The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Highlanders coach Bongani Mafu is the man who discovered Prince Dube, the Bosso striker who has joined South African Premiership side SuperSport United.
Mafu unearthed the youngster when he was only 15 years old in Inyathi, Matabeleland North where he was at Somvubu High School and turning out for a team, from the area, called Shooting Stars, which plays its home matches at Badala Business Centre. Mafu would take Dube to Bulawayo every Friday so that they could turn out for the team that Mafu founded and was coached by his younger brother, Ronald “Gidiza” Sibanda, Lobengula Stars in the junior league.
“I saw Prince Dube at Badala in Inyathi, then he was a skinny 15 year old playing for Shooting Stars. There were two boys, Prince and his friend Emmanuel. I liked both and took them to my mother’s house in New Lobengula every Friday to play for our Zifa Bulawayo registered juniors team LMC, the youth wing of Lobengula Stars. Prince played for our Under-16 and our Under-18 teams which famously thrashed both Highlanders and Bantu Rovers of the same age groups once winning 5-1 at Under-18 with Prince scoring four goals against Bantu,’’ Mafu said.
Mafu became the Highlanders head coach at the beginning of 2015 and took Dube with him. The youngster was registered with the Highlanders Academy, now Bosso90 which was playing in the Zifa Bulawayo Division Two. Dube was the top goal scorer in the league for 2015 having found the target 20 times as Highlanders Academy were promoted to Division One. The striker made it to the first team last year.
Claims have been made that Dube was a Highlanders junior product but Mafu insists that is false since he still has the stamped letter from Highlanders when the player was loaned to the club. When Mafu was sacked by Highlanders, he decided not to get into a dispute with his former employers over the ownership of the rising star.
“When I went to Highlanders I took Prince and Tevin Mabhena with me and we loaned them to the mighty Bosso. We still have the Bosso stamped loan letter. In the advent of my dismissal at Bosso I refused out of principle to wrangle over Prince as some claimed he was a Bosso junior, which is false. Prince was even registered with our Division Two team,’’ said Mafu.
On the striker’s move to South Africa, Mafu’s feeling is that the youngster, aged 19, still needed time to mature in the game. He believes the player will be under immense pressure to “grow fast” in Mzansi.
“Prince still needed to mature in football and a move to a league where he will be expected to produce rather than learn how to be a complete professional is, in my eyes, completely wrong. So he has to grow from being a boy to a man very fast. I believe Prince should move to Europe, he is that good, we have to aim higher,’’ he said.
Mafu is perhaps taking lessons from the move by his former striker at Highlanders Thomas Chideu who moved to Ajax Cape Town still a rookie aged 18 in 2015, and has struggled to break into the first team. Coincidentally, it was Mafu who had also recruited Chideu from Harare before tasting Premiership football. Chideu also stayed with Mafu at his Hillside home until his move to South Africa.
Mafu was one of the assistant coaches for the Warriors when they lifted the Council of Southern African Football Associations Castle Cup in South Africa early this month. It was the first time that the Mochudi Centre Chiefs Botswana-based coach was involved with the senior national team. He worked with Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa as two assistants to veteran Sunday Chidzambwa.
“Cosafa was my first ever flirtation with the national team properly though I once single handedly selected the Under-17 squad that Stephen Kwashi took to Guinea when I had freshly arrived from a German international coaching course,’’ Mafu said.
He described the Cosafa Castle Cup as a great experience where he got to work with an unselfish individual in Chidzambwa who gave them a chance to have an input in the team.
“At Cosafa I met a mature selfless and more useful coach than people understand in Sunday Chidzambwa. I have had chats with assistants and most bemoaned head coaches who never gave them a chance to coach. But Sunday freed us, he let us use what we learnt over the years as coaches, I used my Uefa B notes freely and with happiness as Mhofu encouraged. I enjoyed, Lloyd did his bit as well, we discussed and discussed for hours. We engaged with the boys, prayed together, planned and won the trophy. A great footballing experience to me it was,’’ Mafu said.
On the failed attempt to qualify for the African Nations Championship where they lost on penalties to Namibia in the first qualifying round last Sunday, Mafu depicted the campaign as a hurried mission since they had no players in camp which did not give them enough time to sharpen the players’ skills.
“Chan on the other hand was a rushed job. For both legs we had no full squad training sessions, no real honing of tactical rehearsal, role modelling and team shaping as was the case at Cosafa, one could clearly see the difference in mental preparedness as hunger took over and individualism prevailed.
No time had been adequately given to hone these into the lads hence away we created chances but got selfish and did not give a clearly better positioned player a chance. In Harare we had one full team session yet managed to beat Namibia one zero but failed on penalties,’’ he said, echoing the sentiments said by Chidzambwa after the match.
Mafu is however, excited to have in his life mentored Zimbabwe Saints, Gaborone United, Sherborne Town (UK), Highlanders, Mochudi Centre Chiefs and the national team.
“I am thrilled and grateful for having in my life coached Zimbabwe Saints, Gaborone United, Sherborne Town, Highlanders, Mochudi Center Chiefs and the Zimbabwe senior men’s team.
“Finally I must commend Zifa for their professional handling of logistics and payments. With support they will improve, I honestly believe they are going in the right direction,’’ Mafu said.
He expressed his gratefulness to Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Walter Magaya for providing the Warriors with top quality accommodation as well as catering.
“We are thankful to Prophet Magaya for giving us world class accommodation and top of the range catering. His efforts are honestly top notch,’’ said Mafu.
By winning the Cosafa Castle Cup with the Warriors, Mafu also clinched a debate with his younger brother Ronald “Gidiza” Sibanda who always boasted that he was the only one in the family to have lifted the regional competition.
“Now Gidiza cannot claim he is the only brother in the family who won the Cosafa Cup,’’ Mafu said.
Mafu is now back in Botswana for Mochudi Centre Chiefs’ pre-season as he prepares to make an impression in his second year with Magosi who finished seventh last season.
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