The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
A fortnight ago, just before the biggest club football game in Zimbabwe, a young poet Sicoco Mangena Moyo was let onto Barbourfields Stadium playing field by Premier Soccer League officials as Highlanders and Dynamos players were ready for battle.
Because of the excitement and amount of noise coming from the fans of the two teams on the terraces coupled with the poor public address system, the young poet’s poem was inaudible. Highlanders went on to beat their fierce rivals 2-1, the first time that they had collected three points from the fixture at Emagumeni since 2006. The win marked the first time that Bosso had recorded a double over DeMbare having last achieved that feat a decade ago.
Many Highlanders fans are still convinced that the young poet who was clad in traditional Ndebele regalia played a part in inspiring Bosso to come back from behind to conquer DeMbare.
Last Sunday, before Highlanders took on Mutare City in a Chibuku Super Cup first round at Barbourfields, Sicoco again performed before the match. This time around, with less fans drowning him, Sicoco managed to recite his poet which is entitled “Highlanders Kababa”.
Sunday Life tracked down the young poet who at the age of 12 has already performed at massive events such as President Robert Mugabe’s birthday celebrations in Victoria Falls.
Born 29 July 2004, the Grade Seven pupil at Ngwalongwalo Primary School in Pumula South goes by his stage name Sicocosikayise given to him by his father Mangena Moyo. The youngster started poetry in 2011, his biggest inspiration being poet Albert Nyathi, his teacher Liberty Moyo and Siyaya Arts director Simon Mambazo Phiri.
He emphasised that his piece of art is meant to bring an end to acts of hooliganism and missile throwing at football matches which has seen his favourite football team Highlanders incurring fines at almost all their league matches this season whether they are at home or away.
“My poem is entitled Highlanders Kababa, I want to emphasise on how to stop violence and hooliganism. It was composed some hours before the game, it lasts three minutes. My family supports me, I sometimes go to football matches, I have been going to Barbourfields since 2012 where I sit by the Soweto Stand. It is an educational poem with a bias towards Highlanders, the team that I support. We want to remove the stigma that Highlanders fans are the ones who cause violence,’’ said Sicoco.
His father said the Highlanders Dynamos fixture is a game of fierce rivalry and as such it does not end like any other encounter to an extent that even on WhatsApp there was a lot of speculation that it was going to be characterised by hooliganism and violence.
On how his son got to perform at Emagumeni on that day, the father said the lad is known as a public speaker, as he has recited poems at during the 2014 Region Five Games opening ceremony officiated by President Mugabe, the 2015 Confederation of School Sport Association Games 2015 as well as this year’s Confederation of Universities and College Sports Games. Last year he also got to showcase his talent at the President Mugabe’s 91st Birthday celebrations in Victoria Falls where his poem was entitled “Long live Gushungo long live”.
The father said they got a call from Phiri at around 9am on the day of Highlanders Dynamos fixture for the boy to perform before the match with the poem composed within hours which goes to show Sicoco’s ingenuity.
Addressing a big crowd was nothing new to Sicoco and he believes that the poem played a big part in the Highlanders victory as well as the behaviour of the fans. Even though a few did jump onto the field in excitement at the conclusion of the match, the bulk of the fans managed to control the urge to invade the pitch.
“I am used to performing to huge crowds like that, it was nothing new. The PA system was not so good, people were excited but those on the grand stand heard my message. On the day I didn’t finish my poem because of time, the game was about to kick off, this past weekend I finished it. The poem has played a part in the behaviour of the Highlanders fans, the message behind it to eradicate hooliganism. As a Highlanders fan you need to desist from that kind of behaviour,’’ said Sicoco.
Some excerpts of the three-minute poem goes:
“Halala mthwakazi kandaba halala, long live Bosso long live, iBosso yiBosso ngenkani, ongafuniyo kayekele. Bayethe gugu lamagugu, bayethe gugu likwamthwakazi, bayethe Highlanders kababa, bayethe lifa lamaNdebele. Uyisithandwa senhliziyo yami, uyesabeka, uyahlonitshwa njalo umdala, ngqwele eyadalwa ngo1926 emagumeni esigodlweni somntwanesilo, kontuthu ziyathunqa, komntanami wendele ngaphi, kondonga ziwelele, komfazi utshaya indoda. Konyama kayipheli kuphela amazinyo endoda. Long live Bosso long live.
Lalelani lalelani, ngithi mina abantu bazwa ngendlebe, hayi ngenduku, umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. Induku kayakhi muzi, let us all say no to hooliganism, say no to throwing of missiles, singajikijeli, say no to violence, no to tribalism, No! No! No! to invading the pitch, we are here for recreation not to fight, respect for all, respect the opponents, respect the officials, respect the policemen, respect is the key, long live Bosso long live.”
A basketball player who plays wing, Sicoco is also academically gifted. With his family fully behind his talent, he wants to go as far as possible with poetry. He has lost count of the number of poems that he has composed which has seen him earn recognition at district, provincial and national level.
Even though his father believes that for now they are focusing on his talent development with little focus on incentives, Sicoco does get a token of appreciation when he performs. The second born in a family of four is now a proud owner of three cattle and several goats he got as a reward for performing. His father was also a poet whose career ended at Maboleni High School in Lower Gweru.
The young Bosso fan’s biggest wish is that his team wins the championship as well as the Chibuku Super Cup which from the look of things they can be achieve. If they are to win the championship or Chibuku, Sicoco has promised to compose a poem glorifying the team.
@Mdawini_29
