This n that with Maluphosa:- Those derbies between Bosso and Chikwata

The Premier soccer league is just two games old, and from the black and white corner where I am writing, things look good so far. What with a hundred percent win rate from Highlanders! But Godlwayo tells me it's all a fluke. He wonders how we have managed to win with such a below average team. He says it's pure luck that sees us amongst the top two in the log standings. He says in such instances one can't help being boringly nostalgic. He misses the games that used to grace Barbourfields - games so entertaining the end result did not matter much. The victors and the vanquished both enjoyed the game tremendously, regardless of the outcome! Most of these games were derbies between Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints.

As the players, coaching staff and fans of Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints set themselves up for their derby at Barbourfields Stadium, we all expected one of the country's greatest derbies, the fiercely contested games that often boiled over onto the terraces, divide nation, cities and families. Yes, am talking of Mashonaland United or the Zimbabwe Saints of yesteryear; an all-conquering well oiled juggernaut of rare capabilities and pedigree. It was a team known for its attractive, almost flawless carpet soccer and had great guys like Ephrain Chawanda, Josphat Humbasha, John Sibanda, Misheck Sibanda, Jimmy Phiri, George Ayibu, Joseph Machingura, Stanely Mutasa, Godfrey Paradza, Garikai Rodzi, Innocent Rodzi, Obey Sova, Peter Kaviza and many more. Here was a team whose line-up sent shock waves along umsisila wendoda. They won a lot of trophies and have in their skeleton cupboard, the scalps of the perennial giants like Caps United, Dynamos and of course, Highlanders. Even in the later years, there was an abundance of talent at Saints, with the likes of Muzondiwa Mugadza, Ronald Sibanda, Esrom Nyandoro, Charles Chilufya, Howard Mago, Butholezwe Mahachi, Mlungisi Ndebele etc.
                                                                                                       
It is not my intention to look at the Saints line-ups, but to highlight the importance, the passion and ferocity of the games that this once great team played against Highlanders. Yes, I talk from the Black and White corner, and I am sure many of us who witnessed these games will agree with me that we all wish Saints were still Saints! These were the games where tribalism was so manifest and it was scary. Remember Saints was formed as Mashonaland United and Bosso, Matabeleland Highlanders. This speaks volumes about the tribal rot that was and still is eating away at our soccer. It was nationalists like Father Zimbabwe, the greatest president Zimbabwe never had, and one Ushewenkunzi, instructed that the first names of the teams be dropped because they divided the nation. Yes the names were dropped but all that was associated with them - the hatred, the tribalism, the passion, the skirmishes - all survived.

The games between these two used to draw full capacity crowds to Barbourfields Stadium. Incidents were many at this derby - starting with running battles outside the stadium before the match, and ending at e-Godini or e-Ntumbane or e-Mpopoma after the match. Barbourfields was practically a battle field with the pitches having to be cleared of dangerous missiles and weapons before, during and after the match. Stoppages were not uncommon, with a player or two having been hit with a bottle or stone and bleeding profusely. In the stands, fist fights were the order of the day, with skirmishes and scuffles fuelling further an otherwise already fully charged game. For a week or two, the city remained tense, as if after a ferocious storm.

Fans liked taunting one another - with Saints fans claiming Highlanders fans celebrated by lifting bicycle pumps or pata patas each time Highlanders scored. They, Saints fans, waved car keys and later, cell-phones because they were more sophisticated than us. They also claimed that we carried spears and dogs to soccer matches, and this was primitive!  We kept permanent sitting positions at the stadium as if the stadium was our private isihonqo! But we still thought our noisy neighbours always had a "big fat chip on their shoulder".  We also thought they ate rats (imbeba/ imbiba) at half time, instead of the traditional oranges. So intense was the hatred that it was taboo for any Ndebele guy to date a Shona girl, and vice-versa!

It was more like war even on the field of play, with a display second to none. One team could string together more than twenty passes each time they had possession, as they tried to prove not only who were the kings of carpet soccer but also who owned the City. These two had dominated the local game so much with politics and tribalism not far below the surface. Bulawayo's passionate derby not only brought the city to a standstill, but most of the country. Many times the matches ended in fighting between players, coaching and staff too.  Who can forget that rowdy Saints supporter, Mpostoli, who used to come a few minutes before kick-off, with Max Kutsanzira, The Max, on tour, to spray some concoction in the goal area around ematshoneni stand? Highlanders marshals and staff would feel provoked. There would be a nasty fist fight between the two groups, something that the fans soon joined in. Highlanders players would then appear from anywhere, making a grand entrance by scaling the fence. They suspected the main entrance had been bewitched by Chaminuka's off-springs! And this fueled the violence already so prevalent in the stands. The rivalry was so intense some Saints fans and some peace-loving Highlanders fans left the stadium ten minutes before the end of the match. Battles would suddenly erupt from anywhere, with casualties on both sides. Saints fans, who used to dance to the beat of blue and white striped man-sized drums as they chanted 'Chauya Chikwata' and sang 'Chimandara chinomwa kuna savi, chimandara chinomwa kuna Zambezi', would flee from the scene, leaving the drums littering the stands.

I once took a Shona friend of mine to one such match. He insisted he would sit with me at the Soweto stand, a place that those most loyal hard to please die-hard and rowdy Highlanders fans have monopolized. As misfortune would have it, Saints scored first and my friend, who was also a fervent Saints follower, jumped for joy. He landed on the rough, strong arms of the multitude that bashed him badly and threw him downwards towards the field of play. I watched in embarrassment and fear as they almost tore him limb from limb. I was helpless. But our friendship survived this madness.
      
But now, reading from the Highlanders website, a lot of supporters are tired of these feuds. They feel that because Highlanders has gained so much from being 'iteam yezwe lonke' status, it's time we embraced and consolidated these gains - like the support base and players from other regions. Personally, I have seen a lot of Shona people writing very nice things about the team. But there are others who feel that these feuds bring all the excitement in our games, home and away. A game minus all this heated pushing and shoving would not be worth attending, they claim. The team, too, is worried. They say this misguided behavior is draining the team's funds as the team is fined large sums of money each time we misbehave. My fear is that we shall be playing in empty stadia soon, like we did in 2004. But it takes too to tango. In a game of soccer, a player who retaliates after being crudely tackled also receives punishment. Kodwa okwe Bosso khona, yithi sodwa esiphathwa njenge ntandane. That is how our supporters feel; hence it is difficult to curb violence in our matches. We feel everyone is against us, and therefore we must fight for ourselves! What is your take on this?

Unfortunately, scandals and behind-the-scenes power struggles have dogged the great Saints team. Even the die-hards have fled. I am talking about people like Paradza's father who threatened to disown his son, Godfrey, if he dared join Highlanders. This is how bad tribalism was here, dividing even the families during meals. Reminds me of this family I once stayed with; the father was a Saints supporter, his first born son sympathized with Caps, and the last born with Dynamos. They ate bread only when Saints won, which was as rare as bread itself at that time. Let us support our team, madly, if we have to, but, phansi ngodlame bafowethu. Not only does it give our team a bad name but it drains the team's 'coffins', as Sqhezema calls coffers! A lot of soccer-loving people will abstain from watching our games, thus staying at home with their money. And our coffins will remain empty, Coffins?

Ngiyabonga mina!