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Teenage Hadebe honours mom with career she helped launch

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BY ANNE M PETERSON

Teenage Hadebe’s golden ticket was a soda his mom bought him as a treat.

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As a child growing up in Zimbabwe, the Houston Dynamo defender would improvise to play his favourite sport, fashioning whatever was on hand into a ball because his family didn’t have the money for one.

But in a truly Willie Wonka-esque twist, the cap of that soda had a code that won Hadebe a real soccer ball.

“We saw there was a competition on the television and I went to my mother and said, `Just buy me a Coke and you never know, maybe I’ll win something,’ so that’s what she did,” Hadebe laughs, recalling the moment when he was about five years old.

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That ball put Hadebe on a path that would take him across the globe playing the sport he loves.

In honour of his mom, Selina Ndlovu, who died in 2017, Hadebe always wears a shirt under his jersey that says “My Mother’s Blessings.’

When he scored his first goal for Dynamo last month, he doffed his jersey to reveal the shirt.

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“I dedicate everything to her, that’s my strength,” he said.

Hadebe was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. Soon after he got that first soccer ball, he knew he had a knack for the game.

“I was sure I was talented because — you know when you are a kid, you want to show which position you’re playing — but me, I was playing all the positions.

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“Sometimes you could find me in the goals, in the midfield, playing as a striker, playing as a defender, playing as a goalkeeper,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure which position exactly, but I had many coaches and they saw I had potential, so that’s why they kept on telling me to work hard, never give up on my dreams, and that’s what I did and now it pays me, so thank God for that.”

He was 17 when he embarked on his professional career, playing for several teams in his native country before ending up with the South African first-division Kaiser Chiefs.

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Hadebe was set to play his final match in Zimbabwe, with his proud mother in the stands, when he got the devastating news: She had collapsed and died suddenly outside the family home.

Hadebe eventually played in South Africa, and that led to a stint in Turkey. In 2021 he was signed by Dynamo as a designated player.

Houston struggled in his first season, finishing 6-16-12 and at the bottom of the Western Conference.

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The team parted ways in November with coach Tab Ramos, whose contract was not renewed. Dynamo hired Paulo Nagamura, a former MLS player who previously coached Sporting Kansas City II, in January.

While defenders aren’t generally goal scorers, Hadebe’s height— he’s 6-foot-2 — and skills make him a dangerous aerial presence. More than that, he’s become a key leader on the team and charmed Houston fans with his broad smile — and his keen fashion sense.

In addition to Dynamo, Hadebe also plays for Zimbabwe’s national team. However, the team is currently suspended from international competitions because of government interference in the running of its national soccer federation.

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The T-shirt isn’t the only reminder of his mother that Hadebe carries. He’s got a tattoo that also says “My Mother’s Blessings” on the back of his neck.

Just 26, Hadebe is now a parent himself. He and his wife, who were high school sweethearts, have three children.

He hopes he’s made his mother proud.

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“Every time I play, I ask for guidance with everything I’m doing, even when I’m on the pitch, because she used to like watching me play,” he said.

 “But I’m sure in spirit she’s there with me.” – AP

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National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

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According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

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Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

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ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

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“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

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Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

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Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

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Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

 

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

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“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

 

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She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

 

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

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The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

 

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Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

 

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

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Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

 

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“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

 

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

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When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

 

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With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

 

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

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Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

 

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Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

 

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

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“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

 

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But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”

 

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