Call for leadership renewal at Highlanders

SOUTH Africa-based Bosso member Mthandazo Peter Moyo, who is the board chairman of cellular network giant Vodacom has challenged Highlanders Football Club to embrace youths for sustainability.

Moyo listed among the Who is Whos in South Africa as an independent non-executive chairman of Vodacom Group Limited, and previously an independent non-executive director of Pinnacle Technology Holdings Limited, is one of the founder members and an executive director of Amabubesi Investments Limited and that he is a director of various subsidiaries of the Amabhubesi Group of companies.

Making a presentation at the Highlanders’ fund-raising dinner held at a Bulawayo hotel on Friday evening, Moyo said it was high time Highlanders invested in the youth and new ideas.

“The important thing is if you remember that was a team that we had actually built and I am actually saying that if we invest and we take meaningful decisions to invest in our youths and keep on renewing it, we can actually build something that is sustainable,’’ said Moyo.

“I had the privilege of watching Highlanders playing Dynamos in Harare about two years ago and part of our problem is that the Highlanders of today idlalelwa ngabantu bemzini. We look at somebody like Netsai you were very prone to injury but you never thought you could actually turn your back on Highlanders.

“Ndu (Ndumiso Gumede, Highlanders CEO) you could actually remember quite a number of times when we could get worried whether the people will play because they thought they needed to be paid more but every Sunday when that team went out they actually went out with a full force.

“Just remember how much Rambo would actually run for 90 minutes notwithstanding the fact that earlier in the week they had actually been threatening. So what was different with the team that was very glorious for a few years in the 1970s and the team that was actually to carry us for many years, the biggest difference was that we had taken decisions to invest in this club and in our future.

“We cannot keep on not investing in our youth; we cannot keep on not investing in the young people because those are the people that are going to carry us forward. I have had the privilege of also being very much involved in supporting a party that many of us supported at the time in 1979. Dumiso Dabengwa was only 40 but he had military intelligence that was to lead into the liberation of this country, so if we could actually have confidence in our people why don’t we have confidence in young people today to take the leadership in our club.

“When our club started this transformation it was led by a man who was in his 30s and today we think young people cannot actually lead us. Our country is fast losing its place and falling behind because the confidence that we had in our young people is gone,’’ said Moyo.

In response Highlanders’ board chairman Mgcini Nkolomi said Moyo’s presentation was inspiring and they would take heed of his wise counsel.

“If there is anything we can say about the speech is that it was actually quite inspiring. We were seriously challenged tonight and as the leadership of this institution obviously we are not going to ignore some of the advice that we got,’’ Nkolomi.

“We will do justice to that. As we go to our celebrations that is 10 years from now when we turn 100, Highlanders as an institution should obviously be at the level of our neighbours like South Africa’s Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs,’’ he added. Sunday News