BY DANIEL NHAKANISO

Zimbabwe 358 all-out, Sri Lanka 42/1 (14 overs) – Sri Lanka trail by 316 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
A HEROIC fight back from bowling all-rounder Donald Tiripano with both bat and bowl ensured the opening Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka remained evenly poised after an eventful second day at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

After a middle order collapse that saw the dismissal of Zimbabwe’s top-scorer Craig Ervine for 85 runs threatened to undo the hosts’ solid start, the seasoned bowling all-rounder combined with the tail-enders to produce a spirited resistance.

Tiripano was left stranded on 44 but his crucial knock took the hosts’ first innings total to 358 all-out.

He also provided the much needed early breakthrough with the ball, claiming the only wicket in Sri Lanka’s innings from his first delivery of the match.

At stumps, Sri Lanka were 42 for one, trailing the hosts by 316 runs with captain Dimuth Karunaratne unbeaten on 12 runs while Kusal Mendis resumes the third day unbeaten on six runs.

Earlier, Zimbabwe had made steady progress after resuming day two on 189 for two before losing three wickets for 47 runs in the first session as they collapsed from 208 for three to 247 for five following the dismissals of Brendan Taylor (21), skipper Sean Williams (18) and Craig Ervine (85) in quick succession.

Williams was disappointed with the way the middle order folded after a good start by the top order batsmen.

“The middle order actually failed us in this innings, guys got in and got out and that was the difference between getting 450 and 400 which is what I would have loved on this wicket. I asked for discipline and good decisions and that didn’t happen. We are moving in the right direction and showing signs of it which is good to see but again there are soft wickets which keep on falling,” Williams said.

Taylor, who had started the second day on 13 runs, could only manage to add eight runs to his overnight score before he was trapped LBW by seamer Suranga Lakmal in the seventh over of day two.

Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya picked up his second wicket of the innings three overs before lunch after having Williams caught behind for 18 runs before the set batsman Ervine was clean bowled by Lakmal in the very next over as Zimbabwe reached lunch on 260 for five.

It got worse for Zimbabwe after lunch as they only managed to add six runs before wicketkeeper batsman Regis Chakabva became Embuldeniya’s third victim after being caught at mid-on for eight.

A crucial 41 run partnership between Sikandar Raza and Donald Tiripano took Zimbabwe past the 300 mark.

Raza was, however, stumped on 41 runs by Dickwella off the bowling of Embuldeniya while charging down the wicket.

Embuldeniya completed his five wicket haul in his next over by removing Jarvis for just one run as Sri Lanka threatened to clean up the Zimbabwe tail in quick time.

Tiripano, however, combined with Ainsley Ndlovu and Victor Nyauchi to frustrate the Islanders with an unbeaten 44 which took Zimbabwe beyond the tea interval before they were bowled out for 348 in 148 overs.

Sri Lanka made a steady start with skipper Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando compiling 32 runs for the opening stand inside 11 overs before Tiripano clean bowled the former in the penultimate over of the day to ensure the match remained delicately poised heading into the third day.

BY HENRY MHARA

ZIMBABWE will today know the identity of their opponents for their Fifa World Cup 2022 qualification campaign when Caf conducts the draw for the second round of the continent’s qualifiers taking place at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, this evening.

The draw is slated for 7pm Zimbabwe time.

Zimbabwe qualified for this round after beating Somalia 3-2 on aggregate in the first round of the qualifiers.

The first round consisted of 14 home-and-away ties, featuring the 28 lowest ranked teams in Africa.

Zimbabwe and the other 13 winners of the first round will join the 26 top-seeded African teams with the 40 teams forming ten groups of four (based on the December 2019 edition of the Fifa/Coca-Cola world ranking).

The 10 group winners then advance to third round where they will be paired up for knockout matches, with the five winners securing a berth at Qatar 2022.

In the draw, Zimbabwe are in pot 3, due to their low ranking on the Fifa rankings and with each group consisting of one team from each pot, the Warriors will face one of the continent’s giants who line up in pot 1.

Among them are the five nations that represented Africa at the last Fifa World Cup: Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt and Senegal.

Zimbabwe has the potential to be placed in the same group with neighbours and old foes South Africa who are in pot 2.

The second round of Africa’s qualifiers will kick off in March this year and will conclude in October next year with the third and final round scheduled for the following month.

The World Cup 2022 will be played in Qatar between November 21 and December 18, 2022.

Zimbabwe are currently looking for a substantive coach for the Warriors to take charge of the campaign. The coach is expected to be announced before the end of January, with the selection process almost done.

Zifa has said they prefer an expatriate to take charge of the team.

The full set of pots is as follows:

Pot 1: Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Mali, Congo DR.

Pot 2: Burkina Faso, South Africa, Guinea, Uganda, Cabo Verde, Gabon, Benin, Zambia, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire.

Pot 3: Madagascar, Mauritania, Libya, Mozambique, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Niger, Central African Republic, Namibia, Guinea-Bissau.

Pot 4: Malawi, Angola, Togo, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Djibouti.

BY Munyaradzi Madzokere

Zimbabwe car racing sensation Axcil Jefferies is delighted by a positive start to the season after his family cheered him, and his team Toksport WRT, on to a second place finish at the Dubai 24 Hour Race in the United Arab Emirates last week.

It is a great way to start the year for Jefferies’ team who agonisingly missed the podium in the last campaign after suffering a mechanical fault late in the race at the Austin Circuit of The Americas (COTA) 24-Hour Endurance Race in Texas last November.

The 24-year-old driver is looking to build upon the impressive performance going forward.

“I knew coming into 2020 this is the year I have to really be at my best so I trained very hard in the off season and I intend to carry the momentum through the year. The year has kicked off in a very positive way. Firstly, being invited by Toksport to join them again after the race in Austin Texas was nice,” Jefferies told Newsday Sport.

“The Dubai 24-hr always has one of the strongest driver fields, so it was important for me to do well. We all did an amazing job as a team and we finished in position two in the class.

So overall, I am very happy with a podium to kick of the year,” he added.

For Jefferies, the recent performance was made sweeter because of the fact that his parents were part of the iconic Dubai Autodrome crowd.

“It was nice to have my family supporting in Dubai and sharing the podium celebrations with me. With my busy racing schedule unfortunately my family cannot be at all the races, so it’s nice having them around sometimes,” Jefferies said.

“I would never be where I am if it was not for the support and sacrifices my family made for me over the last 20 years. Both my parents and my sister gave their all to see me succeed and I will for ever be grateful. My mum only attends a few races a year and she prefers to watch from home,” he said.

Axcil’s father Suhail has been his manager for the better part of his journey to become the first African driver to race in the competitions. His mother Jolyn has often been in the background while sister Melissa has attended many of his races. The next endurance race assignment for Jefferies is the The Hankook 12H Monza which will kick off the 24H Series Europe season from March 27-28 this year.

“I will be announcing my 2020 calendar in due course and hopefully it should be a busy and successful one. But I would like to thank everyone that has made it all possible and for all the support I get from so many different people around the world,” he said.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI/DARLINGTON MWASHITA

Police yesterday released 12 names of the 17 people who perished in a bus accident that occurred near Odzi along the Harare-Mutare Highway on Saturday evening.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi identified 12 people while two other names are being withheld as their next of kin have not yet been notified.

He said three other victims – two females and one male – were still to be identified and urged members of the public to visit Mutare Provincial Hospital to identify the bodies.

Among the people who died in the accident are General Bande Bus driver Emmanuel Munhuwenyu from Mutare and conductor Milton Mayaveni.

Others are Aaron Jambaya, Shanel Dumbura (an infant aged 5 from Mutare), Cecil Vumbunu (54), Irvene Marware from Mutare, Francis Masonza from Mutare, Jane Chikukwa (Rusape), Tanatswa Foroma (Mutare), Zoey Nyanyiwa (65) (Mutare), Sabie Mukweza (75) Mutare, and Tawana Sigauke (Mutare).

Fourteen people died on the spot while three others died on admission at Mutare Provincial Hospital after a haulage truck which was carrying timber was involved in a head-on collision with a General Bande bus.

Police said preliminary investigations indicated that the bus driver was speeding and the bus burst its left front tyre, leading to the
accident.

Meanwhile, two people died on Sunday evening, while four others were seriously injured when a Mitsubishi Colt they were travelling in veered off the road and crashed into a tree after the driver hit a pedestrian along Luveve Road near Josiah Chinamano Primary School, Emakhandeni in Bulawayo.

Bulawayo Fire Brigade senior divisional officer Linos Phiri confirmed the accident yesterday.

“Six people, who were involved in the car accident, are Bukhosibakhe Mlilo (driver), Sibonginkosi Mpofu (24), Senzo Ndebele (32), Modester Zakariya (26), Sibusiso Nyathi, a male juvenile, Prince Ndebele (13) and the pedestrian was not identified,” Phiri said, adding that the driver, who was trapped in the car, died before the Fire Brigade could rescue him.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the accident and urged drivers to exercise caution when driving on wet and slippery roads.

BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

STUDENTS at Njube High School in Bulawayo yesterday staged a demonstration led by A-Level students over a 478% fees hike.

The school administration reportedly increased fees from $92 to $440 this term.

Students, who were carrying the portrait of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the national flag marched on the streets expressing their disgruntlement over the fees hikes and deteriorating education standards at the school.

Authorities at the school had to call riot police who stopped the protest.

The police rounded up the students, mainly the seniors, who participated in the protest before taking them to a classroom where they were questioned over the demonstration.

When Southern Eye crew visited the school, the students were still being questioned by the police.

One of the students said they were protesting in solidarity with other pupils who could not afford the new fees.

“When the fees were $92 some of the students could not afford them and now the fees have been raised to $440. Another issue is that we buy our own books, so we do not understand why the fees have been hiked,” she said.

“However, this ended up being something that was not planned, it was supposed to be peaceful, but it ended up being a rumpus.”

The students, who were rounded up by the police, were asked to write down their names.

“With the police now taking our records and everything, we do not mind giving out details, but taking our records, who knows what is going to happen next. We are actually worried about the next step,” a student
said.

Students said by carrying the portrait of the President they were sending a direct message to him on behalf of all students in Zimbabwe that they were suffering and their future was being washed down the drain.

The learners were also armed with the notes which contained their complaints to the authorities.

“I was in the classroom writing and a teacher came and said let us go for a march and I did not know where we were going, but I joined the march…SOS — save our souls — this is for every Zimbabwean child, Unicef where are you?” read the note.

“Unicef where are you? We have suffered a lot, all we need is help and may you change things.”

Acting district schools inspector Zenzele Myambo said she was not allowed to speak to the Press and referred all questions to the provincial education director Olicah Kaira.

When contacted for comment, Kaira said she was in a meeting before switching off her mobile phone.

BY PRECIOUS CHIDA

CULTURE music has long been considered flabby among youthful artistes, despite it having placed the country on the world map through artistes such as Stella Chiweshe, who is well known globally for her singing and playing of the mbira dzavadzimu, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe (a Bantu ethnic group native to southern Africa).

There seems to be a shift in the music industry as artistes of this era retrace their roots, with many of them making music which leaves fans in a trance.

Popular dancehall musician Winky D became immensely spiritual in his previous album Gombwe, the name that has a deep Afrocentric self-titling which shows someone who is steeped in spiritual wisdom, digging into his traditional African social and emotional repertoire to create a discography that makes him the social n’anga.

Killer T’s album Handigumbuke showed his understanding of the religious dynamics in Zimbabwe and delivered songs that connected to the masses who often view dancehall as secular music and also appealing to the mature and traditional audience with Rovai Makuva.

Ashton “Mbeu” Nyahora with his latest album The Mhodzi Diaries also shows a shift in his music with themes that relate to ancestral spirits dominating the product.

Mbeu believes his music is moving towards culture since he now appreciates the importance of tradition.

“The driving force behind my shifting or moving towards singing about our tradition or having our traditional sound dominating their signature, is because it’s been a journey of finding myself and a time comes, as you mature, that you relate to your culture and as you grow older, you begin to appreciate the richness of your indigenous language so much that even on an international collaboration you feel you want to do it with your indigenous traditions,” he said.

Arts promoter Benjamin Nyandoro said musicians had been affected by globalisation, but have become exhausted with it which has made them retrace their footsteps back to their roots.

“Musicians as they become more influential assume a role of setting the way of doing things and they sing about a way of life that speaks to what people can relate to. Globalisation risks one losing own culture and values, but once they have been there, they begin to feel the void,” he said.

He applauded artistes who have adapted to this mantra which he says is helping to preserve cultural norms.

“It is important that young Zimbabweans now lead the conversations of preserving our culture, norms and values. The role of musicians cements the growing trend. You may notice how we now like calling ourselves by totem, how we celebrate giving our kids native names. It’s a great wave and builds a strong foundation of belonging,” he said.

Veteran producer Clive “Mono” Mukundu said there is some kind of cultural awakening that is happening among the youths.

“Remember it used to be very taboo or was seen as backward to be seen holding a mbira instrument, but because of the influence of artistes like the late Oliver Mtukudzi and so much information on social media there are many young artists who are beginning to embrace their culture more,” he said.

“I notice this a lot since I work in the studio. As a result, I interact with artistes a lot and I am noticing this too. This has, therefore, proved that it has become a silent revolution against how religion was used to suppress our culture.”

Several artistes, who however, established themselves from the onset as traditional musicians include Thomas Mapfumo, Mukudzei ‘Jah Prayzah’ Mukombe, Hope Masike, Vee Mpofu and Diana Samkange, among others.

BETWEEN THE LINES:Hamilton Cain

Title: Out of Darkness, Shining Light
Author: Petina Gappah
Publisher: Scribner
EVEN in this golden age of African women writing in English, Zimbabwean author Petina Gappah stands out.

Her earlier books — two lyrical short-story collections and an elegant debut novel, The Book of Memory, garnered awards and widespread acclaim.

Now with her searing, poignant, often hilarious Out of Darkness, Shining Light, she upends the conventions of historical fiction in a tale based on the true account of 69 men, women and children, who in 1873-74 ferried the body of British explorer David Livingstone from present-day Zambia to Zanzibar in order that he might be brought by ship to his homeland for interment.

Gappah’s two narrators could not be farther apart in training and disposition.

The first half of Out of Darkness, Shining Light is told by Halima, Livingstone’s cook, who both adores and resents the famous man she calls “Bwana Daudi”.

The novel opens with the long-infirmed Livingstone’s death, an event that galvanises his copious household to do the right thing by their cherished leader.

After a spirited debate, they decide to preserve the corpse, burying his heart beneath a mpundu tree.

Halima is a kind of African Wife of Bath, regaling her peers with earthy opinions, unsolicited advice, a comic shrewdness tinged with self-contradiction.

In stream-of-consciousness fashion, she weaves from memories of her childhood in a sultan’s kitchen to her own roving eye — bossy, brassy and brilliantly realised.

Gappah’s other narrator, Jacob Wainwright, a freedman and sanctimonious missionary, does not like Halima much, calling her “a particularly troublesome woman, given to much levity and unable, apparently, to think seriously on any matter.

Her propensity for causing quarrels among the women is great.”

Gappah frames the book’s second half as a series of entries in Wainwright’s diary, while the entourage slogs for nine months across swamps and savannas, struggling with hunger and hostile peoples, to reach the coast.

If Halima is the novel’s gleeful id, Wainwright is its superego, imperious and self-regarding, with little patience for his fellow Africans who are like strangers to him: “It is a licentious business, this travelling, with far too many opportunities for sin, for the men all have wives awaiting them at home.”

Gappah’s treatment of her characters’ odyssey, by turns playful and tragic, is underpinned by a larger theme: The legacy of colonisation.

As a boy, Wainwright was abducted in the flourishing (and abolished) slave trade along Africa’s eastern coast.

Gappah’s literary language reflects these tensions, her crystalline English sentences blended with phrases and idioms from Swahili.

The result is an intricate storytelling that delves deep into the disturbing yet indelible relationship between two continents, with the enigmatic Livingstone, both an avatar of colonial aggression and a figure beloved by the people who knew him best.

Out of Darkness, Shining Light beautifully evokes the moral ambiguities that lurk within the human heart, revealing a talent that continues to grow from book to book.
— Star Tribune

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

HEAVY rains that pounded the Midlands province’s Vungu district over the weekend left a trail of destruction, submerging homes and damaging roads, with scores of motorists and pedestrians struggling to navigate the flooded streets in the vast area which covers Gweru’s peri-urban suburbs such as Woodlands.

When Southern Eye arrived in Woodlands Park yesterday morning, residents were removing valuables such as refrigerators, television sets, blankets, clothing and food from flooded homes.

Vungu Rural District Council ward 16 councillor Parirenyatwa Nyika, who was helping some residents to remove their valuables, said the disaster had happened at a time they least expected it.

“Some residents actually spent the night standing in their homes as there was water everywhere. Schoolchildren had their books and stationery destroyed by the water, while household property was affected. It is a bad situation,” he said.

Nyika called on well-wishers to chip in and alleviate the disaster.

“The people who were affected right now are distressed and traumatised. We call upon people and organisations with a heart to help us. They can come down here to witness the problem. Some affected families said a stream from Mkoba had burst its banks, directing its waters into their homes during the time it was raining,” he said.

Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavima was said to be in a meeting when sought for comment and did not respond to questions sent to him.

Chiwundura legislator Livingstone Chimina, whose constituency covers the affected area, said he had visited the affected families and was in the process of engaging government and the corporate world for support.

“We are looking into that crisis with a view to assisting the people who were affected. I visited the area and saw that people had encountered big losses. At the moment our councillor Nyika is on the ground. We hope to find a solution,” he said.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

TOP MDC leaders Lynette Karenyi-Kore (vice-president) and Job Sikhala (vice-chairperson) this week lost their relatives to the violent machete clashes in mining areas in the country.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Karenyi-Kore said she lost her 41-year-old uncle, Liberty Dadirai, who was stabbed to death on Monday in Chimanimani by two youths that were armed with knives and claimed to be diamond buyers.

“Dadirai was murdered yesterday (Monday) near the diamond-rich area of Hotsprings by two men aged around 19, who approached him claiming that they were selling diamonds,” Karenyi-Kore narrated.

“They asked him to accompany them to the place where they kept the diamonds, but he was stabbed and by the time he was rushed to hospital, it was already too late,” she said.

Karenyi-Kore said the people that murdered her uncle used knives and not machetes, which are the common weapons used by violent gangs robbing people of their minerals throughout the country.

“My uncle was not an illegal miner, but I think he was acting as a middleman for people buying diamonds when he met his demise. I think the country is under siege and we really do not know what is happening. It is the first time that someone has been killed because of minerals in this area and people are very shocked because the motive was to instil fear and to murder, as the assailants were said to have been carrying knives,” she said.

Sikhala also confirmed that his uncles, Yeweight Senzere and Elvis Matsikidze, were brutally attacked by machete gangs last week in Mvuma.

He said Senzere died on the spot, while Matsikidze is battling for life in the intensive care unit at Gweru General Hospital.

“Machetes have now become a national genocidal menace, which Zimbabwe must stop immediately. There is need of national consensus by all Zimbabweans to deal with these merchants of death,” Sikhala said.

Yesterday, the MDC released a statement on the MaShurugwi threat, claiming that the gangs were sponsored by the ruling Zanu PF party top leadership.

“MaShurugwi have wrought serious insecurity and if the menace is not stemmed, the country could plunge into chaos. What Zimbabweans desperately need is a true people’s government that can guarantee their personal security, which security is enshrined in the country’s Constitution, which Constitution the people made themselves and affirmed in a referendum,” MDC deputy national spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said in a statement.

Government has responded to the menace by arresting over 1 500 artisanal miners following a public outcry over the machete gangs.