The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
INDONSAKUSA is a bright shining star that comes out just before sunrise.
The coming out of this kind of star usually has the birds chirping to signal to humans to wake up and make the best of the day.
When United Kingdom-based Nothando Dube founded Indonsakusa in 2020 by acquiring the franchise of Hwange-based Ingagula who had failed to pay affiliation fees, she had a vision to shine the light on careers of local footballers to showcase their talent in the Zifa Southern Region Division One League and fight for an opportunity to play in the Premier Soccer League.
The team did wonders, with some good wins posted in the first half of this season. One of those wins was against Lizwe Sweswe’s Talen Vision at Filabusi’s Mthwakazi Stadium.
At the halfway stage, Indonsakusa, coached by Chipo Mhlanga and Xolani “Sikweya” Nkundlande were 10th on the 18-team log with six wins, four draws and seven losses. Yet after all those exploits, the team is facing collapse as the owner is getting rid of the franchise.
“I am getting rid of my franchise for health reasons. For now I am putting everything on hold,’’ she told this publication last Thursday.
Yesterday, Indonsakusa were meant to play against Quality Foods in a league match but that match did not go ahead as the club asked for a postponement. Indonsakusa have not been training due to financial challenges and did not book the venue for the match.
Siphatho Ncube, the Indonsakusa technical manager said they were looking for someone to come to their rescue so as to continue with the project that has 32 players on its books.
Hwange recently snapped up Bothwell Nyathi, a former Highlanders player. Brett Ndlovu, formerly with Talen Vision is the Indonsakusa captain.
“We have one of the most promising teams in Bulawayo, if anyone who loves football, they can come assist us, we have good players,’’ said Ncube.
Seeing that the Southern Region Division One League is already at the halfway stage, should Indonsakusa fail to get someone to rescue them, they might be forced to forfeit all their remaining matches up to the end of the season. For the players, the good thing is that the domestic transfer window opens on 1 July, which should pave way for them to join other teams.
Arenel Movers
Meanwhile, Arenel Movers handed log leaders Hwange their first defeat in the Zifa Southern Region Division One League when they edged the coal miners 1-0 at White City Stadium yesterday.
The win saw Arenel move into second position on the log with 39 points after ZPC Hwange drew 0-0 against Mainline away in Plumtree. Hwange’s lead at the top has also been cut down to six points.
Brian Jaravaza scored the only goal of the match in the first half to earn the Kudzayi Mhandire-coached Arenel sweet revenge after they lost by a similar score line to the same opponents at the Colliery Stadium at the beginning of May.
Brian Jaravaza
Before they lost to Arenel yesterday, Hwange had won 14 and drawn three of the 17 matches they had played.
Mhandire felt that they did not play their usual game as they were under pressure to deliver three points.
“We had pressure before this game, we really needed the three points, in a way we didn’t play to our strengths because usually we play the ball around, because of the pressure that comes with from the results, we had to play the second ball, try and manage the game,’’ said Mhandire.
Now that he is done with Hwange, Mhandire wants to focus on his team’s remaining fixtures, with the hope that Chipangano will stumble along the way.
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