Two time Olympics athlete among the six copper cable thieves

ONE of the six Zimbabwe Power Company employees who were arrested for theft of electricity transmission cables in Hwange, Melford Homela (54), is a renowned athlete who won the country’s first individual international track and field athletics medal after taking part in the 2nd World Junior Athletics Championships in Sudbury, Canada in 1988.

Homela is also a former Zimbabwe Sports Person of the Year.

A then 18-year-old Homela brought home a bronze medal in the 800m event, where he could have easily won had he run his personal best of 1 minute 47,36 seconds which he had clocked in the semifinals of the same event but instead, Homela crossed the finish line in 1 minute, 51,34 seconds with the winner Jonah Birir from Kenya taking gold in 1 minute 50,03 seconds while Great Britain’s Kevin Mckay came second in 1 minute 51.34 seconds.

In the same year, Homela represented the country at the Seoul Olympics where he made history again by becoming the first Zimbabwean to storm into the quarterfinals of an Olympic individual event where he eventually bowed out.

Due to his achievement, he was deservedly crowned the 1988 Zimbabwe Sports Person of the Year. He was to return to the Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.

Homela and the other five accused Tawanda Mhaka (50), of Chibondo suburb in Hwange, Allan Ncube (46) of Empumalanga, Max Phiri (36) of National Railways of Zimbabwe houses, Teddy Makaza (46) of Chibondo and William Zhanero (59) appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Ms Fungai Dzimiri facing theft charges and were remanded to today.