Juju use suspected in Zimbabwean football

Caps United in Zimbabwe are calling foul after their rivals, How Mine, allegedly used "juju," or witchcraft, during a key match earlier this month. Caps United said its officials checked out the dressing room of its opponents 15 minutes after the match started and found suspicious objects, including lighted candles and bottles of liquid arrayed in an 11-man team formation. According to the sources, Caps United received a tip off that How Mine were using “supernatural powers” to influence the outcome of the game. Destroying what was in the dressing room looked the only way to go. As they were forcing their way into the visitors’ dressing room, an unnamed official ran to inform How Mine’s head coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube on the touchline that their “privacy” was being invaded and their manager advised his watchman to take police along, the sources said.

There have been persistent reports that How Mine’s coach uses juju, an allegation that he strongly denies. There have also been allegations that before his team’s competitive matches, Ncube goes to the match venues to conduct some rituals which affect his opponents’ performances, an accusation he refutes. Even after the break-in into their dressing room at the National Sports Stadium, Ncube denied that the candles were for juju but said they were for his team’s prayers. He took a dig at those who believe that he uses juju to get results at every club he coaches. Ncube, a former Premier League Coach of the Year winner with Njube Sundowns, said it was unfortunate that people credit his tactical ability in football to juju. The much travelled manager, who has led the now defunct Piggot Maskew, Railstars, Chicken Inn, Zimbabwe Saints and Quelaton, declared that he is a Christian and was not bothered by what people say.



“Like I always say, I believe in myself and I like to face challenges. I don’t care what people say about me using juju because I know that only the Almighty knows that I use the head he gave me to think. It’s not a secret that ngingumpostoli and I go to church koNgwenya. God is the one who gives me wisdom and strength to conquer. “I was not disturbed that they broke into our dressing room and messed around with our prayers because we knew that we were protected by the power of God who guided us to victory,” said Ncube. KoNgwenya is an apostolic sect based in Pumula South which was founded by Thabiso Ngwenya. Ngwenya, better known as “Mabomber”, is famous for his bottle act in which his congregants bring bottles filled with water which he shakes and smashes to the ground as a solution to problems. A number of prominent people have thronged Ngwenya’s shrine since 2006/7 as they seek his help for success in their marriages, businesses and cures for various ailments. How Mine’s assistant coach Simba Rusike, a proud member of AFM church, denied reports that it was juju that was found in their dressing room.

Rusike said they were not ashamed of what Caps United found in their dressing room. “Let me tell you something, everyone is free to choose which church to belong to. My head coach is a mpostori and I belong to a pentecostal church AFM and since we are protected by God, really, did they think that by messing around with the prayers they were going to beat us? “Our living God had already heard our prayers and we scored all our goals after they had broken into our dressing room,” said Rusike. When How Mine went for the break, they were a goal down but turned the tables around in the second half as they equalised through Warren Dube in the 54th minute before Menard Mupera scored what is arguably the tournament’s best goal three minutes later. Caps United went on to level the scores on the hour mark through Tawanda Nyamandwe forcing the game into a penalty shoot-out. The gold miners went on to beat United 4-2 on penalties to set up a date with Highlanders in an all-Bulawayo final. Rusike advised other coaches to spend their energy on planning and strategising for the games as well as seeking divine intervention before their matches instead of “witch-hunting”. Cases of use of juju or magical powers in the Premiership are rife with Harare City’s coach Bigboy Mawiwi having been on the receiving end after being “baptised” with urine at some matches where fans believed that he had “barricaded” the goals.