Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube
BENJAMIN ‘Benjie’ Mpofu, who died in Bulawayo on May 10, will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery on Monday.
He died at the age of 76, leaving behind his widow Daisy nee Dube, two daughters and several grandchildren.
According to his niece, Franscina, Mpofu had health complications apart from stroke that eventually claimed his life.
“My uncle will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery on Monday. He had many complications at the end and succumbed to that,” said Franscina.
His only sister, Betty Brooker who has been living abroad over the last 60 years, described her brother as loving and a man of a few words.
She said Mpofu had delayed speech in his development and the first words he uttered after some surgical process separating the tongue from the pallet was: “Sis Betty” something he had gone on to do for almost 70 years up to his death.
“Benjie was a loving brother and a man of few words,” said Betty.
The former Bosso winger who played for the club when there was intense competition during the days of Tommy Masuku, Christopher “Bha(wa)” Sibanda, Isaac Mafaro and Cavin Duberley on Bosso’s wings, was born in Bulawayo on 10 October 1948.
He attended Lobengula Primary School in Mzilikazi where he remembers playing with the likes of Billy Sibanda, Lawrence Phiri, Bha(wa) and Stanford Mpofu who in an interview on February 21 last year said was so good but unfortunately never got to play on the bigger stages of the game.
Mpofu proceeded to Mahlabezulu when the school that would later move to Tshabalala was near the Mzilikazi Youth Centre.
He continued playing football at Mzilikazi High School and played school team football with legends Paul “Staff Nurse” Tsumbe, Billy Sibanda, Lawrence Phiri and Kenneth Sparks.
Mpofu started his career around 1964-65 as a junior at club then known as Eastern brothers which had the likes of Barry Daka and later evolved to Eastlands, a team that would play In the elite league and be associated with players like Tymon Mabaleka, Cosmas Zulu, Richard Kasawaya and Lovemore Nyabeze.
He described how he moved from Eastern Brothers around 1966-67 as a case of bitterness by a Mr Mutsago who was an Eastern Brothers official, which he said helped amplify their greatness as Highlanders became a stronger force.
Mpofu left Eastern brothers at the end of 1966 to join Highlanders.
An Eastern brothers official, a Mr Mutsago, took a number of the players to Highlanders among them Mpofu after losing out in elections for the secretary’s post.
Daniel ‘Dididi’ Ncube, who also played for Dynamos, was among those who moved to Bosso and helped the team gain promotion to the First Division in 1970.
Mpofu was part of the Highlanders team that finished the season with seven points and was relegated in 1971 and stayed up to 1974 after a few months in Hwange where he played with the likes of Amos Rendo, Rodrick Simwanza, Masiiwa Sakala and Isaac Phiri.
He was part of the history making squad of 1973 that won the Chibuku Trophy and three successive regional league titles.
On his return, he worked at Kango and later a florist in the city until his retirement.
Billy Sibanda described Mpofu as having been a talented teammate who he grew up with at Mzilikazi and played both youth boys and school football at Mzilikazi High School.
