporters stood shoulder to shoulder, singing together at the Soweto Stand, a section traditionally reserved for the Highlanders faithful.
The atmosphere was not defined by the usual chants of rivalry but by shared sorrow, as officials from clubs across the Premier Soccer League and football administrators joined the Highlanders family in paying their final respects.
For one poignant moment, football rivalries faded away, replaced by compassion, solidarity and a collective promise that those lost would never be forgotten.
