Veronica Gwaze
IT has emerged that the national Under-21 netball team, which travelled to Pretoria, South Africa last month were involved in a road traffic accident on their way to the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup Qualifiers.
Team members were however, told to remain mum about the incident.
The Young Gems finished the tournament in fourth place behind hosts South Africa, Malawi and Zambia, narrowly missing out on one of the three 2025 Netball World Youth Cup tickets.
Players, who spoke on conditions of anonymity for fear of victimisation, revealed that the accident occurred in Makhado.
The team then had to proceed to Pretoria by two mini buses, leaving the damaged bus in Makhado.
“We are two of the three players who suffered some pain due to the impact of the accident but we were told to keep quiet about it,” said the sources.
“We could not share the news with our families and we were even forced to play without much medical attention or counselling.”
ZINA president Leticia Chipandu acknowledged the incident, adding that it was minor.
“I asked the team not to share the news with anyone because I did not want their families to panic, the accident was not bad and there were no injuries,” she said.



