Simbarashe Mutizwa Showbiz Reporter
OOMPH! Verve and energy are the words one can use to describe the Cool Crooners, one of the oldest jazz bands in the country.
Their melodious and enticing vocal skills have for the past years ensured they attain the iconic status as the gran-daddies of jazz music in the country and in the process putting the City of Kings and Queens on the map.
The Bulawayo-based crooners still have fire burning in them as they proved on Thursday night when they sent the crowd into a frenzy with their music mixed with silky dance moves showing they still have the spark of yesteryear.

The Cool Crooners gave the audience value for money after putting up an electrifying performance during the Intwasa Spring Jazz show at the Rainbow Hotel.
Formed in 1999 after merging two jazz bands from Bulawayo, Cool Four and the Golden Rhythms, Abel Sithole, Lucky Thodlana, Timothy Mnkandla and George Salimu came together to form the Cool Crooners.

The group has shared the stage with some of the country’s renowned jazz musicians such as Dudu Manhenga, Bob Nyabinde, Jazz Invitation and Tanga WekwaSando.
Speaking to Chronicle Showbiz, one of the co-founders of the group, George Salimu, said the group depends on exercises as a way to keep fit for the stage and have nimble feet even at an advanced age.

“We take exercises and practise very seriously. Whenever we go for our rehearsals we make it a point that we reserve some time for exercises and we do not only do this at rehearsals but also at home,” he said.

Salimu added that the Cool Crooners, who have proved their mettle both at regional and on the international stage, forget about age whenever they are performing on stage.

“We know that we’re getting old for this business and at some point we’ll have to retire but when we’re on stage, we forget about our age and give our audience a good time as we’re billed to do that.

“Our stage performance at times comes naturally. We usually look at the crowd and see what they want and from there we make sure that we do our level best,”  he said.

Salimu said the group, which has three albums to their name — Blue Sky in 2001, Bhulugwe Lami in 2002, and Isatilo in 2005 — are working on their fourth album which is set to be released later this year.

Melissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor  
ONE of the country’s top divas Pokello Nare is over the moon after she came up with her shoe line, Pokello Pink Bottoms.
The first batch of pigalle/pointy designer shoes was released last week with all of them being designed by her and made in Italy.   The former Big Brother Africa (BBA) housemate whose love for shoes is known across Africa said she had always dreamt of having her own shoe line.
“I’m thrilled by this achievement as it is a big step for me. I’m addicted to shoes and have always wanted to make my own shoes instead of buying them from other people,” said Nare.

She said she decided to study shoe designing online with a college in Italy, where most shoes are made, so as to make her dream a reality.
“I decided to do an online course on shoe designing with a school in Italy. The one year course assisted me to understand the basics of shoe making, how to do the actual design and the logistics that come with the business.”

After completing her course, the “addicted to shoes boss” came up with her own designs which she took to Italy a few months ago. In Italy, Nare partnered with a shoe company which guided her on the designs and assisted her to manufacture them.

“I did the shoe designs but the guys in Italy perfected the designs and shoe sizes for me,” she said.
The lass who is famous for her love of bright pink lipstick included the signature eye-catching aspect on her brand of shoes.

Nare, who returned to the country from Italy last week said her shoe line was inspired by her favourite designers, Sophia Webster for her feminine and soft colours, Sergio Rossi for his seductive shapes and elegant lines and Christian Louboutin for his signature trait and dizzy heights.

“I have incorporated all those elements but paid more attention to the feet of African women who sometimes have to squeeze their wide feet into narrow made shoes without ample room for their toes to sit comfortably,” she said adding that the shoe line would be launched on December 1.

“The shoes will be available in stores in Zimbabwe with some being exported to Ghana, Nigeria and Namibia. I have already identified people who have shown interest in selling the shoes in other countries,” she said.

The first collection has 10 different colours which were named after 10 female housemates from last year’s BBA edition.
Nare said she had done so as the housemates had colours which Africa knew they loved such as herself who loved pink and BBA 8 winner Dillish Matthews who was known to love gold.

A gold shoe will be referred to as Dillish Gold, red Ria Rogue (Maria), pink Koki Pink (Koketso), mint Kessy Mint (Feza), white Cleo Ice (Cleo), nude Nude Monroe (Huddah), beige Motamma Malt (Motamma), orange Tropical Selly (Selly) and yellow AnnaBanana (Annabel).

Shoe samples have already been sent to the housemates in order for them to criticize and give her feedback.
“The first shoe samples are now ready of which the first 13 pairs were sent to the female housemates of Big Brother Africa Season 8. Who better to criticise the comfort and quality of the shoes than my girls who nominated me week in and week out,” she said, laughing.

Nare said the first collection had an emphasis on height and comfort.
“I dropped from my favourite 12 inches to 11 inches and also unlike many pigalle/pointy designs that leave toe cleavage that a lot of African women are uncomfortable with, I ensured that the frontal dimensions allowed the toes to be comfortably embedded,” she said.

The diva said she was only making shoes for women as men’s shoes were expensive to make.
“The shoes are strictly for women because it doesn’t make much business sense for me to make men’s shoes as they don’t buy them much compared to women. Men’s shoes are also expensive to make as one will need to use real leather all the way,” she said.

After she was evicted from the BBA House last year, Nare was taken to a top institution which designs shoes in South Africa —something which gave her the push to start her own shoe line. She met top shoe designers who showed her how shoes were made.

• Byo family gets sad news
  

• Church secrecy over dead
  

TB Joshua

Mpumelelo Nyoni/Ngqabutho Moyo Chronicle Reporters
A 37-YEAR-OLD woman has become the third Zimbabwean to be confirmed to have died after a guesthouse owned by the controversial Nigerian evangelist, TB Joshua, collapsed on September 12.

Jane Sibanda’s brother, Danford Hwature, speaking from South Africa, said his sister had gone to Nigeria “to seek deliverance and salvation” at TB Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, but the family had since been given the dreadful news of her death.

Jane, nee Hwature, lived in South Africa with her husband.
TB Joshua inspires an almost fanatical devotion from thousands of followers around the world who are drawn to his services by claims of miracle-working and prophecies.

The church hostel, used to house foreign visitors, crumbled because it had more floors than its foundation could hold, according to authorities.
The building, which is attached to the main church, was originally built as a double storey but TB Joshua had ordered the addition of four more floors.

At Jane’s family home in Entumbane, her father, Isaac Hwature, appealed to TB Joshua’s church to bring his daughter’s body home for a proper burial.
“We’re in the dark about everything. We don’t even know where to start,” he said. “Culturally, it’s not right to let our daughter’s body lie in a foreign land for this long. We don’t know much and we’re relying on her elder brother, who lives in South Africa.”

The death toll from the guesthouse collapse continues to rise with at least 115 people — including 84 South Africans — now having been pulled from the rubble. TB Joshua’s church refuses to take questions about how many people died, and their nationalities.

The Foreign Affairs ministry has maintained that it has not been able to establish the exact number of Zimbabweans who died in the disaster, but Sibanda is the third confirmed victim.

The MDC-T’s Mashonaland West chairman Greenwich Ndanga and Catherine Ndlovu, a mother of two from Mpopoma in Bulawayo, are among the dead.
Sibanda’s brother, Danford, told Chronicle from South Africa that TB Joshua’s representatives had been to meet him and her husband to offer their condolences. The church had also pledged to help meet the burial expenses, he added.

Danford said they had also spoken to the South African government which is sending a charter plane to Lagos to bring the bodies of its dead home. The repatriation has been delayed by DNA tests which are underway to identify the bodies.

“We’re waiting for that process [repatriation of bodies] to happen,” he said.
At least two South Africans who lost relatives in the building collapse say they are preparing to sue TB Joshua.

The two men, who both lost sisters in the collapse, are appealing for more families to come together in bringing a case against the preacher.
Last Sunday, TB Joshua announced plans to travel to South Africa once every month for mid-week services to save his followers travel costs — but a campaign led by the African National Congress’ Youth League is underway to stop the government from issuing him a visa.

Emergency workers allege they were prevented from participating in the rescue, only gaining full access to the site on Sunday afternoon — accusations denied by TB Joshua who has stuck to a theory that a small plane which flew over the building four times deliberately triggered the building collapse.

Victim Ndlovu’s family accused TB Joshua’s church of erecting a “wall of lies” in the aftermath of the disaster. At first, they allegedly insisted that she was alive and only after several days did they finally admit she was not coming home.

Thanduxolo Doro and Mpho Molebatsi waited at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport for days after the collapse for news of their sisters. Both families had last heard from their relatives hours before the collapse, which happened at about 13:50 local time (12.50 GMT) on Friday, September 12.

“It’s not that the building collapsed, rather what was done after the collapse — we didn’t get any news from the church,” Doro, whose sister Vathiswa Madikiza died, told the BBC.

“When I contacted them, they wouldn’t tell me anything. We saw reports that emergency workers were denied access initially, access that could have saved lives. The actions of the church after the incident are very telling.”

In an open letter published in South Africa’s Star newspaper, Doro called on more families to sue TB Joshua.
“I need to do this for her. Even if I stand alone, I’m determined to see that something is done,” he said.

“I understand that some families are afraid to take on someone who purports to be God’s messenger and I don’t blame them, but I will do this.”
He has been in contact with Molebatsi, whose sister Hlubi Molebatsi was also killed. Molebatsi says he has called his lawyers.

“I’ve spoken to other families but it has been difficult because this is a time of mourning. I would like to see families get something from the church as some of the people who died were breadwinners,” he said.

Some 25 survivors of the collapse are continuing to receive medical care following their return to South Africa.
Officials say 16 of the wounded are in critical condition, with some having had limbs amputated and other complication.

Since the disaster, at least two journalists have told how TB Joshua tried to bribe them to influence them to write positively about him.
TB Joshua founded the church in the late 1980s with only eight members and at the moment he has between 15,000 to 20,000 people who attend his sermons every Sunday in Lagos.

Some of his followers include prominent African politicians, among them the former Malawian President Joyce Banda and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who said this week that he once slept at the collapsed guesthouse.

Nkosilathi Thebe

Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
AN illegal gold panner ripped his colleague’s stomach open with a knife in a dispute over a $1.
Life Nyoni, 22, stabbed his friend Nkosinathi Teve, 25, for delaying in giving him back money he had borrowed to buy cigarettes.
Teve was rushed to Brunapeg District Hospital with his intestines protruding and because his condition was critical, he was immediately transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.

On Wednesday this week, Nyoni had a brief standoff with police officers as he wrestled them, refusing to be arrested over the crime he committed two weeks ago.
The officers caught up with him when he was allegedly fleeing to neighbouring Botswana.

Nyoni yesterday appeared before Plumtree magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa facing attempted murder charges.
He was remanded in custody to October 9.

The state opposed bail pointing out that Nyoni was a flight risk because he resisted arrest and was already planning to skip the country.
The court heard that Nyoni went to his friend’s home on September 14 to demand a dollar that he had lent him.

A misunderstanding arose after Teve seemed unwilling to pay him.
Prosecuting, Clemence Shamuyarira said Nyoni drew a knife from his pocket and stabbed his friend on the stomach, ripping it open and leaving his intestines protruding.

He added that Nyoni was arrested on Wednesday while trying to flee to Botswana.
“On September 14 around 10AM, Nyoni approached the complainant while they were at work and requested him to accompany him to Old Bush Stick Stamp Mill. On the way he reminded the complainant about $1 which he had borrowed to buy cigarettes,” said Shamuyarira.

“The complainant dismissed Nyoni jokingly saying that he would not pay him back such a small amount of money. A misunderstanding arose and they started fighting.”

Nyoni allegedly fled from the scene when he realised his friend was seriously hurt.
Teve managed to drag himself to a nearby homestead where villagers took him to Brunapeg Hospital.

President Mugabe

Caesar Zvayi at the United Nations
PRESIDENT Mugabe on Thursday rapped the western alliance for its deafening silence over Israeli atrocities in Gaza where over 2,200 people, mostly unarmed men, women and children were killed during a four- week Israeli bombardment.
Addressing the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Mugabe did not echo the platitudes of Western leaders who pontificated about the “war on terror” and the situation in Iraq and Syria where US-created and sponsored groups have turned weapons against their settler benefactors, but instead drew the world’s attention to the tragedy in Gaza, which the Western leaders skirted like a plague even as they bristled about Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

“We continue to witness the suffering and persecution of the people of Palestine at the hands of Israel. “We have witnessed the callous murder of women and children in shelters where they seek refuge from Israel’s bombs.

“We have witnessed the brutal and random destruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, and while these heinous acts were being perpetrated by Israel, the so-called civilised world maintained a deafening silence, and we ask why?” President Mugabe said.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has resolved to probe Israel for possible war crimes in Gaza in the wake of the devastating death toll that in its most recent update, the Gaza Ministry of Health put at 1,893 Palestinians dead, including 430 children; 9, 805 wounded, including almost 3,000 children; 10,000 houses and 134 factories destroyed with low end estimates putting the total cost of the carnage at $5 billion.

Despite these shocking statistics and compelling evidence that war crimes were committed in Gaza, Western leaders skirted the issue in their addresses, choosing to toe the US line on ISIS and Al Qaeda.

President Mugabe called for lasting peace in Palestine, which has observer status here, saying there was need to revert to the 1967 borders.
Nearly all UN member-states voted in favour of Resolution 58/292 of May 17, 2004 that says the boundaries of a future Palestinian state should be based on the pre-1967 borders, which correspond with the Green Line.

The Resolution affirmed, in connection with the Palestinian right to self-determination and to sovereignty, that the independent State of Palestine should be based on the pre-1967 borders.

On November 29, 2012, the UN General Assembly passed United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 changing Palestine’s observer status at the UN from “entity” to “non-member state” by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions.

“Lasting peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. Any other manoeuvres to change demographic realities through settlements or use of force will only prolong the suffering of the Palestinians,” President Mugabe said.

President Mugabe, who is also Sadc chairman and AU deputy chair, called on the UN to live up to its charter by promoting dialogue to achieve peace, rule of law and common understanding among states.

“Peace, security, stability and welfare of Africa and our sub-region is vital for us. In Africa, the African Union is working tirelessly to push for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Central Africa Republic and Somalia,”

A high-level summit on the situation in the Great Lakes region, of which the DRC is a part, was held earlier this week at which President Mugabe called for dialogue between the fighting groups.

President Mugabe urged the international community to remain seized with and support Africa in the maintenance of peace and stability on the continent through provision of training, logistical and financial support.

“Africa also remains seized with the issue of Western Sahara, the last colonial vestige in Africa. The United Nations should not shake off its responsibility to ensure the achievement of self-determination by the people of Western Sahara,” President Mugabe said.

The 69th session of the UNGA convened here at a time of growing debate on the relevance of the world body to the prevailing global challenges given the wanton manner in which the US and its allies trash UN resolutions, and ignore the UN system to victimise smaller and weaker states.

Patrick Chitumba Senior Reporter
THE MDC Renewal Team has denounced plans by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai to mobilise Zimbabweans to take to the streets in mass protests saying the action would negatively impact the economy and hurt ordinary people.
Addressing a Press conference after the Renewal Team’s first strategic meeting in Bulawayo yesterday, the group’s interim chairperson, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, said mass protests would not achieve anything.

“We don’t believe in taking to the streets. We’re not that (MDC-T) violent formation and we’ll not copy things they do.
“Mass protests are not good for the economy, they are not good for the people of Zimbabwe and we don’t subscribe to that,” he said following a meeting attended by other Renewal Team stalwarts Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma.

Tsvangirai last week told a South African television channel, E-TV’s 360 Degrees programme that his party was working on strategies to force President Mugabe’s government to address the country’s economic challenges. He said the country’s “free falling” economy would likely push the election dates closer than the scheduled 2018. Tsvangirai’s remarks came after he had told party supporters at Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo recently that it was now time to adopt a confrontational approach against the government.

Tsvangirai’s calls for protests have been met with mixed feelings, with some even doubting that he had the capacity to draw any crowds following his rejection by the electorate in successive polls.

This week, United Family International Church leader Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa urged Zimbabweans not to engage in mass protests saying nothing positive would come out from the action.

Observers also doubt Tsvangirai’s motives since the government was on course to resuscitate the economy through several initiatives such as the mega deals struck in China by a high powered government delegation led by President Mugabe and the $3 billion deal signed between the country and Russia for the establishment of a platinum mine in Darwendale. Yesterday, Dr Sipepa-Nkomo said the Renewal Team was going to hold its elective congress in March next year where a new party name and logo might be unveiled.

“If need be, the party name will be changed. It is a complex matter and a decision will be made at the elective congress that we are going to hold next year,” he said.
Dr Sipepa-Nkomo said they were also in talks with other political parties such as the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube for a possible coalition.

He said the party’s national executive had been briefed on all talks that had been done with other opposition parties for a grand coalition.
“We are going to boycott the 2018 elections if the electoral reforms are not changed,” said Dr Sipepa-Nkomo adding that the Renewal Team met over the past two days for a strategy session. The meeting was attended by all members of the management committee, national working committee and the provincial chairpersons from all the provinces,” he said.

Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE government has so far released $42,626 million for grain procurement from farmers through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
The government has set the buying price for maize at $390 per tonne.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Permanent Secretary Ringson Chitsiko yesterday said government was committed to ensuring that all delivered grain is paid for and encouraged farmers to deliver their maize and small grains directly to GMB depots.

“The government has so far released $42,626 million for farmer payments as at September 18, 2014. This funding covers the period 1 April, 2014 to 29 July 2014,” said Chitsiko.

He encouraged farmers to continue delivering maize and small grains so that the country meets its food security targets.
The permanent secretary said 178,948 metric tonnes had been delivered to GMB depots throughout the country, a significant increase from last year.

“This is 542 percent more than the quantity delivered during the same period last year. Last year’s deliveries were only 27, 890 metric tonnes. Treasury must be commended for mobilising resources towards grain procurement,” added Chitsiko.

He said farmers should purchase UV protected grain storage bags that meet the required standards and reduce post-harvest loses.
The bags are available at various GMB depots at $0, 65 per bag and deliveries in new UV bags attract a refund of $0, 40 per bag.

Chitsiko said GMB would only accept maize that meets the required standards in terms of quality and moisture content.
“This is critical to ensure long term stability and minimal post-harvest losses,” he added.

Maize output is expected to reach one million tonnes this year, a 30 percent increase from last year’s production, according to earlier crop assessment by government.

Dr Chimedza

Zvamaida Murwira Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE will engage Namibia over media reports that Windhoek has urged citizens in that country not to visit Harare over fears of the Ebola virus, the Senate heard yesterday.
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Paul Chimedza said reports from Namibia advising its citizens not to visit Zimbabwe over Ebola fears were unfortunate.
He said this in the Senate while responding to a question from Mashonaland West representative Prisca Mupfumira (Zanu-PF) who wanted him to comment on media reports that attributed Namibia’s Health and Social Services Minister Richard Kamwi advising people in that country not to visit Zimbabwe.

In his response, Deputy Minister Chimedza said Namibia was one of those countries that were represented at ministerial level three weeks ago in Victoria Falls during a Sadc meeting of Ministers of Health to address the Ebola issue.

The meeting, chaired by Zimbabwe, was aimed at addressing the Ebola issue in the region, hence he was surprised at reports that Namibia was advising its nationals not to visit Harare.

“We also picked the story published by a daily newspaper in Namibia. I would like to think that the Honourable Minister was misquoted,” said Deputy Minister Chimedza.

He said damage in terms of tourist arrivals, among others, had been made as a result of that story premised on unfounded rumours.
“We will engage Namibia using the normal channels. For the record, there is no single Ebola case that has been confirmed in Zimbabwe,” he said.

The Namibian Health Minister was quoted as saying that people should not visit Zimbabwe until it had been declared safe since the incubation period of Ebola virus was 21 days.

Deputy Minister Chimedza said they were installing state-of-the-art equipment at ports of entry starting with international airports that would automatically detect certain Ebola-related symptoms.

Responding to another question Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, said they had set up a committee to look into ways to deal with sexual abuses that had seen children and women being raped.

“A multi-sectoral committee has been set up to look into various issues that include the motive of those perpetrators and has since reported to cabinet their findings,” he said.

Minister Mnangagwa said he was averse to capital punishment being imposed on perpetrators, but had no problem with the number of years in prison that could be imposed on them.

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
ZPC KARIBA arrive in Bulawayo today in buoyant mood and could end the weekend as Dynamos’ main challengers with victory over Highlanders at Hartsfield tomorrow.
The Premier League debutants, who have kept pace with the leading pack and have led the race themselves, appeared eager on Friday to rub their hosts’ noses, with their manager Partson Ndabambi putting the foot in.

Ndabambi claims Highlanders’ switch from Barbourfields – which is under renovation – to Hartsfield, has taken away their fear factor.
“Dynamos, Highlanders and Caps United are our biggest clubs, but of late Highlanders’ performances have been a mockery of this great institution, especially ever since they moved to Hartsfield,” Ndabambi claimed.

“There’s nothing at all to make us feel intimidated by them.”
Ndabambi received a sharp rebuke from the under-fire Highlanders coach, Kelvin Kaindu, who had this terse reply: “It’s their opinion, whether playing at BF or Hartsfield we’re still Highlanders.”

The reverse fixture ended 1-1, both goals coming from Highlanders players after Innocent Mapuranga beat his own goalkeeper, cancelling out a beautiful header by another defender, Eric Mudzingwa.

ZPC have already demonstrated that they are not overawed in the Premier League and have lost just once all season at Chapungu.
They currently have the same number of points as Highlanders in joint second, trailing Dynamos by four points.

Kaindu has been told by Highlanders bosses that only winning the Premier League title would keep him a job, setting the stage for a tasty clash on Sunday with Saul Chaminuka’s men whose maiden season has been the stuff of dreams.

With just seven matches remaining, Dynamos have their rivals where they want them behind. In the same position over the last two seasons, they have gone on to clinch the title with Highlanders finishing as runners up.

Dynamos host relegation-threatened Shabanie Mine at Rufaro, with the asbestos miners’ coach Jairos Tapera admitting it would be a mammoth task to stop Callisto Pasuwa’s men.

Highlanders’ former goalkeepers trainer Tembo Chuma will face his former paymasters for the first time in Bulawayo.
Kaindu said they had since changed their approach for the games that are remaining with their training schedule now driven by the kind of opposition they will be facing.

“We’ll approach the game with an attacking attitude. As Highlanders, we always respect all our opponents,” he said yesterday.
The Zambian welcomes back gangly Dumisani “Fazo” Ndlovu and Simon Munawa who missed the 1-0 defeat away to Harare City through suspension.
The absence of Ndlovu saw Kaindu juggle with his positional set up, throwing Welcome Ndiweni to the right back position.

Highlanders CEO Ndumiso Gumede said the club’s fans would play a major role in the run-in and urged them to recreate the Barbourfields atmosphere to Hartsfield.
Gate charges for the match have been pegged at $5 for the rest of the ground, $10 wing and $20 for the VIP.

“We call upon our true and loyal followers to come in their numbers and rally behind the boys. They’re out 12th men and if the team has needed their support this season, it is now,” said Gumede.

At Mandava Stadium in Zvishavane, Moses Chunga takes his Buffaloes to FC Platinum who are now under the guidance of Norman Mapeza.
“I respect Mapeza. He’s a good coach and has accolades from previous clubs as a player and coach, but it must be noted that I’m not afraid of him and I don’t fear him,” Chunga said.

Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Fixtures
Today: How Mine v Chicken Inn (Hartsfield), FC Platinum v Buffaloes (Mandava), Chapungu v Chiredzi ( Ascot), Black Rhinos v Caps United (Rimuka)
Tomorrow: Dynamos v Shabanie Mine ( Rufaro), Triangle United v Harare City (Gibbo), Highlanders v ZPC Kariba (Hartsfield)
Monday: Bantu Rovers v Hwange (Hartsfield)

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
WILL gold miners How Mine have another chicken lunch when they face Chicken Inn in a Bulawayo derby at Hartsfield Grounds this afternoon?
That’s the big question ahead of the second derby at the same venue in as many weeks. The Gamecocks met and beat fellow Bulawayo side Bantu Rovers 2-1 last Saturday and will naturally be psyched up for another triumph over fellow city dwellers.
Coach Joe Antipas knows very well that today’s clash is a completely different ball game altogether as How Mine have seasoned and battle hardened players who have been involved in some of the most bruising battles on the local and international front.

The first leg ended 2-1 in favour of How Mine so Chicken Inn will also be gunning for revenge with their star midfielder Danny Phiri saying talk in the dressing room has been centred on revenge.

It’s not going to be an easy match for both sides by any standards with How Mine coach Luke Masomere, never short of surprises, saying relegation has never been part of their vocabulary but instead they were concentrating on something totally different from what everyone was thinking.

“We are concentrating on something totally different from that (relegation) and we have high hopes ahead of our next challenge. Relegation has never been in question,” he told our sister paper H-Metro.

Masomere will bank on the services of skipper Gilbert Banda who has really been a pillar of strength in the How Mine dressing room with his confidence boosting presence.

Other experienced players in the How Mine camp include Brighton Dube, former DeMbare defender George Magariro, midfield star Mernard Mupera and forward Kuda Musharu who is the second leading goalscorer with 10 goals, two shy of Highlanders’ Charles Sibanda. Antipas’s hopes will be on Phiri, veteran forward Mkhokheli Dube, Tendai Goredema, Brian Mbiriri, Ishmael Lawe as well as pint sized midfielder Clemence Matawu.

Five points separate the two teams, Chicken Inn sitting on position six with 33 points while the gold miners are 11th with 28 points, a point ahead of the drop zone.

Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu
AN accidental fire that did much damage to a Ruwa farmstead owned by Vice-President Joice Mujuru raised quite a few eyebrows all over Zimbabwe in view of the fact that her husband, the late Retired General Solomon Mujuru died in a huge fire at their Beatrice farm not very long ago.
It was, however, reassuring that the Mujuru family quickly told the nation that the Ruwa farm fire was started by a family member who was killing a snake but that it got out of control and set ablaze houses with thatched roofs, destroying a number of them.

From about the month of May to October or November, fires are a well-known hazard to rural areas of the southern hemisphere.
Various types of snakes are quite common in those areas. Among those reptiles we come across the Egyptian cobra, the night-adder and, of course, the highly venomous and most dangerous black and green mambas.

The mambas are most dangerous because they can bite their foe or disturber from any direction: sideways, frontally or by somersaulting to strike an attacker or victim in their rear. Unlike the majority of snakes, mambas are very agile and extremely aggressive as well as very fast, having known to attain 45 kilometres per hour on a rough, stoney ground.

When dealing with a snake in an environment where houses are a feature, long poles are, of course, the usual weapons. But should the snake hide under an asbestos or zinc sheet, or coil itself in a corner or wherever, hot water is the most effective weapon to use. Pour buckets after buckets of scalding hot water on the beast, and you make it utterly powerless.

All that would be required after that is a strong pole with which to crush the reptile’s head. If the snake is either in a hedge or on a tree, a strong current of water from a hose pipe directed at its head for 15 to 20 minutes renders it powerless and unable to move swiftly away for long enough for it to be dragged to where it is accessible for killing.

The night-adder (iphimpi, mbhehalugo) is also aggressive although not to the same ferocious extent as the mamba. Unlike its name sake, the puff adder (ibululu, mbvumbi), it will squirt a great deal of poison towards its attacker from a coiled position.

The Egyptian cobra is rather lethargic, unlike its most energetic cousin, the hooded, spitting cobra which, when cornered, will spring a good two or three metres to attack.

Farmers should as a necessity keep a well-stocked up first aid kit one whose contents is some snakebite kit. In case somebody had been bitten by a snake, he or she should be rushed to the nearest hospital, to be there in not less than four or (at the latest) five hours.

If the person has been bitten by a mamba, (mhungu, hilobahwiho), there will be little or no swelling or pain in and around the wound. But a few minutes after being bitten, the victim becomes confused, drowsy and disturbance in muscular co-ordination occurs, excessive salivating (dribbling) is experienced by the victim, and so do muscular pains and profuse sweating.

Should there be no medical treatment soon, breathing becomes difficult and muscular paralysis sets in before the victim becomes comatose and then death follows. The venom of the mamba is neurotoxic, that is to say it attacks the nervous system.

The cobra inflicts a painful bite which leads to moderate swelling, followed by sweating, drowsiness, general bodily weakness and a great deal of dribbling (salivation) dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Speech is impeded and the victim experiences general physical shock and oral muscles, those of the tongue and the windpipe become paralysed.

Breathing becomes difficult and death follows.
A cobra’s venom is also neurotoxic, like that of a mamba. It affects the nervous system, especially the upper respiratory tract.
A puff-adder’s bite is painful, and edema sets in 10 to 30 minutes after. A blood-stained fluid oozes out of the wound, and bleeding occurs under the skin as the victim begins to sweat. Blisters from which bloody fluid seeps out near the bitten area then occur.

If untreated for a couple of days, the limb of a puff adder’s bite victim may have to be amputated. That snake’s poison is haemotoxic, that is, it attacks and destroys the red blood cells of the victim.

A good snakebite kit would contain medicines for these two types of snake poison plus, most likely, a syringe for injecting them. There would also be instructions to guide the user.

But one very, very important warning to everyone who has been bitten by a snake, whatever type of snake, is to do everything that is humanly possible to get to the nearest hospital, and not to apply a tourniquet.

Modern medical practice says that a tourniquet may do more harm than good to the snakebite victim especially if the snake is a puff-adder or even other types of any poisonous reptile.

The puff-adder’s venom causes severe damage to the tissue, and a tourniquet can cause gangrene which could lead to the amputation of the patient’s bitten limb.
However, if the tourniquet is a part of the snakebite kit, it may be applied provided strict instructions are followed.

One of those instructions is that the tourniquet should be released for 15 to 30 seconds every half-hour and be completely removed after two hours, or after adequate anti-venom serum has been administered intravenously, whichever has occurred first.

We should also point out that it helps medical personnel’s performance very much to see the snake that is responsible for the bite. So, if it is possible to kill and take it to the hospital the better.

It is also very important to bear in mind that whatever medicines one has in one’s first aid or snakebite kit, there are not a substitute for what one would be given by qualified medical personnel at the hospital.

Meanwhile, to keep snakes away from one’s yard, it helps to scoffle the yard, and to sprinkle a lot of used oil or diesel along the yard’s borders. Reptiles either fear or hate the smell of oil or diesel.

Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a Bulawayo-based retired journalist.

STAGGERING statistics from the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip indicate that 1,893 Palestinians died, including 430 children; 9,805 were wounded (including 3,000 children); 10,000 houses and 134 factories were destroyed with the estimated total cost of the carnage put at $5 billion following the latest Israeli incursion into Gaza.
Predictably, the world stood by and watched the senseless slaughter of unarmed Palestinian people by Israel and not even a whimper of condemnation was heard from the so-called international community with the United States and its allies defending Israel’s right to defend itself and in the process sanitising the genocide that was clearly underway in the Gaza Strip.

At about the same time, there was a crisis brewing in the Crimea region of the Ukraine where a pro-Russian movement was rising up against the Western-sponsored leadership in Kiev resulting in a civil war which rages to this day.

A lot of hullabaloo and dust was raised by the US, Britain and their European allies resulting in debilitating sanctions being imposed on Russia for supporting what they termed rebels who were keen to be part of the wider Russian Federation.

Today, the US and its allies are at it again —rallying the world for another “war on terror”, this time targeting militants from the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
Ironically, the so-called terror targets are a creation of the US’s intelligence services with evidence pointing to Uncle Sam’s hand in the arming and training of both the IS militants and Al-Qaeda.

These groups were sponsored to deal with the Russians in Afghanistan and the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria but have turned against their benefactor in a spectacular manner.

It is therefore preposterous for the US, the United Kingdom and their allies to expect the world to help them deal with their mess. We find it abhorrent that world leaders appear to have been rail-roaded into endorsing this new war on terror without questioning the rank hypocrisy and sickening double standards displayed in the Palestinian conflict.

At the United Nations this week, world leaders have been queuing to applaud this outrage and we feel it’s about time someone stood up to the bully boys of the world.
In his speech to the UN Assembly, President Mugabe slammed the western alliance for its deafening silence over Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

The President did not echo the platitudes of Western leaders who pontificated about the “war on terror” and the situation in Iraq and Syria where US-created and sponsored groups have turned weapons against their settler benefactors, but instead drew the world’s attention to the tragedy in Gaza, which the Western leaders skirted like a plague even as they bristled about Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

“We continue to witness the suffering and persecution of the people of Palestine at the hands of Israel. We have witnessed the callous murder of women and children in shelters where they seek refuge from Israel’s bombs.

“We have witnessed the brutal and random destruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, and while these heinous acts were being perpetrated by Israel, the so-called civilised world maintained a deafening silence, and we ask why?” Cde Mugabe said.

While the United Nations Human Rights Council has resolved to probe Israel for possible war crimes in Gaza in the wake of the devastating death toll, we feel the world body has been lethargic in its dealings with Israel and has been kow towing to the whims and caprices of the US – a powerful ally of Israel.

Despite these shocking statistics and compelling evidence that war crimes were committed in Gaza, the UN is yet to condemn Israel for the atrocities.
We agree with President Mugabe that lasting peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and any other manoeuvres to change demographic realities through settlements or use of force will only prolong the suffering of the Palestinians.

The US and its allies should stop their double standards and treat both sides of the Palestinian conflict as equals. Their naked support for Israel’s scorched earth policy towards Palestine will only prolong the crisis.

The people of Palestine have suffered enough and it is time the world listened to their voices.

VILLAGERS homes surrounded by water at Butabubili in Tsholotsho in this file photo (Picture by Eliah Saushoma). Inset: Tokwe Mukosi flood victims

Vaidah Mashangwa
CLIMATE change is a long shift in the climate of a specific location, region and planet. The shift is measured in relation to weather features such as rainfall, temperatures and windfall. The term climate change has become synonymous with the term global warming. While global warming refers to surface temperature increases, climate change includes global warming and everything else that is affected by greenhouse gas levels.
It has emerged that the world is getting warmer and Zimbabwe like most countries worldwide has not been spared by climate change. Climate change has devastating effects on the environment and this poses great challenges to the socio-political situation in any given country.

Natural resources in Zimbabwe are dwindling at an increasing rate due to uncontrolled veld fires, siltation, pollution, deforestation and land degradation. This clearly demonstrates that by and large climate change is caused by human activity as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of the earth’s natural processes.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA)   has records of small scale miners who continue to dig deep trenches which are left uncovered thereby becoming a danger to animals and humans. The ditches also become breeding places for mosquitos. Sand poaching is also rampant in most areas and has the same devastating effects. Apart from that, raw sewage continues to flow into rivers and dams thereby affecting the quality of water.

Natural disasters such as floods, volcanos, drought, and hurricanes are a result of climate change. The Tokwe Mukosi and Tsholotsho floods bear testimony of climate change.

Women are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts than men especially as it relates to agriculture and food security, water resources, human health, women settlements, migration, energy, transport and industry. According to the United Nations Watch, women constitute the majority of the poor and are largely dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.

Apart from that, women face social, political and economic barriers that naturally affect their coping capacity. In cases of disasters women have to fetch water and secure food and fuel for cooking. Generally, their menstrual hygiene management is greatly affected due to limitations of water sources and lack of proper sanitary facilities.

Women account for more than 90 percent of food production in many African countries and climate change affects food availability, accessibility and utilisation. Women therefore face loss of income and low food productivity and at times this translates to increases in food prices which affects the poor, in particular women.

Furthermore, increase in women tasks due to climate change results in women having less time to do their chores, engage in social and political activities, learn to read and write, acquire other skills resulting in failure to rest adequately. Movement and women in search of basic commodities also exposes them to sexual abuse such as rape.

According to the Sadc Gender Protocol Barometer 2013, climate change is also likely to increase school dropout rates for girls as increased household chores affect the girl child. Women are the most affected by ill health in communities and climate change may result in nutrition related diseases and epidemics like malaria, water borne diseases, heat stress and respiratory illnesses.

A study of disasters in 141 countries revealed that women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men.
In Zimbabwe, it is unfortunate that very few women are in decision making positions in ministries directly related to climate change that is ministries of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Lands and Rural Settlement, Environment, Water and Climate, Energy and Power Development, Tourism and Hospitality Industry and Mines and Mining Development. Only 33 percent women are permanent secretaries in the said ministries and there are no women ministers. Since women are directly affected by climate change, it is imperative that they be part of decision makers in climate change initiatives.

It is important to note that developed and developing countries are working together to find solutions to climate change. In 1992, The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by 154 countries that agreed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to levels that will not cause harm.

The Zimbabwean government must be applauded for phasing out ozone-depleting substances in 2010 and the country has set targets too to phase out hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC’S) by 2030. The National Gender Policy highlights gender, environment and climate change as one of its priority areas. Zim-Asset also highlights the effects of climate change such as long droughts and flooding.

To date, Zimbabwe has experienced two cyclones namely Eline and Japhet. Cyclone Eline of February 2000 affected Manicaland, Matabeleland South, Midlands and Masvingo. 2,7 million people were affected, there were 91 deaths, 357 injuries and 59,187 huts were destroyed. Cyclone Japhet of March 2003 affected Masvingo, Midlands South, Manicaland South and parts of Mashonaland East. There were 6 deaths.

Vaidah Mashangwa is the Provincial Development Officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development. She can be contacted on 0772 111592 or email: vmashangwa@gmail.com.

The late Dr Eric Bloch

Joram Nyathi Group Political Editor
THE late Dr Eric Bloch was more than just an accountant. He had diverse talents, very versatile and mixed with people in both government and the private sector with equal ease. He was for a long time chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe, was a member of the Advisory Board which advised former Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and later also became a board member of Homelink, an institution set up to encourage Zimbabweans abroad to invest at home.
Dr Bloch served in the boards of many companies in the country, forcing him to fly to Harare almost every week from his beloved city of Queens and Kings.

At one point there were rumours that he sat on the boards of 50 companies.
We never got to find out the truth.

Occasionally he would make a courtesy appearance at the offices of the Zimbabwe Independent to speak briefly to Trevor Ncube, especially when he was still editor, and drop off his contribution for the week.

I got to know Eric Bloch personally from the newsroom, first as a columnist for the Financial Gazette, and later for the Zimbabwe Independent from May 1996 to his last instalment two weeks ago, almost a week before his shock death on September 20, 2014. He always wore a genuinely warm smile.

Whether one agreed or disagreed with Bloch’s expressed views, one thing cannot be taken away from him: his greatest virtue for any editor was that he was consistent, he was punctual, he was dependable, whether he was in or outside the country.

One rarely needed to make a follow up on his column. If it appeared late, there must be a glitch in the system and his secretary always had a way around it.
A matter of style

Eric Bloch wrote in long sentences, very long at times. You needed to get used to him. Then he used this old style of construction which left one confused. I called it Chaucerian. At first I tried to rewrite his articles in what I thought was modern English. It was useless. I was not going to rewrite the whole article every week. In any event, I quickly realised that I wasn’t Eric Bloch. That was his identity. Readers got to like him that way.

His enduring virtue for me was that, unlike most commentators, he made a clear distinction between issues and people. It is said to maintain a semblance of balance in an argument, you have to be hard on the issues but soft on people. The point of an argument should be to unravel the issue and enlighten people than to embarrass those with whom you disagree. In our over-politicised environment, few people are able to make that distinction, hence the ease with which all views quickly assume a political party name-tag.

Bloch tried as much as possible to be balanced, fair and objective about the issue at hand. He was conscientious. For all his strident opposition to the way the land reform was executed, and what he felt were the injustices of black economic empowerment and indigenisation policies, Bloch did not sink to the level of the embittered, “crush and burn” Cross, nor would he have gloated at having Zimbabwe’s economy “scream” just to be rid of Mugabe.

He loved the city of Bulawayo to the point of being sentimental about its fortunes. It was his home and wanted to see it flourish. I was reminded of this fact when President Mugabe last week declared that Bulawayo would not be allowed to die. He said that was the reason he had personally insisted that the 5th regional youth games scheduled for December this year be staged in Bulawayo.

Bloch was passionate about the state of Bulawayo’s industries, starting with perennial water shortages to the time when sanctions began to bite and companies were disgorging workers on to the streets in their thousands. Many other companies opted to relocate to Harare because of the water crisis. By 2012 about 90 companies had shut down and 20,000 people out of employment.

He was there to witness the precipitous buckling of the country’s industrial hub, eminently epitomised by the collapse of the National Railways of Zimbabwe.                    He watched in agony as smoke slowly vanished koNtuthuziyathunqa (Ndebele common parlance referring to Bulawayo’s smoking industrial chimneys in its heyday), leaving an empty blue firmament.

He was most articulate about the parlous state of affairs in Bulawayo because he saw the situation with more than a just keen eye. His accounting firm, HE Bloch and Company, was one of the biggest such firms in the city. That means he had access to the books of many other companies and knew what was going on. Through his board memberships, he got tales of woe in their incipiency.

He insisted that Bulawayo should not be allowed to die, without being overtly political. He was one of the people who raised his voice when a disturbing canard circulated that there were plans to move the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair venue from Bulawayo to Harare.

He used his Eric Bloch Column to speak for Bulawayo business in particular but also its residents in general. He was bitter about the $40 million pledged by government for Dimaf in 2011, which he considered paltry. In his calculation, Bulawayo industries alone needed an injection of $2 billion to recover. The people loved him, but for reasons best known to himself, he shunned the cheap allure of political fame.

Bloch and Esap
Bloch strongly believed in the efficacy of a free market economy. It was therefore no coincidence that he was in love with Thatcherism (private companies versus a small role for the state in the economy, living individuals to mind their own business, with the British Iron Lady famously stating in 1987; “There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families.”) and became a devout exponent of the IMF’s austerity measures once Zimbabwe adopted its structural adjustment programme in 1992.

He believed most state enterprises and parastatals should be privatised to weed out corruption and enhance operational efficiency, and hence cut costs to the Fiscus. With the then finance minister Dr Bernard Chidzero, they were so passionate in their conviction about the efficacy of Esap they left much of the nation in no doubt that at the end of their long toil and massive job losses and belt-tightening, there could be no other destination but the pearl gates of Shangri-la. In their scheme of things, government was the villain of the piece because it was not retrenching employees fast enough for the fruits of Esap to yield their honey.

Land revolution
Soon Esap’s depredations were so unbearable that it was abandoned. Zimbabwe was neck-deep in arrears, thousands of former employees were roaming the streets as the lumpen proletariat ready to the clutch at the straws offered by Tsvangirai and his MDC. But most veterans of the liberation struggle started agitating for land, culminating in the Donors’ Conference of 1998 and Clare Short’s insolent letter in which Tony Blair’s Labour Government rejected obligations made by his predecessors regarding funding of the land reform process.

The rest is known. But Bloch was bitter. Like most whites, Bloch insisted on a willing seller, willing buyer approach. Jambanja was wrong and illegal. Those who lost their farms should get immediate compensation. Property rights were being violated.

Like the rest of white commercial farmers, they seemed to pay only lip-service in their declared support for the land reform but for the methodology. Worse still for them, they could not fathom the possibility of a post-reconciliation land revolution, a reconciliation which had turned Mugabe into a darling because it implied security of the economic status quo ante.

No doubt he died a disillusioned man, believing that a great injustice had been committed against whites. This is a view shared by many whites and some educated blacks for whom the liberation war meant no more than having a one man, one vote, and leaving the colonial land tenure system intact because whites now had title to the farms which indigenous blacks never had. Indigenisation and economic empowerment only served to compound an irredeemable evil.

Yet the reflexive recourse by former white commercial farmers born here to mainly European courts to resolve local grievances betrays their status in and attitude towards Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular: that this is a continent or country where fortune can be made but home is Europe.

Fare thee well Dr Eric Bloch Esq., a man who rarely, if ever, wrote a column to nourish a personal jaundice.

GLENEAGLES - Europe completed their mission in the singles to win the 40th Ryder Cup 16½-11½ against the United States at Gleneagles.Captain Paul McGinley’s side led 10-6 going into the final day and reached the 14½ needed to win the Cup outright when Welsh rookie Jamie Donaldson beat Keegan Bradley 4&3.

Rory McIlroy struck first with a 5&4 win against Rickie Fowler before fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell came back from three down to beat Jordan Spieth 2&1.

Martin Kaymer chipped in on 16 to defeat Bubba Watson 4&2 and Justin Rose scrapped back from four down against Hunter Mahan to grab a half on the last and take Europe to within half a point.

The 38-year-old Donaldson, playing in the 10th match, sealed the win against Bradley with a stunning approach to the 15th green to spark scenes of euphoria in the Perthshire hills.

McGinley said: “I’m very proud of every one of these players. I couldn’t have asked for an ounce more from them. I’ve been involved in so many Ryder Cups and seen mistakes we’ve made.

“I’ve changed things a bit, bringing in the fifth vice-captain has been a factor in helping to prepare the guys, especially in the afternoon sessions, but we have had 12 players who have been awesome.”

Europe have now won eight of the last 10 Ryder Cups, while the US have not won an away match since 1993.

“I can’t say enough about our captain,” said world number one McIlroy. “Paul McGinley has been immense. I’m so glad it’s worked out for him.”

US captain Tom Watson was seeking redemption for Medinah two years ago when Europe came back from 10-6 down to win 14½-13½ on the final day, but his side were unable to create their own sensation in Scotland.

“They have a wonderful team, but we came in here thinking we could beat them,” said Watson, 65. “Turns out we couldn’t.”

Henrik Stenson earlier missed a short putt on the last that would have given him a half against Patrick Reed, while Stephen Gallacher lost 3&1 to Phil Mickelson and Thomas Bjorn went down 4&3 to Matt Kuchar.

After Donaldson had ensured Europe’s win, Sergio Garcia beat Jim Furyk one up, Ian Poulter halved with Webb Simpson, Lee Westwood lost 3&2 to Jimmy Walker and Victor Dubuisson halved with Zach Johnson.

Europe lost Friday morning’s fourballs 2½-1½ but dominated the foursomes to lead 5-3 going into Saturday.

McGinley’s side dominated Saturday afternoon’s foursomes 3½-½ – a 7-1 foursomes tally overall – to move to within four points of retaining the trophy.

Europe never looked in too much danger of squandering their lead and won the singles session 6½-5½ on a triumphant afternoon at Gleneagles. — BBC Sport

Louis van Gaal conceded that Wayne Rooney had been “too unfriendly” after he was sent off for a wild kick at Stewart Downing in a 2-1 victory for Manchester United that ended with Sam Allardyce furiously complaining about a late West Ham effort from Kevin Nolan that was disallowed for offside.

Rooney scored the opening goal but was shown a straight red card in front of Roy Hodgson, the England manager, after taking a hack at Downing just before the hour. Allardyce described it as a “cynical” and “really poor” challenge but Van Gaal refused to answer questions about whether it showed Rooney had defects as the club captain. “It’s neither a good analysis or a good question,” he said.

Rooney had been chasing Downing inside his own half and Van Gaal said it was the player’s attempt to stop West Ham breaking on the counterattack. “I can see why he made the tackle but I think you have to be far friendlier,” he said. “He did it too unfriendly and that is maybe his biggest mistake.

“In professional football, you make professional fouls. I’ve seen it happen five or six times today and, professionally, I can understand that.
“But I also saw fouls from West Ham that weren’t punished the same way, so that is a little strange. I have seen other professional fouls without yellow or red cards.” – The Guardian

Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney claimed to be “a lot more mature on the pitch” in an interview conducted for the Sunday Times a few days before he was sent off against West Ham United on Saturday.Rooney left his team a man short for the last half an hour and they only just held on to a 2-1 lead, with the visitors having a goal disallowed for offside in the last minute.

He caught West Ham midfielder Stewart Downing high on the thigh with a professional foul to prevent a breakaway, and referee Lee Mason immediately produced a straight red card.

“I’m a lot more mature on the pitch. Off the pitch too,” Rooney was quoted as saying in the interview published on yesterday. I read the game a lot better and there’s certain situations where you can use your experience.”

Rooney will now miss United’s next three Premier League games, against his former club Everton, West Bromwich Albion and league leaders Chelsea.

In a wide-ranging interview he also told the Sunday Times that the next two or three years could be his best because “I now know exactly what I want to do on the pitch and I’m fit and ready to do it.”

He added that he hopes to spend the rest of his career at Old Trafford and is expecting to play as a striker for another two or three seasons before switching to a deeper role, although “it’s down to the manager (Louis van Gaal) and I’ll accept it”.

Van Gaal, he said, is “incredible” in his attention to detail and Rooney claims to have benefited from the Dutchman’s habit of having every training session filmed and getting the players to watch the recording.

He named Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Paul Scholes as his best-ever United teammate and said his toughest opponent is Chelsea’s John Terry – whom he will not now be able to play against in four weeks’ time. – supersport

Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
THE High Court in Bulawayo has ordered the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) to pay Holiday Inn more than $11,000 in unpaid hotel bills incurred five years ago.The ruling by Justice Maxwell Takuva on Friday follows a court application for summary judgment filed by Holiday Inn last month after Zifa had failed to settle $11,521 for accommodation and food for its members who were booked at the hotel sometime in 2009.

However, Zifa through Sansole and Senda Legal Practitioners, had entered an appearance to defend, arguing the football body had paid the debt.

According to court papers, Holiday Inn is the applicant while Zifa was cited as the respondent in the matter.

Justice Takuva in his ruling granted the order in favour of Holiday Inn.

“It’s ordered that respondent pays applicant the sum of $11,521 being the money owed for catering and accommodation services provided to respondent,” he said.

Justice Takuva also ordered Zifa to pay the money with interest at the prescribed rate from the date it fell due to the date of full and final payment.

The order also states that Zifa should also meet the legal costs incurred by Holiday Inn.

“The respondent should pay cost of suit at an attorney client scale,” ruled Justice Takuva.

In his founding affidavit, Holiday Inn accountant, Francis Ngonidzashe Manganga, stated that for the period the Zifa delegation spent at the hotel, an invoice amounting to $11,521,85 in accommodation and food bills was raised.

“The respondent sometime in 2009 had its members and guests booked at the applicant’s place during which food and accommodation was provided to them. For the period they spent at the applicant’s place an invoice amounting to $11,521,85 was raised. Needless to say, respondent neglected paying the due amount.

“By way of a letter dated May 6, 2013, the respondent unequivocally acknowledged the debt and made a payment plan, which would have seen the debt being settled by November 30, 2013, but no payment was made,” said Manganga.

On July 3 last year, Zifa wrote to the applicant seeking indulgence for the delayed payment promising to settle the debt by June this year, but again failed to honour the promise.

This then prompted Holiday Inn through its lawyers, Marondedze, Mukuku and Partners, to make a court application and summons were subsequently issued out.

“Applicant was left with no option but to approach legal practitioners and on July 7, 2014 a letter was dispatched by applicant’s erstwhile lawyers and it was not heeded to by respondent,” Manganga said.

Zifa through Sansole and Senda Legal Practitioners entered an appearance to defend, arguing that it had paid the debt.

The applicant said the plea was “vague and unsubstantiated by facts,” arguing that the respondent had failed to produce proof of payment.

“Despite full knowledge that it had not settled its dues, the respondent entered appearance to defend and filed its plea wherein it avered that it had settled the debt in full. The respondent’s plea does not raise a prima facie at all. In fact it’s misleading because no payment was ever made by the respondent.

“An appearance to defend or plea is not bona fide on the merits and the law can apply for summary judgment. I pray that summary judgment against respondent be entered against respondent with costs of suit at attorney client scale on the basis that respondent has unnecessarily abused court processes by defending a matter when it has no defence,” the applicant’s lawyers contended.

Ngqabutho Moyo Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) pugilist Samson Masiyambumbi regained his lost pride by knocking out his National Youth Games Midlands rival Tatenda Paradza by a technical knockout at Manor Hotel on Saturday.The Nketa boxer dominated the fight, claiming victory in the second round of the match.

Masiyambumbi said that the match was a must-win after losing to Paradza in this year’s edition of the National Youth Games in Masvingo.

“It was a tough encounter against Paradza, especially getting into it after losing to him in Masvingo. It was a must win for me, I had to regain the City’s pride,” said Masiyambumbi.

The event had 23 bouts which attracted 56 fighters from around the country.

Veteran trainer Philip “Striker” Ndlovu of Tshaka Boxing Club said the national tournament was very competitive and served as a wake-up call for some of the city’s pugilists.

Baba vice chairperson Ezwell Ndlovu said four more boxing competitions were billed for the city before the end of the year, meant to prepare boxers for the upcoming Region Five Games.

In other bouts, Gweru’s Prince Kata knocked out Prince Masona in a very tense match with Youth Games women’s gold medallist Thenjiwe Foloma defeating Queneth Dube on points.

Results

Light Fly Weight: Justice Nyoni (Matabeleland North) beat Mduduzi Magogombe (Gweru) on points
Fly Weight: Trade Nkomazabo (Masvingo) beat Emmanuel Katsaruware (Bulawayo) on points; Dominic Maforimbo (Gweru) beat Praise Hove (Masvingo)
Bantam: Ntando Dube (Bulawayo) knocked out Tatenda Tapfuma (Bulawayo), Perkins Chingono (Mashonaland East) beat Future Nkomo on points, Ronald Tomukai (Imbizo) beat Bongani Ndlovu on points, Thenjiwe Foloma beat Queneth Dube on points Casper Mnkandla beat Trust Paradza on points, Wiseman Tshuma beat (Bulawayo) knocked out Kudakwashe Chaurura
Light Weight: Andile Ncube (Bulawayo) Knocked out Brandon Tembo (Bulawayo), Samson Masiyambumbi (Bulawayo) Knocked out Tatenda Paradza (Midlands), Sydney Baloyi (ZNA) beat Denzel Mpofu (Bulawayo) on points, Catherine Betera (Bulawayo) knocked out Christabel Ncube (Bulawayo), Milton Moyo walked over Everson Musambudzi, Ndanetseyi Nyamukondiwa beat Gabriel Maravana on points, Neverson Hove(Bulawayo) beat David Madibha (Midlands) on points
Welter weight: Lancelot Moyo (Bulawayo) knocked out Clever Sithole
Mid weight: Prince Kata (Midlands) knocked out Prince Masona (One Brigade), Blessing Katsuwo walked over Liberty Muwani (Midlands)
Light Heavyweight: Artwel Rugwandi (One Brigade) knocked out Fanuel Sibanda (Imbizo0
Catch weight: Shepard Machaya (Nketa) beat Gift Ndlovu (Lobengula)

Mamelodi Sundowns cruised to three Absa Premiership points yesterday with a 3-0 away win over Polokwane City at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.Goals from Cuthbert Malajila, Themba Zwane and Teko Modise saw the Brazilians to a third successive league win and lifted them to fourth place on the league table.

As for Rise and Shine, it is a fifth defeat from their last six matches and leaves them second-from-bottom on the table, just one point ahead of basement club AmaZulu.

Polokwane settled the quicker of the two teams and found a fine attacking rhythm that forced Sundowns onto the back foot for most of the first 30 minutes.

As a result of their high intensity and willingness to press high up the pitch, City created half chances for forwards Rendani Ndou and Rogget Nyundu,   though neither was able to test goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene.

On 25 minutes, Mweene’s counterpart at the other end of the field, Dino Visser, was called upon to make a good low save after Surprise Moriri directed a glanced header on target.

Ten minutes later, and very much against the general run of play up to that point, the Brazilians broke the deadlock with an excellent team goal.

Modise did most of the work with a fine run and cross from the left, allowing Elias Pelembe to turn the ball inside for Malajila to steer a shot beyond Visser’s right hand.

Polokwane opted for a tactical substitution at the start of the second half – sending on Siphesihle Nzimande in place of Nyundu – but it was ‘Downs who almost changed the score line with another goal, as Visser was forced into an excellent save to palm away a fierce shot from Hlompho Kekana.

The visitors from Tshwane doubled their advantage just before the hour mark, with Malajila turning from scorer to provider. The striker played a perfectly weighted ball for Themba Zwane to run onto before slipping a low shot past the on-rushing Visser to make it 2-0.

In the 73rd minute Modise made it 3-0. The number 10 picked up a superb diagonal ball from Kekana, cut inside a defender and curled a low, right-footed shot into the bottom corner of the net to end the game as a contest. – Supersport