Sports
Former Highlanders chairman Josiah Dube has died
Dube served as Bosso chairman in 1988 and 1989, taking over from club legend Ndumiso Gumede.
Former Highlanders chairman Josiah Dube who served in the late 1980s at a time when the Bulawayo football giants introduced a new generation of talented players who went on dominate the national team – including Zimbabwe’s all-time greatest player Peter Ndlovu, his late brother Adam and Benjamin Nkonjera – has died.
Dube presided over one of the best Highlanders teams which included Peter Nkomo, the late Mercedes Sibanda, Dumisani Nyoni, MacKay Nyathi (late), Alexander Maseko, Willard Khumalo (late), Madinda Ndlovu, Rahman Gumbo (late), Adam Ndlovu, Makwinji Soma-Phiri and Tanny Banda, among others.
During the time, there were also players like Abraham Mbambo, Benjamin Mpofu, Lazarus Mwambopo, Tito Paketh, Nhamo Shambira, Netsai Moyo and many others.
The best Highlanders’ players of time, specifically the Ndlovu brothers, Sibanda, Gumbo, Khumalo and Nkonjera, as well as Melusi Nkiwane, later formed part of the core of Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team.
Dube served as Bosso chairman in 1988 and 1989, taking over from club legend Ndumiso Gumede.
Former Highlanders chief executive Nhlanhla Dube wrote on social media:
“My heart bleeds with the passing of each and every former Bosso servant leader on and off the field of play. Today I grieve the loss of yet another story untold, an addition to our library gone before delivery. I know that people come and people go and institutions remain. However, in Bosso’s case, a club that survives and runs on the back of the spirit of a community and the untold sacrifice of individuals, the permanent departure of dedicated servants hits differently.In all their contributions, these great men have, with different levels of success, operating under varying challenges and circumstances, all added a brick onto the layered growth of Amahlolanyama. I hope that as the club looks forward to celebrating 100 years of existence, the spirit of oneness can be reignited in true exhibition of the war cry, ‘At Highlanders we are ONE!’. We must tell the stories and tell them correctly. We must be thankful for all the selfless contributions. We must banish the ugliness of divisions and toxicity to the back burners of 2024. A house divided against itself has no chance against the winds and tempests of contests. Lala ngokuthula baba J.B. Dube.”
