Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
A crisp August wind swept across Inyathi Mission on Monday morning as friends, family, and football lovers gathered to honour one of Zimbabwe’s greatest football administrators, Ndumiso Emmanuel Gumede. The unveiling of his tombstone, just over 100 metres from the old United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, brought together those whose lives he touched on and off the pitch.
The black-and-white striped headstone, shaped like a football and inscribed “Yours Truly, Ndumiso E Gumede”, stood over a grave that holds not just a man, but decades of service to the game. The tombstone’s base was designed as a miniature football pitch, complete with a ball at its centre and his birth and death dates etched into history.
Gumede died on December 29, 2021, aged 76, only days after Highlanders had celebrated his immense contribution to the club at their Fife Street clubhouse. His passing left a gap in football, in the lives of countless pupils and students he had helped educate, and in the homes of the many children whose school fees he paid.
For decades, his passion and leadership shaped the careers of players, coaches and administrators. Beyond football, he was a respected teacher and insurance professional, and in Botswana, he became a familiar face in the region’s football circles. At Cosafa, Caf and Fifa, his name carried weight.
Former Zifa president Vincent Pamire, who worked closely with him, recalled how they brought him back from Botswana to take up the Zifa chief executive role.
“I worked with him for many years. He was an amazing man who could mingle with people at all levels. He loved people but loved his family more, especially his mother,” said Pamire. “We went to Botswana to call him back so that he could be Zifa CEO and we achieved so much together.”
Airforce Hlabangana, an Inyathi elder, used the occasion to lament what he saw as Highlanders’ current decline.
“We no longer even know the players. The team is playing badly, and if we say they have won, it will be a draw,” he said, drawing murmurs in the church from fellow Bosso supporters.
Nkululeko Zidla, the Inyathi High School headmaster, remembered Gumede as a man of humility who gave freely to the school.
“He fitted into every situation, with elders or the youth. He uplifted this school. Whenever he was home, he came here, donating footballs and uniforms,” Zidla said, noting that Gumede, Themba Ndlela and Roger Muhlwa, all Highlanders chairmen, had passed through Inyathi.
Gumede’s sister, Cephekhulu Fuyane, vowed the family would carry forward his charitable work.
“We have children still receiving education through Gumede. We are paying their fees, and we’ll form a trust or foundation to keep that going,” she said.
Nephew, Mwandile Fuyane, who directed the event, summed up Gumede’s stature at Bosso with humour.
“I always thought there were no elections at Highlanders because successes at the club were synonymous with Gumede’s name.
They kept calling him because he was good at what he did.”
From his first term as Bosso chairman in 1978 to his final role as club president in 2021, Gumede was central to building Highlanders into a true community club, complete with assets, a constitution, and a tradition of holding AGMs with audited accounts, rare in local football. Bosso board chairman Luke Mnkandla recalled their early days working together in Harare in the 1970s, making sure the team was received in the capital no matter the hour.
“We would not sleep until the team arrived. Sometimes we waited from 9pm until the next morning. He was committed to the club,” said Mnkandla.
The service drew a diverse crowd, from former Highlanders chairman and board member Peter Dube, former CEO Nhlanhla Dube to social commentator Mzana Mthimkhulu, Chief Menyezwa of Lupane, Chief Tshawe, women’s football administrator Sibekiwe Ndlovu and Seluleko Mathe, one of the many beneficiaries of Gumede’s generosity.
For those present, the day was more than a memorial. It was a celebration of a man whose influence stretched across football, education and community life. His name will remain stitched into the story of Zimbabwean sport.
Rest in peace, Ndumiso Gumede. The game will not forget you.
