PLUMTREE residents have petitioned the local authority over a 350% to 800% rates increase for various services, contrary to the proposed increase of between 100% and 300% for 2020.

BY PATRICIA SIBANDA

In a letter dated November 28, addressed to Plumtree town secretary David Luthe and signed by chairperson Richard Khumalo, Plumtree Combined Residents and Development Association (PCRADA) said the local authority had deviated from the original proposal and ignored concerns raised during the annual budget consultative meetings.

“Having noted that the main platform available for us as residents is through budget consultation meetings, we also note that our suggestions made during the meetings have not been incorporated into the advertised tariffs,” the letter read.

They called for the council to revisit the issue.

“Therefore, as Plumtree residents … we have resolved to submit our objections,” the letter read.
PCRADA’s complaint came after the local authority advertised on November 1, 350% to 800% tariff hikes for 2020.

Contacted for comment, council chairperson Fanisani Dube said residents were supposed to object soon after the advert came out.

“No one objected when the paper got published and it is impossible to amend because they are very late. Indeed, we saw the letter that was sent to us, but the problem is when we have those meetings, people do not usually comment,” Dube said.

“People were supposed to write the letter soon after publication.”

He said they would make sure that a meeting with the residents is organised to clarify issues and procedures on rates changes.

“We will set up a meeting with the residents and try to explain to them how it works. What happens is if the budget has been advertised, there is no turning back,” Dube said.

HEALTH minister Obadiah Moyo was yesterday ambushed by Masvingo demonstrators protesting the lack of drugs and the continued doctors’ strike at major hospitals.

BY TATENDA CHITAGU/TAPIWA ZIVIRA

The incident occurred as the minister was reading his speech at the commemorations of the World Aids Day at Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo.

With a banner inscribed with the words, “Communities need doctors and drugs”, the handful protesters lay on the ground in front of Moyo and other dignitaries, diverting all attention, leaving the minister red-faced and shocked.

Health ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri tried to calm the situation by going to the protesters and telling them he had organised a meeting for them with the minister, but they stayed put until Moyo finished his speech.

Some of the protesters were people living with HIV and Aids who said they were demonstrating against lack of second line treatment as well as viral load-testing machines across the country.
One of the protesters, Moreni Masanzu, who is the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) provincial vice-chairperson, said they had tried to engage the minister several times, but they were spurned.

“We tried several times to arrange a meeting with the minister to no avail. So we realised this is the only chance we can get close to him and air our views,” she said in an interview afterwards.

“People living with HIV and Aids have no second line treatment, which is not available in the country. Some of the drugs that are there are very expensive and out of reach of many. Many people living with HIV and Aids are also dying from opportunistic infections.”

Masanzu said their protest was successful as officials from the ministry had said the minister would have a meeting with them.

The Aids and Arts Foundation (TAAF) Zimbabwe national co-ordinator Emmanual Gasa said there was nothing to celebrate on the commemoration of the International World Aids Day when the public health system is in shambles.

“People are not getting drugs as well as healthcare at hospitals. This is a national outcry that government needs to address. Hospitals are now death traps, instead of being places where people get help,” he said.

The theme for the 2019 World Aids Day commemoration was Communities Make a Difference.

United States deputy ambassador to Zimbabwe, Thomas Hastings, who was also present at the commemorations, said he wished the impasse between government and striking doctors could be resolved soon for the good of the suffering patients.

“The stand-off between the doctors and the government is something that I hope will be resolved for the good of the people,” he said.

Moyo refused to comment over the protests, and his security team barred journalists from interviewing him .

A ZANU PF legislator has urged people in his constituency to put aside sloganeering and focus on national development.

BY REX MPHISA

Beitbridge East MP Albert Nguluvhe on Saturday said national development knows no tribe, political affiliation or race and Zimbabweans should tackle it as a united people to achieve real results.

“Let us leave slogans for 2023 and for now concentrate on developing our country. We are a people together and national development is a common goal we should aim at,” he said.

Nguluvhe was speaking during a fundraising dinner for Beitbridge Government Primary School.

The dinner, called “Stretching the Walls of Beitbridge Government Primary School”, was meant to raise funds for a double-storey classroom block at the school with a 15-classroom deficit.
Just like the Beitbridge Mission, St Joseph’s, Dulivhadzimo and several other schools in the border town, the institution has inadequate classroom blocks for the 1 548 students, with some of them taking classes under trees.

Children at these schools have insufficient toilet facilities apart from a host of other factors affecting proper education.

Nguluvhe, who was addressing Beitbridge urban residents who voted for an MDC local authority in the 2018 elections, said infrastructure development in schools, hospitals and roads should be everyone’s common goal.

“Those are the core areas we should look at. Not for us, but for our children,” said Nguluvhe, who for the first time shared his liberation war history and told people how he was trained by the KGB of Russia.

A former bodyguard of the late former President Robert Mugabe, Nguluvhe became legislator for Beitbridge East after narrowly beating MDC candidate Patricia Ndlovu, who also attended the fundraising event.

“We must change our mentality about tribes, ethnicity and political groupings when we speak development. As for education, let us nurture children who will be employers rather than workers,” he said.

School head, Faith Siyoka Moyo, said despite the challenges the school faced, their pass rate remained high.

“This year, we have an average pass rate of 94% despite these obtaining challenges. Our children have poor toilets and we have turned what should be their playgrounds into classrooms under trees,” she said.

The school, the pioneer learning centre then reserved for whites in 1971 with only 13 students, needs 35 000 standard bricks and other material inputs such as concrete, sand and 1 200 bags of cement to complete the block, which will end open-air learning.

Thousands of dollars were raised from ticket sales and several other activities during the function held at the disused giant former Rainbow Hotel, now just a white elephant.

Moyo’s remarks exposed the dire need of schools in the border town, where the local authority has failed to build new schools.

Apart from deputy mayor Munyaradzi Chitsunge, council officials were conspicuously absent.

OTHER than being known as a Christian and a successful telecommunication business person nationally and globally, Strive Masiyiwa continues to be an enigma of our generation. The government fought his Econet idea, before the same government gave him an operating licence which enabled him to transform his idea into one of the biggest and resilient telecommunication companies in the country. He has spread his wings across the globe and proven that he is a business person of note.

Even that did not make him the darling of the government. His previous investment in one of the local independent daily newspapers made him an enemy of the State with accusations that he harboured political ambitions. In Zimbabwe, having political ambitions is seen by the establishment as a punishable crime, not a right. At the time, he was seen as siding with the opposition, even though he had not uttered a word in that regard. With the demise of the late former President Robert Mugabe, Masiyiwa is once again accused of switching sides aligning himself with the current establishment. Such accusations are now coming from the opposition and again it is within his right.

On his part, two years into his presidency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has proven that he is politically rigid and not cut for such high-level leadership position. He is either politically captured by the various stakeholders who authored his ascendency or he is simply incapable. He has proven his inability to take bold decisions against his political elites who are bleeding the country of its resources. It could be that he has lost such power to the security sector and to a few of his Zanu PF stalwarts. In such a captured situation, the only comfortable thing to do is nothing, which does not work because he inherited a persistent, if not declining, economic crisis.

The economy needs someone to inspire confidence by bringing in drastic political reforms that will allow for security of capital and investment and this will bring new opportunities to trigger economic recovery. Where he is supposed to bring political reforms and unity among various players, he chose political arrogance. This is characterised by his unwillingness to engage and reluctance to reform, while arming the security sector to harshly deal with hungry protesting citizens, who include doctors. The political power preservation agenda is apparent.

That emptiness has created a huge void. And today again, Masiyiwa is hogging the limelight. At a crucial time when the health sector is in shambles and both senior and junior doctors are engaging in industrial action asking for modest salaries to help them get by as they save lives, when medicines are in short supply and when the government has responded by firing, instead of addressing the issues, in comes Masiyiwa — the saviour.

Through his and his wife’s Higher Life Foundation, they have set up a $100 million fund to pay $5 000 to each of the 2 000 government junior and senior doctors in addition to what they are earning from their employer. Through the Higher Life Foundation, he also promised smartphones, diagnostic equipment and transport to the doctors.

While latest reports indicate that the doctors’ associations are yet to accept the offer, however, if it materialises, it would have come as a major reprieve to those whose lives are on the verge of demise due to preventable causes and government negligence. It will save many lives, save jobs and livelihoods and keep the nation going. Of course, such an act of generosity must be encouraged and Masiyiwa must be applauded for demonstrating leadership when those responsible for national issues are preoccupied with siphoning national resources at the expense of people’s lives.

There could be a lot more people willing to step up and emulate Masiyiwa – in fact that is what Zimbabwe needs right now. But what is the political currency of this gesture made by Masiyiwa? Are we in that season when Zanu PF’s stupidity is defying political logic?

The party has been in power for nearly four decades and its policies are responsible for the suffering of the masses. Corruption is siphoning resources out of State institutions such as hospitals. Everyone knows that we do not have a shortage of money, but we have a greedy leadership, which is why it is now easy to die of treatable causes. Now a Masiyiwa, who has not stolen national resources, is volunteering to use his own resources generated from his own business ventures to give a second chance to people whose imminent demise is a result of Zanu PF policies, mismanagement and neglect. S/he who saves one’s life is a small god and there is no better way of earning political soft power and credibility than stepping in at a crucial moment when people are facing death.

There is no doubt that the beneficiaries of the life-saving treatment through the Higher Life Foundation support are going to be profoundly indebted to Masiyiwa and that will open questions among the citizens on why they should vote for non-productive politicians who have made it a hobby to loot instead of addressing national challenges.

They can either co-opt Masiyiwa or steal from him this political capital.

Tapiwa Gomo is a development consultant based in Pretoria, South Africa. He writes here in his personal capacity.

ZIMBABWE is said to be highly rated in terms of literacy and education, but three events that recently occurred at the University of Zimbabwe threw into question the efficacy and completeness of our educational output. I am only using the University of Zimbabwe as an example.

The first alarming event was that the University administration (DACS) recently proposed a knocked down, unbalanced and bare survival meal plan because of financial challenges. Crisis is when the highest institution of learning can’t find solutions to rudimentary challenges like feeding itself. How do we expect our graduates to come up with national solutions if they can’t develop local ones? Imagine that our mission schools back then mastered the art of near self-sufficiency many years ago and they didn’t have professors or specialists in their employ. They did the very basic.

Just a few years back, the Japanese also had to solve a water crisis and add pumping capacity at a university with final year engineering students and professors. The second disturbing event was when the university lecturers declared incapacity to continue reporting for duty due to economic realities and financial challenges. If the university has no ecosystem that attracts paid research, corporate sponsorship, value-creation collaboration and donations, it means it has no sequential and simultaneous attraction to industry, government and non-State actors. What needs to change to be relevant to stakeholders? Some universities have entire faculties adopted by commerce and lecturers fully sponsored.

During my study at a joint MIT and IMD programme, most professors had prefixes like Daimler Chrysler Professor of Innovation and so forth. Faculty building had names like Nestle Centre and so forth. Books and lecture notes were branded. Equipment, teas and lunches had sponsors. Why is it our corporate world is not seeing value in our tertiary education? The third challenge was violence in the preparation and conduct of student executive committee elections, reportedly sponsored by third forces. If students at the highest institute of learning are externally sponsored to cause chaos and buy votes, what future holds our national elections? I then questioned a few issues or events hereunder and hope to proffer my own view of the solution matrix in my next weeks’ op-ed. Those who visited or studied at the university in the late nineties would be familiar with the pungent smell that often greeted anyone on entry to some halls of residence.

The halls had broken cisterns, unflushed toilets, and broken windows, blocked shower rooms, leaking water pipes, doors without handles, naked electrical cables and dirty walls. These halls often had final-year engineering students who could not find it necessary to do a DIY.

Some students would defecate in shower rooms and litter with reckless abandon. It bothers how these educated people have no sense of responsibility to their own living environment. Is it possible for them to be responsible for even a wider calling like taking care of their cities, villages and the nation?

This lack of a sense of care or belief that it is a government or politician problem manifests in how, as an example, residents of Harare treat their streets, bills, water bodies, wetlands, parks, lawns, alleyways and so forth. Why does our education not make us not care? Our revered academics, intellectual, thought leaders, subject matter experts who can propel and ventilate ideas to solve national challenges in the economy and society do not partake, are apprehensive and have general apathy in contributing in the political field. The country is often placed in the hands of those without ideas, but are great at chanting party slogans. Why do we have apprehensive and cowards as our educational system output? The few “educated” who dare participate are not equally voted for by the so-called educated nationals. Our councils, Parliament and Senate often end being lorded over by a pool of individuals with limited skills, knowledge and abilities required to deliver a remarkable standard of living to the people. Why is it that our education system promotes a country to be led by mediocrity and often complete failures? The sense of patriotism of our educational output seems really low and at times non-existent. We seem to be a “ nation” that still relies on archaic loyalties. It often gets to loyalty and totems.

Our educated people never willingly give back to society. It manifests in evasion of tax and municipal bills from village up to national contributions. Most of our engineers, agriculture experts, water management “gurus” and so forth have not contributed that expertise at even their village level. It bothers me why our education teaches us to rely on government and donors?

In fact, with the education we pollute the land, water and air, openly defecate, litter streets, hunt endangered species, randomly cut down trees, and fail to contribute in taking care of the elderly and the orphans and so many other vices. I would like to compare us with the children, as in real young school-going kids, of Israel. On their Independence Day they recite what each and every one of them has done to uplift the nation of Israel or uplift human spirit. All children would have done something like planting trees, painting a school, feeding old people and so forth.

We do often do nothing for our nation despite feigning our education credentials. What should be done to ensure a sense of patriotism? A university should be a centre of research and an ideas factory. It must demonstrate value innovation and be at the forefront of the commercialisation of the ideas loop. It should provide energy in the production of new products, services and solutions. It will be a miracle if for the past 40 years we have more than 20 inventions from our higher education institutions combined. I mean inventions registered with Intellectual Property offices. I wonder what should be done to foster a culture of innovation and building local solutions? We produce great employees and very few entrepreneurs, despite this fancied education 5.0 and innovation hubs that are being driven. Since the 1980s we have had most of our educated people inheriting old brands, old industries and at times old processes. In most instances, the inherited companies are on life support. As an example we had great banker employees working for world banking brands and we thought of them as leading lights. The “bankers” established their own banks, then people’s money disappeared, there were glaring corporate governance deficits, liquidity constraints and eventual collapse. Most of the indigenous banks collapsed despite the same bankers having a past of being stars as employees in international banks. The same applies to myriad industries. Why does our education produce people who perform wonders when they have payslips and fail when they have to get dividends?

The tertiary education outsiders are often the majority of our millionaires and our education outputs are struggling in a desire for payslips. The street millionaires seem to have mastered emphasis on creativity, collaboration and critical thinking than our system that seems to emphasise on stability. I think we are producing neurotics who memorise and regurgitate old theories rather than learn. In the faculty of commerce, one can easily pass by studying lecture notes of even a decade ago. And I must add that not so many graduates can pass an exam they wrote a decade ago without re-study. If one cannot re-write and pass an exam he wrote a decade ago, I doubt learning ever occurred. What exactly should be done to ensure we are actually learning? I have always thought universities should contribute in reinvention, ideation and innovation. Why is it that we are not producing absolute truths, but teaching students relevant things? We are repeating the same decade-old truths to students yet that, unfortunately, is now so widely and easily available. What is lacking is application of the knowledge and seeking new truths. Are we not risking being foisted other country truths yet it is ideal to obtain new truths ourselves. I opine that there is possibly a need to reinvent and remodel our tertiary education curriculum even further than the high-sounding education 5.0 the President recently launched. This often peddled issue of being the most educated nation is possibly a fallacy because education should come with being productive and civilised. The country faces new challenges and offers new opportunities, yet this post-1980 generation relies on adult knowledge, old models, old experiences and wisdom which is now of doubtful value and often irrelevant for solving modern challenges. There is a tendency to hold on to stability, identity and world view.

 Brian Sedze is strategy consultant and president of Free Enterprise Initiative. Free Enterprise Initiative advocates for less government, free enterprise, fiscal and public policy. He can be contacted on brian.sedze@gmail.com

The green or smart concept appears to have been oversubscribed without matching tangible results on the ground. For a vision of an ideal environment and desired settlement pattern that would situate developing countries strategically for mordernisation and growth in line with the current developmental paradigms, more actions than words are required. It starts from a village, to a peri-urban; town and then finally a smart city, from the simple to the complex, in that order.

Developing countries need to work hard to improve the settlement patterns of their people, especially rural areas that have maintained the same status for thousands of years. The idea is to come up with simple model houses in which the governments, donors and the private sector can participate in designing and constructing befitting of a rural status.

These simple rural designs would be everything in one with regard to their quality, being environmentally friendly, using locally available materials and resources that do not damage the environment. These would be settlements with all the ingredients of eco-friendly facilities which would transform the lives of the poor and make them compete with those of the same status in developing counties.

So much talking has been done, so has material been written and researched, but the people’s situations remain unchanged. The poor cannot talk of realising resilience if they cannot see changes in their lives. These model villages don’t mean destroying and starting afresh, but making improvements in line with sustainable development goals which advocates for clean water, health well-being, housing and infrastructural development as well as good schools, clinics, hospitals, roads and efficient transport systems and above all agricultural production. All these can be realised in a clean, habitable and friendly environment.

People have been bombarded enough with green discourses, but words, although they build worlds, are not enough. It would be welcome for developing countries to begin with pilot model villages, with all the envisaged requirements in place so that they can make some checks and balances. The developmental discourses cannot be swallowed wholesome lest authorities will be overwhelmed by their ambitions.

We cannot talk of environmental sustainability when the people affected have never realised the benefits of living in a clean environment, including realising there is clean energy and when energy poverty is their existence. The desired model green villages need to be solar-powered, have access to clean water for household consumption gardening, small-scale irrigation schemes, using organic manure and also each homestead should have a woodlot, as trees are necessary as well as fruit trees, drip irrigation kits which conserve water and toilets in order to avoid defecating in the forests. All these have ingredients of model eco-friendly villages.

Talk is cheap, coming up with something of a reference point would be very much welcome. The envisaged communities would not plough along river banks, avoid human activities that promote stream or river siltation or mining in streams or rivers because they are water bodies not mines.

Planting of woodlots would make them avoid going into the forests to destroy trees and degrade landscapes. They will preserve their forests, including the wildlife in these forests and also contribute towards eco-tourism. They would also respect wetlands and respect their value-addition processes. Furthermore, they need to be taught water harvesting techniques in order to avoid water scarcities during the times of need. Although governments, donors and the private sector can play their part, communities can come up with locally available materials for infrastructural development.

In this regard, before the people can change their behaviours and untoward human practices, their mindsets should be freed from those attitudes which harm the environment. This begins in their homes, later outside and nearby areas, including their immediate environment. Regarding fertilizer uses, communities should be taught to make use of livestock manure, vermicomposts and other organic forms of manure. These are environmentally friendly, would preserve moisture and don’t harm the soils.

Education, training and awareness are important, but they also need to be backed by strong action on the ground. It is the area of water sustenance and use that communities should be nurtured into, in order to make the model villages a success.

These villages should be model enough to save water, preserve their immediate environment live sustainably and make use of clean and cheap energy which delivers them from energy poverty. They can also participate in projects like nutritional gardens, poultry, piggery, cattle fattening, small-scale dairy, horticulture or honey production in order to improve their livelihoods and send children to school.

Their living habits should help them get prepared to adapt during any weather extremes or climate eventualities by not promoting carbon footprints which harm the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

 Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on: petrovmoyt@gmail.com

THE opposition MDC yesterday claimed its leader Nelson Chamisa (pictured) escaped death by a whisker after police in Marondera fired “live and rubber bullets” at him, forcing him to scurry for cover and abandon a tree-planting programme earmarked for Dombotombo Clinic in the farming town, 72km east of Harare.

BY MOSES MATENGA/JAIROS SAUNYAMA

Although police insisted that they only used tear smoke to disperse the crowd, top MDC officials said live ammunition had been fired into the crowd.

“Live shots fired at president Chamisa, I was beside him. We were missed by a whisker. We were only planting trees for National Tree Planting Day in Marondera today,” Marondera Central MP Caston Matewu tweeted.

Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda also claimed police had fired live ammunition in their direction, describing the incident as an attempt on the opposition leader’s life.

“Police were firing live ammunition in the direction of president Nelson Chamisa. This is unacceptable and the president remains resolute and fired up,” Sibanda said.

“The police attempted to shoot president Chamisa and we are now regrouping to try and assess the level of damage and the number of people injured in the process. I have seen four people at the moment.

“There are people hit by rubber bullets, (but) they targeted live ammunition at the president.”
“It is uncalled for. It’s irresponsible and damages our country. It is sabotage on the economy and is the real sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe,” Sibanda said.

But police denied reports that they used live ammunition, saying they only used tear smoke after Chamisa and his supporters had refused to disperse.

As early as 6am, armed police had mounted roadblocks and barricaded Cherutombo Primary School, the initial venue for the tree planting programme, arguing that the event was not sanctioned by the law enforcement agents.

Chamisa’s security team then shifted the venue to Dombotombo Clinic, where they were again followed by armed State security agents, resulting in a fierce stand-off.

Chamisa insisted on going ahead with his programme, before police violently dispersed them with tear gas.

Chamisa told NewsDay yesterday that the incident confirmed that police were on working on orders to crush his party’s events and close the country’s democratic space.

The latest incident comes as the MDC claims it has been unofficially banned by the Zanu PF government from participating in national politics after several of its functions have been blocked in the past.

Chamisa later conducted his tree-planting programme at the party’s Marondera provincial headquarters in Morningside.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said security agencies only used tear smoke to disperse the crowd.

“Facts on the ground indicate that there was a gathering which had no prior notification to the police. The conveners were advised to follow laid-down procedures and also what they were doing was not legally binding. So what the officers on the ground did was to advise the gathering not to do things that will make them clash with the authorities,” Nyathi
said.

“There were some people who came in kombis and chanting slogans and shouting and, in the process, not complying with police orders. So (the) police had to use tear smoke to disperse them.

“No live rounds were fired, no rubber bullets were used. Our officers were not armed with firearms as anyone would want to allege. No weapons were fired at anyone directly.”

In a statement last night, the Information ministry said: “Police in Marondera had to deploy tear smoke to disperse an aggressive crowd that was closing in on them. This was after leadership of a political party tried to hold a rally at Dombotombo Clinic without notifying police. For the avoidance of doubt, no firearm was discharged.”

A few weeks ago, Chamisa watched haplessly as police violently dispersed party supporters and attacked ordinary citizens gathered for his Hope of the Nation Address in Harare.

Several people were injured while others were arrested after the crackdown, which also saw a 10-month-old baby being detained together with its mother.

The MDC has, of late, seen its programmes being blocked, with heavy police presence seen also in most parts of the country, particularly in the capital, Harare.

Until late yesterday, police maintained a heavy presence in Marondera and along the Harare-Mutare Highway.

HIGHLANDERS are likely to forgo the opportunity to play in the Caf Confederation Cup next year due to financial constraints.

BY HENRY MHARA

The Bulawayo giants booked their ticket to represent the country in the continent’s second tier club competition after winning the Chibuku Super Cup at the weekend.

Star striker Prince Dube scored the all-important goal as Bosso beat Ngezi Platinum Stars 1-0 at a heaving Barbourfields Stadium on Saturday to lift the trophy, which comes with it a ticket to play in the African safari.

However, there are indications that Highlanders will not take up the opportunity, with sources yesterday telling NewsDaySport that the club is financially hamstrung to partake in the resource-draining excursion.

“Unless the club’s sponsors chip in and avail the resources, the club cannot afford, unfortunately,” a club source said.

“A lot of resources are required to play in Africa as you are well aware, resources that we don’t have. The club’s financial standing is well known, we just don’t have the resources.”

The club is bankrolled by cellular network operator NetOne, which provides the team with most resources to run its operations, including player’s salaries. Bosso, who command a huge following in terms of numbers that attend matches in the league, also rely on gate takings to cover their other costs.

But the source said the club might need to find other streams of revenue to be able to take part in the African competition.

Dynamos have in the past failed to participate in continental football, because of financial limitations.

The Harare giants failed to participate in the 2015 Caf Champions League due to a lack of sponsorship.

Highlanders have also in the past passed on the opportunity to represent the country in Africa, pulling out from the Caf Confederation Cup in 2011, due to lack of funds.

Asked by NewsDay soon after lifting the Chibuku Cup on Saturday, on whether the club will take part in the Confederations Cup this year or not, Highlanders chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube, could not give a straight answer.

“Let’s celebrate today, and let’s not put the cart before the horse. Let’s enjoy the victory that is today, and let then regroup and focus on what this means and what we need to do about it. So I think it’s a question for another day. Today’s question is ‘are we going to sleep?’ and the answer is absolutely not!”

If Highlanders decide to pull out, it’s highly likely that the opportunity would be passed on to Ngezi Platinum Stars.

The well-resourced Mhondoro Ngezi side participated in the Caf Confederation Cup two years ago after winning the Chibuku Super Cup in their debut season in the Premiership, but crashed out of the competition in the first round.

If Highlanders also decide to pull out, it would be a huge disappointment to their fans who are looking forward to seeing their club rub shoulders with the best of the continent.

It would hurt their players even more, who gave it their all hoping to play in Africa, an exercise that usually opens opportunities for players. Dube said he was proud of the team’s heroics in the Chibuku Super Cup, claiming that they had actually surpassed their target for the season.

Highlanders started the season slowly in the league and at some point fought relegation, but picked up form late into the campaign where they are now fighting to finish in the top four.
They were unplayable in the Chibuku Super Cup, accounting for some of the big teams in the country on their way to lifting the cup, including their most bitter rival Dynamos, and defending league champions FC Platinum.

“Winning this says we achieved slightly more than what we set ourselves to. According to our plan, we had wanted to, at least, get into a major final, and we did that, and we won it. So it means that we are maturing, the players are maturing maybe a little bit bigger than we thought. Maybe because we went through a difficult period at the beginning of the season, so it has matured all the players and everyone within the club. We have shown that patience, bravery, sticking together and doing things correctly will ultimately get you the prize,” Dube said.

“When we started this project, we wanted to do a few things; one, to get the fans to come back into the stadium by playing a certain type of football. And if you go to PSL and check the statistics for last season and this one, we are the most followed club in terms of stadium-going numbers. That means the club has been doing things that resonate with the fans.”