WATCH: I never hated Highlanders, says Gibson Homela

Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub

TO many Highlanders fans, Gibson Homela was the man they loved to hate.
A midfield rock for Zimbabwe Saints from 1963, Homela joined the club alongside the late Aleck Mwanza and William Sibanda, both scouted from the Gweru Amateur Football Association and Fletcher High School. He quickly became the difference between victory and defeat whenever Saints faced Bosso.

Highlanders poster boy Tymon Mabaleka often struggled to shine under Homela’s no-nonsense play. Whether it was Cavin Duberley, Isaac Mafaro, Tommy Masuku, Majuta Mpofu, or Josiah Nxumalo, Homela had a habit of shutting them down with commanding performances.

To those watching, it looked personal. Many assumed he had a grudge against Highlanders. But for the first time, Homela is speaking up, and he’s calling it what it was: pure football rivalry.

Fans still talk about the 1976 Chibuku Cup final, where Zimbabwe Saints crushed Highlanders 4-0 at Rufaro Stadium. Homela had just returned from studying in England. Saints quietly flew him in and lodged him at YMCA Kambuzuma to rejoin the team.

When Homela walked onto the pitch, it rattled Silas Ndlovu’s Highlanders side. The game plan collapsed. Though he’d long played as a defender, he was moved upfield, and responded with two goals. Max Tshuma added another two, and Bosso never recovered.

Homela admits Highlanders brought out the best in him.
“It’s wrong to say I hated Highlanders. I liked them. They were a team that motivated me so much I’d train extra on my own, just to prove a point,” he said.

These days, he rarely misses a Highlanders match. And yes, believe it or not, he once wore their colours.
It’s hard for some supporters to imagine, given the fierce rivalry. But in 1980, while working at Bata Shoe Company, Homela helped arrange a tour of Zimbabwe by Bata Bullets of Malawi. One of their matches was against Highlanders, who invited him to be their guest player. That day, he lined up in black and white.

Zimpapers Sports Hub caught up with Homela in Mzilikazi on Wednesday, where he’d joined other legends visiting their ailing former teammate Ephraim “Kid” Moloi-Moyo.

Moloi-Moyo, who started with Highlanders’ Under-12s, later played for West Coast in Division Two before returning to Bosso’s first team in 1974. He left in 1977 to join breakaway side Olympics, and eventually moved to Zimbabwe Saints. In 1978 he transferred to Zisco (then Risco), and by 1980 was one of several players, alongside Sunday Chidzambwa, Ephert Lungu, and Charles Sibanda, being considered for the national team. He earned caps in Zimbabwe’s early years of independence but retired in 1982 due to injury.

The visit stirred memories, and Douglas Mloyi, who partnered Moloi-Moyo in defence during that Bata Bullets match, shared one.

“I forgot we were playing for the same team and I head-butted him,” Mloyi laughed, as fellow legends Madinda Ndlovu, Lawrence Phiri, and Moloi-Moyo burst into laughter.