Kapini makes lemonade from lemons

By Fungai Muderere

The  way in which former Zimbabwe international Tapuwa Kapini ventured into the vehicle repair business is a true example of the adage “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

The eccentric shot stopper, who turns out for Absa Premiership side Highlands Park in South Africa, recently told SowetanLive that he co-owns a workshop that fixes gearboxes in Pomona, Kempton Park.

Simply put Campos, as Kapini is fondly known to hordes of football lovers, does more than just stopping shots going into the net for a living.

The Highlands Park skipper (34), a former darling to the Highlanders family, says he had no intention of getting into fixing gearboxes until his own Ford Ranger’s gearbox ruptured some years ago.

The goalie’s attempt to fix it hit a snag when the dealership slapped him with a R46 000 quotation, without knowing they were planting the seed for a business in the former Zimbabwe Warriors number one’s mind.

“My Ford Ranger had a gearbox problem. When I took it to a Ford dealership they quoted me R46 000 to install a new one. I could not afford that amount. I went to a friend of mine who had little knowledge of fixing cars. We took the gearbox out, thoroughly cleaned and examined it and put in some screws. That’s how I got into this business.

Today, we co-own Trec Gearbox Specialist business, and it is registered,” he said.

The ex-Platinum Stars and AmaZulu goal minder is planning to enhance his mechanic expertise by obtaining a certificate.

“We have four employees. Most of the time I am in camp with the team and that’s when my partner Emmanuel steps up and does everything. We fix approximately five cars a day, depending on the parts (availability). If it’s cars like Toyotas, it’s easy,” Kapini said.

The Lions of the North captain arrived in Mzansi in 2007. Interestingly he is now fluent in Zulu and SeTswana. B-Metro.