BY BRIAN MTHETHWA
Late Highlanders player, manager, and chairman Ernest Maphepha Sibanda, who died on Tuesday, has been described as a legend by fans and football administrators.
Sibanda died at Bulawayo’s Mater Dei Hospital aged 64.
One of the top Bulawayo soccer clubs, Bulawayo, immediately requested a hero status for the charismatic football administrator.
Highlanders, one of the most followed football clubs in Zimbabwe, won four league titles in a row at the turn of the millennium when Sibanda was the manager.
His presence in the Highlanders dressing room and on the bench was one of the reasons Bosso went on to become a dominant force in the local football scene.
Jerry Sibanda, Bulawayo City chairman, wrote to Zanu PF Bulawayo province asking President Emmerson Mnangagwa to consider conferring Sibanda with a national hero status.
Sibanda was a Bulawayo City board member at the time of his death.
Bulawayo City is owned by the Bulawayo City Council.
“His football road as a player started at Leeds Under-14s where he played with guys like former Highlanders FC defence stalwart Richard Ndlovu in 1969-70,” Jerry Sibanda wrote.
“His first taste of active and serious football was at Second Division side Cone Textiles in 1976-77 and by the end of 1978, he was among top players in the division sought by big clubs like Highlanders, Meikles, Zimbabwe Saints and Olympics.
“He was convinced to join Highlanders in 1979 when Bosso deserted the South Zone Soccer League for the regional national league after clubs saw no reason to continue with the expensive Rhodesia National Football League.
He added: “Highlanders needed salvation, needed strengthening after two years in the lower division after being deserted by almost a dozen seniors.
“A few veterans had stayed on and rookies had come on board, but the regional league promised to be a tall order.”
Sibanda became part of the trailblazing Highlanders team at independence where he played alongside the likes of Mark Watson, Fanuel Ncube and Titus Majola.
He also played for Caps United before re-establishing himself as an accomplished administrator at Highlanders.