Former Warriors defender Dlodlo killed

Former Zimbabwe Warriors and Highlanders defender Cleopas Dlodlo died Monday in Johannesburg after receiving a blow to the head with a brick while intervening in a pub brawl in the Hillborough section of the city, local Zimbabwean sources said.

Friends of Dlodlo said he was working as a bouncer at a pub near the establishment in which the fatal incident occurred, but was off duty at the time. Dlodlo took the pub security job after retiring from the Kaizer Chiefs league team.

Former Warriors teammate Adam Ndlovu told reporter Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the death of the former player was tragic as he had much more to contribute to society and left two daughters behind.

Former Moroka Swallows striker  Ndlovu, who played with Dlodlo at Highlanders, informs KICK OFF about his former teammate’s death. “We played together at Highlanders for about three years after he joined from Eagles. But I left him at the club when I went to Switzerland in 1994,” Ndlovu says.

Prior to coming to South Africa in 1995 to join Chiefs, Dlodlo attended his high school at Mpopoma while he played for Eagles before then joining Highlanders, where he rose to fame as a no-nonsense defender. By the time Dlodlo came to South Africa, he had built a reputation as a tough-tackling defender feared by many an opposition striker.

In South Africa he played for Chiefs and Moroka Swallows before then disappearing into the wilderness. Former Bush Bucks striker Agent Sawu remembers Dlodlo fondly, having played against him in high school.

“I played against him since we were teenagers back in school right through to club where he used to also mark me since I was a striker and him a defender. We even played together in the national team,” says Sawu.

Funeral details are expected to be released at a later date, though it is expected that he will buried back in his native. Various/VOA /Kick Off