Peter Ndlovu sets up trust fund for Shonhayi

By Lance Guma
31 March 2006

They once played against each other in opposite camps of the country’s fiercest football rivals Dynamos and Highlanders. The death of Francis Shonhayi in Cape Town this week however has seen legendary Zimbabwe National team captain Peter Ndlovu setting up a Trust Fund to help with the funeral expenses of the man they called ‘Sandura’. Speaking to Newsreel from South Africa Ndlovu said he learnt with deep sadness about the death of Shonhayi and the appeal for financial assistance to repatriate the body to Zimbabwe motivated him to call up fellow footballers and set up the fund.

Shonhayi who also captained the national team, died on Thursday at the Victoria Hospital in Cape Town. Zvenyika Makonese who plays for Santos in that country’s league was taking care of Shonhayi up until his death. He told reporters it is expected to cost around 14 000 Rand to transport the body to Zimbabwe and this is excluding other costs related to the bureaucracy of the process. Shonhayi’s death has shocked Zimbabwe. An endearing image for many will be a bloodied Shonhayi wearing a bandage around his head while playing for Zimbabwe against opposition teams. He made a lot of high risk aerial challenges and received a lot of head injuries as a result.

Footballer turned sports writer Alois Bunjira had even touted him as a future Football Association Chairman. The tragedy of the situation is that all footballers in the country seem to suffer the same fate. They all die paupers with no savings to fall back on. Several quarters have called for the setting up of a Footballers Union of Zimbabwe and have that body looking after the welfare of its members should situations of this nature arise. It all remains talk at the moment. With the country falling to pieces politically and economically not many see hope for a different environment in football.

Meanwhile in the same interview Ndlovu disclosed that he is currently not playing football for his team Mamelodi Sundowns due to a knee injury and is hoping to recover soon after undergoing an operation. He is the South African league’s highest paid player and the pressure for him to score goals has been immense.

NB: Those wishing to help with Shonhayi’s funeral expenses can get in touch with: Ian Gorowa on +27834689769 or Zvenyika Makonese on +27761419471