NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 51 Issue 151, 6 October 2023 JACO MARITZ IN 2018, Lesly Marange had a lot on his plate. In addition to dealing with the typical hurdles of launching a business, he was also getting ready for the birth of his first child. And if balancing business and family wasn’t already a tall order, he simultaneously enrolled in an MBA programme. “I had an obligation to pay fees. I had an obligation to fund the family, [and] I had an obligation to run a business,” he says. “When I reflect on it now, I actually ask myself, ‘What was I thinking?’, but, you know, passion sometimes drives you to do crazy things,” he says. From prison camp to food company boss Marange, now 34, grew up in a unique environment – a prison camp. His father served as a prison officer, while his mother was a school teacher. From early on, Marange displayed a penchant for cooking. Yet, in his community, a young boy spending time in the kitchen was frowned upon. His father, a war veteran, showed little enthusiasm for his son’s culinary aspirations. However, his mother advocated for the freedom to chase one’s passions. Undeterred, Marange kept at it and even chose food and nutrition as a school subject. He went on to study food science at Chinhoyi University of Technology. During this time, Marange found himself deeply engrossed in the success stories of prominent food enterprises, like Kellogg’s and Nestlé. He took inspiration from the experiences of these company founders. “One of the biggest lessons that I learned is that there was a lot of endurance in their early days,” Marange reflects. He didn’t know then that he’d need the same kind of perseverance in his own food business journey. While at university, Marange started a small business from his backyard, making roasted maize. He sold it at prison, army, and police camps. Having grown up in a prison camp, he knew how these places worked, which gave him an advantage over other suppliers. Roasted maize is a popular snack in Zimbabwe, but Marange did something unique: he pre-boiled the maize before roasting, which made it softer than what most people were used to. “People liked it because it was different from the traditional way of doing things,” he explains. Although his maize product was well-received, the packaging was basic. He and his team of about eight parttime employees filled the unbranded packets with a cup and sealed them with a candle. As part of his degree programme, Marange completed a one-year internship at a sugar factory in Harare. One day, the boss visited and saw his roasted maize operation. Impressed, he suggested Marange consider the corporate world after his studies to learn how a large food business runs. Marange took this advice to heart. After finishing his degree, he joined that same sugar factory. In just three-and-a-half years, he climbed the ranks and became the product development manager. In this role, he developed several successful products that boosted the company’s profits. This experience gave him confidence in his ability to make products with commercial value. So, feeling prepared, he left his job to start Glytime Foods in 2018. Capitalising on a gap for healthy foods While Marange worked at the sugar company, sales of table sugar started to drop dramatically as consumers became more health-conscious. Recognising health and wellness as an emerging trend, Marange saw an opportunity. His research revealed that not many Zimbabwean food brands were tapping into this market shift. Glytime’s first product was granola, which the company introduced at the end of 2018. Marange had saved up about US$2 000 from his previous job which funded the initial raw materials and packaging. He began making it in his own kitchen. After preparing the family’s meals each morning, the kitchen transformed into Glytime’s production space for the remainder of the day. At first, the young company could only produce 24 units of granola cereal daily. Food Lover’s Market was the first grocery chain to stock Glytime’s cereal. Their first order was for three cases, which took Glytime three days to produce. However, a subsequent, larger order of 15 cases posed a production hurdle. To cope, Marange initiated a night shift. Meanwhile, the MBA programme at the National University of Science and Technology was not just aiding Marange in navigating business challenges. It also turned into an unexpected sales avenue. He would bring Glytime products to his classes and sell them to fellow students. Rolling with the punches Demand for the product continued to grow, and soon the supermarket chain TM Pick n Pay also started placing orders. In response, Marange upgraded to a new four-tray oven, which expanded Glytime’s daily output from 8kg to 50kg. The company also transitioned from Marange’s home to its own dedicated facility. But another challenge soon reared its head: inflation. Retailers paid Glytime long after the products were delivered, and by the time the money came in, inflation had eroded most of its profit. Despite ongoing orders, Glytime at one point in 2019 found itself with orders worth US$20 000 but without funds to purchase the needed raw materials. Additionally, its small oven couldn’t keep up with the order volume, and there were six employees to pay. Marange then discovered purchase order financing, a mechanism where businesses receive funds to fulfil existing orders. Old Mutual Finance agreed to provide US$20 000 of this financing, but needed some form of security. That is when Marange’s uncle offered his property as collateral. “It was a risky move, but he agreed to it,” the Glytime CEO explains. The interest rate of the loan was high, and Glytime had to pay back the entire amount within three months. “I had no option … I just had to stay in the game.” Yet, after obtaining the loan, more problems arose. Marange gave US$5 500 to an acquaintance to exchange for local currency. In a twist he hesitates to elaborate on, this person “lost” the money in the process, leaving Marange with just US$14 500 of the original US$20 000. “I convened my team and said, ‘You know what, we’ve been given money by the bank, and of that money we already lost US$5 500 and this money has to be repaid within three months … the only way we can manage this is to make sure that we work very hard to … keep this business alive.” The pep talk worked. Within three months, the team turned the US$14 500 into US$37 500. The loan, along with its interest, was repaid, costing about US$26 000 in total. Glytime invested some of the remaining money to fabricate a much larger industrial oven which boosted its capacity five times. Pandemic challenges to market momentum Amid the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Zimbabwean economy took a hit, squeezing consumers. Even as Glytime’s production ramped up, consumers tightened their belts. This meant Glytime’s products lingered on shelves, highlighting an issue: Glytime’s preservative-free granola had a shelf life of just four months. This posed significant challenges throughout 2021. Marange began experimenting with natural preservatives, and by April 2022 successfully reformulated the granola to have a longer shelf life. Shoppers resumed buying, and before long, Glytime needed to again expand its production capacity, leading to the addition of two more industrial ovens. Earlier this year, the company also secured an investor. This fresh capital is earmarked for a new factory with highend equipment from Europe. Beyond granola and roasted maize, Glytime’s product range has expanded to 22 SKUs, including low-sugar cookies, rolled oats, raw honey, desiccated coconut, and a variety of plant-based vegetarian products like burger patties, sausages, and meatballs. In Zimbabwe, these products are stocked in about 120 stores, including Pick n Pay, Food Lover’s Market, OK Mart, and Bon Marché. One major hurdle for Glytime in Zimbabwe has been the inconsistent power supply. Marange notes that at one point, electricity issues meant the company could only operate at a third of its capacity. However, he says the power situation has improved recently. Another issue Marange points out is with the workforce. He believes that many young Zimbabweans lack a strong work ethic, and there’s a noticeable trend of young professionals leaving the country for better opportunities abroad. Achieving growth Beyond brick-and-mortar retail outlets, Glytime has expanded its distribution by partnering with independent sales agents. Marange is keen on establishing the company’s own sales channels and route to market. These agents, mostly young people, actively market the company’s products at educational institutions, hospitals, corporate settings, and various events. Right now, there are over 100 of these salespeople, and they make up around 12% of the company’s total sales. There are two ways these salespeople work with Glytime: • Agents buy stock worth a minimum of US$50 at a reduced rate, then resell it at their chosen markup. • For those lacking upfront capital, Glytime provides the stock. After reselling, the agents return the revenue to Glytime and earn a commission ranging from 10% to 12%, depending on their sales volume. Glytime has leveraged its additional capacity to venture into neighbouring Zambia and Botswana. Its products can now be found in multiple supermarkets there, with exports comprising roughly 15% of the company’s revenue. Marange aims to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area to further expand the company’s regional footprint. — How We Made It In Africa. *About the writer: Jaco Maritz is an entrepreneur, author and founder of How We Made It In Africa. Zim entrepreneur braves multiple obstacles to build food company Lesly Marange, founder and CEO of Glytime Foods How Lesly Marange, founder and CEO of Zimbabwe-based Glytime Foods, started and grew a food company amid numerous economic and operational challenges.
REVIEWED BY IGNATIUS T. MABASA Title: Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? Author: Bryony Rheam Publisher: Amabooks/Parthian Year: 2023 ISBN: 978-1-77931-095-8 Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? is an unforgettable collection of stories that take you on an emotional roller coaster. Bryony Rheam is amazing in the way she is consistent in carefully crafting and sustaining the intensity of emotions in her stories. She does not just narrate a story but rather she becomes part of the story, as a keen observer who picks small but metaphorically rich actions and reactions, splashing colour here and there to make murals. And besides the colours, she wields a powerful hammer like the mythical Thor, and uses it to demolish façades in relationships, triggering mudslides of vulnerability and emotions, exposing complexities and fractured pieces of what appear to be good normal lives. Rheam almost effortlessly but slyly uses irony in most of her stories. I particularly enjoyed the vividness with which she captures emotions and thought processes of her characters. She is a conscientious arranger of lines, sense, feeling and tone – coming up with a heavy, rich-smelling and fresh bouquet. 'The Colonel Comes By' exhibits the intense power and beauty that Rheam, like a gardener, uses to cut and arrange relationships, casting away some, and allowing them to wilt and be burnt. The metaphorical richness of the story – those errant flowers, the order and the effect we have on each other’s lives leading almost to death – is unforgettable, almost haunting. 'Potholes' is another harrowing but beautifully told story. Although talking about a man’s strange relationship with potholes along a road that he has appropriated, the story is a well-executed commentary that centralises traumas of ordinary marginalised people of Zimbabwe against the socio-economic and political milieu. It brings out the raw creativity that is the hallmark of this talented storyteller. 'Potholes' is brilliantly metaphorical as 'Castles in the Air' is beautiful and multi-layered. 'Castles in the Air' appeals to readers in the way it suspends reality to allow the grotesque to take place, yet the reality has a stubborn way of disrupting the fantasy. This story is a shrewd creative tour, analysis and commentary on life and the state of things in Zimbabwe. And I just loved 'The Piano Tuner', and how Rheam makes the reader respect the art of creative writing because of the patience and magic with which she lures the reader into her story. The mystery and suspense she weaves into the story – casting it against a background of racism, classism and unparalleled irony is stunning. Rheam is indeed what Ngugi wa Thiong'o called “a writer in politics” – she exhibits brilliant awareness of class struggle, coloniality and the challenges of post-colonial Africa. If there is a theme that Rheam tackles so well, it is that of the passage of time, and the inevitability of change. 'Whatever Happened to Rick Astley?' is an ingenious multi-layered story that serves as a brilliant commentary on morphed relationships. There is a cyclic pattern in life, and Rheam shows how love comes and goes, and how we invest in new loves that are intrinsically anchored to the first love, even though they are completely separate. Personally, as a Zimbabwean writer who mainly creates in my indigenous language, Rheam has helped me get a quick update of how white people are seeing, managing and documenting happenings in independent Zimbabwe. This is a very important voice in Zimbabwean literature. Through her sensitivity to race and class struggles she allows African readers to see white people struggling with the very same issues that also affect black people. The stories therefore become a window and an intercultural dialogue of some sort. Although I was a bit apprehensive that Rheam writes about detailed and complex relationships among Africans as she did in her story, 'The Big Trip' – she managed to tear down the wall of my fears by writing in an amazingly convincing manner the type of politics usually found in African families – especially the strain on kinship due to living in a foreign land. She is not writing Africa – looking at it with imperial eyes. She has my respect. Overall, Rheam’s biggest achievement is her ability to create and curate, as well as sincerely capture the soul of characters, places and relationships. Her characters are unforgettable. She respects the art of creative writing as can be observed in how she is not just for the story, but is able to experiment with form in a manner that only seasoned writers can do. She writes Africa in a sensitive manner – yes, like Doris Lessing. *About the book reviewer: Dr Ignatius T. Mabasa is a research associate in the School of Languages: African Languages at Rhodes University in South Africa. Author Bryony Rheam and the front cover of her latest book. Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? Page 52 Book Review NewsHawks Issue 151, 6 October 2023
NewsHawks Book Review Page 53 Issue 151, 6 October 2023 Gukurahundi: Co-perpetration, team perpetrators, complicity and common purpose SIPHOSAMI MALUNGA THE Nuremberg Trials relied on Bernays’s theory of collective criminality to address the issue of multiple perpetrators of international crimes. Bernays envisaged that Nazi crimes were the result of organisations comprising several individuals coming together to design and execute a criminal plan to exterminate Jews. Thus the initial step was identifying and categorising these criminal groups. The second was identifying the actors and the different roles they had played. Membership of a criminal organisation raised a prima facie (albeit rebuttable) presumption of participation in the criminal plan of the organisation. In the post-Nuremberg era, the International Criminal Tribunals (ICTs) have embraced collective and system criminality under the concepts of common purpose and complicity. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) distinguishes participation in international crimes based on the dichotomy between principal and accessories. The approach has been that there are principals to crimes who are assisted by accessories. In general terms, the ICTs do not adopt the concept of co-perpetration opting instead for “Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE)’ (discussed in the following section). But in Stakić, the ICTY attempted to conflate co-perpetration with principal perpetration or liability. This approach was rejected by the Appeals Chamber which held that instead of co-perpetration, the appropriate approach to attributing criminal liability should have been JCE, which the Appeals Chamber held was ‘firmly established under customary international law." Unlike the ICTY, the ICTR has been ambivalent on the issue of co-perpetration. The broadening of the approach to commission by the Appeals Chamber in Gacumbitsi and Seromba discussed above, expanded perpetration beyond direct perpetration and JCE to co-perpetration. Seromba was reaffirmed by the ICTY in Lukic and Lukic. Notably in Seromba the ICTR Appeals Chamber held that direct perpetration of commission is not the only criteria for determining participation. The Court held that: ... whether a person “acts with his own hands, e.g., when killing people, is not the only relevant criterion” when assessing whether that person committed the crime. Further, for the actus reus of murder, it is sufficient that the ‘perpetrator’s conduct contributed substantially to the death of that person,’ and that [a] person who plays a central role in the commission of the crime of murder and embraces and approves as his own the decision to commit murder is not adequately described as an aider and abettor but qualifies as a direct perpetrator who committed the crime. The net result in summary, is that co-perpetration is unsupported by customary law and has been rejected by the Appeals Chambers at the ICTY in Stakić, and embraced by the ICTR Appeals Chamber in Gacumbitsi and Seromba. Co-perpetration is an accepted and autonomous form of criminal responsibility at the ICC. Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute provides for perpetration ‘jointly with another.’ The ICC Pre-Trial has outlined the concept of co-perpetration in Lubanga Confirmation Decision. Relying on the ‘control of the crime’ theory, which provides that a perpetrator has control over an offence committed with others by virtue of the ‘essential tasks assigned to them.’ Co-perpetration implies a ‘division of the essential tasks for the purpose of committing a crime between two or more persons in a concerted manner.’ Finally, essentiality of contribution is key and a person can be held accountable as co-perpetrator when he/she ‘could frustrate the commission of the crime by not carrying out his or her task.’ Most significantly, the ICC concluded that a perpetrator’s contribution to a crime could have taken place earlier, including instigating, planning and inciting, and need not be related specifically to execution. Reaffirming this reasoning, the ICC held in Katanga that contributions including designing an attack, supplying the weapons and ammunitions, exercising power to move troops to the field, coordinating and monitoring the activities of these troops, may all constitute contributions that amount to co-perpetration. The ICC has held that an essential prerequisite for co-perpetration is a ‘common plan or agreement’ to commit a crime, but need not be directed at the commission of that crime. In Katanga, however, the ICTR Pre-Trial Chamber held that ‘the common plan must include the commission of a crime’. With regard to whether the contribution by a co-perpetrator must be related to the commission of a crime, the ICTY Appeals Chamber has held that an accused’s contribution to a JCE need not be criminal in and of itself, and may consist of acts that might be regarded as neutral political or military activity. As long as the acts significantly contribute to the common criminal objective they can generate criminal liability. Sliedregt makes a compelling argument that this approach could apply in the context of co-perpetration at the ICC and bring into conformity the Lubanga and Katanga et al rulings that at present seem inconsistent on this point. Affirming the ICTY Appeals Chamber decision in Krajisnik, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, has held in Lubanga that a common plan need not be explicit; and that its existence can be inferred from the concerted action of the co-perpetrators. Lubanga outlines the mental or subjective requirements for perpetration as (1) awareness of the offence to be committed and acceptance of it, and (2) awareness of an essential role in the common plan. The ICC took an expansive approach to ‘awareness’ finding that it is enough for a perpetrator to be merely ‘aware of the risk that the objective elements of the crime might result from their actions or omissions and accepts such an outcome by reconciling them with it or consenting to it.’ Applying a very expansive interpretation to co-perpetration, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber in Katanga et al found that although unlike in Lubanga, ‘the defendants were thought not to have carried out any of the objective elements of the crimes directly; they used others to do that, through an Organised Structure of Power (OSP) in which they exercised control of the will and acts of the physical perpetrators.’ The expansive approach to co-perpetration taken by the ICC in Lubanga and Katanga, which includes planning and designing an attack, supplying the weapons and ammunitions, exercising power to move troops to the field, coordinating and monitoring the activities of these troops implicates the top political and military leadership in Zanu and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). The Ministry of Defence, headed by Sydney Sekeramayi, supplied the weapons and ammunition used by Five Brigade in committing atrocities. Also, the military leadership in the ZNA, such as the then Lieutenant-Colonel Perrance Shiri who commanded Five Brigade and was deputised by Lieutenant-General Edzai Chimonyo as well as Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Emelio Svaruka and subsequently succeeded by Brigadier-General Emilio Munemo, exercised power to move Five Brigade troops to the field. The fact that after a meeting between the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the late former president Robert Mugabe, when a dossier of atrocities being committed by Five Brigade was presented, there was a change in Five Brigade tactics which saw a decline in atrocities. This indicates the degree of control that Mugabe had on the actions of Five Brigade. The prerequisite for co-perpetration is a common plan or agreement to commit a crime. In this regard it has been shown that the political leadership of Zanu sought to establish a one-party state and, in the process, eliminate Zapu political support, which was the biggest stumbling block to this objective. This entails individuals such as Mugabe, then prime minister, and senior cabinet ministers such as Sekeramayi and military leadership such Shiri, Chimonyo, Svaruka and Munemo, who allegedly designed and exercised a degree of control of the actions of Five Brigade pursuant to a common plan to eradicate Zapu’s political support and establish a one-party state, are liable for co-perpetration of the crimes committed by Five Brigade. *About the writer: Dr Siphosami Malunga is an international criminal lawyer.
Page 54 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 151, 6 October 2023
STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model Life&Style Page 55 Issue 151, 6 October 2023 JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA IF ever there was need for a reminder that Zimbabwe is a nation at ease with its remarkable racial diversity, Brooke Bruk-Jackson, a white girl from Harare’s luxurious northern suburbs, won the coveted Miss Universe Zimbabwe title a week ago. Gorgeous Brooke will now represent this country at the Miss Universe for El Salvador in Central America in two months. The 21-year-old beautician – who is related to former Zimbabwe national team cricketer Glen Bruk-Jackson – was crowned winner at the glamorous ceremony at Harare Hippodrome auditorium. Attending the all-girls’ Chisipite Senior School in Harare, the stunning Brooke was also sporty, just like Glen, who played two Test and one One-Day International matches for Zimbabwe in the early '90s. Expectations are high that Brooke could break the jinx that has seemingly hampered Zimbabwe on international runaways where the country's models only make the top-four and nothing better. But will Bruk-Jackson bring the world crown to Zimbabwe? Maybe or maybe not, but the one good thing is that there has been great support back home where beauty pageants were dying a slow death. To boost her confidence ahead of the Miss Universe World, Jackson won a US$10 000 cash prize from Style by Minnie, a trip to Victoria Falls courtesy of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry ministry, one-year contract with clothing company Hilz Couture, a spa treatment from Essentials by Tanya, two-year accommodation from West Properties, beauty products from Langa Cosmetics, air ticket to and from Central America courtesy of Traverze, photoshoot contract by Optimas Photography and latest Apple products courtesy of iHelp Company. Jackson will also be brand ambassador for several companies that sponsored the pageant. First princess accolade went to Chegutu-based model and former Miss University of Zambia first runner-up Nokutenda Marumbwa was picked as first princess while the second princess was Amanda Ziyambi Mpofu. Bruk-Jackson, a newcomer on the ramp, expressed shock and disbelief in an interview with The NewsHawks. “I have been modelling a few years back in Cape Town and have been travelling around the world, but this is my first pageant,” she enthused. “It came as a surprise and, like I said, I need time to absorb this. I work at a local beauty spa as a therapist.” Rebirth of pageantry after blonde girl from ‘northern suburbs’ wins Miss Universe Zim Brooke Bruk-Jackson
Page 56 People & Places Sanganai/Hlanganani tourism expo MORE than 40 buyers are in Zimbabwe for the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo in Bulawayo later during the week. The visitors have begun their pre-tours of the country's top resort destinations preparation for the 16th edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo will take place from 12-14 October at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre in Bulawayo. A total of over 100 buyers from various countries around the world will be attending this year's expo. As is customary, the buyers have started their tours of the country's resorts to explore potential business opportunities. "The tours have already commenced in Nyanga, Vumba, Mutare, and Kariba. We have seen 312 exhibitors from regional and international markets registering to participate in this premier business exchange platform," Godfrey Koti, Head of Corporate Affairs at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, said. The expo is expecting morew³²buyers from Zimbabwe's traditional source markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and United Arab Emirates (Dubai).: Koti said he was happy with positive response from the international community, especially from the critical source markets they work with. This year approximately 100 quality buyers from both established and emerging markets will be attending. The Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo aims to elevate Zimbabwe's status as a world-class marketing platform and generate significant revenue for the tourism sector, and economy. NewsHawks Issue 151, 6 October 2023
Sport Page 57 From the ruggedness of Marondera and Rusape to the glamour of World Cups ENOCK MUCHINJO A SIMILAR countryside childhood in Zimbabwe, the same primary school, same reasons for leaving their homeland, and now featuring at the concurrent World Cups of rugby and cricket for two different European nations. This is the story of how Sebastian Negri and Sam Curran have turned unfortunate family circumstances into a success story by reaching the pinnacle of their chosen sports. Zimbabwe-born Sebastian Negri won his 50th Test cap for Italy a fortnight ago in their 38-17 win over Uruguay at the on-going Rugby World Cup in France. Negri was raised in the agriculture-rich area of Marondera, his birthplace, nestled 72km east of the Zimbabwean capital city Harare. He was initially schooled at Springvale House near his hometown before the family relocated to South Africa after being forcibly displaced from their Marondera farm. The 29-year-old flanker is the grandson of Italian immigrants who settled in the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, many decades ago. His father Janusz Negri grew up in Zimbabwe and attended St George’s College in Harare together with prominent sporting figures like Mudiwa Mundawarara, Zimbabwe’s top rugby referee for a number of years and now Rugby Africa’s referees’ manager. The tough-tackling Italy stalwart’s mother has Zimbabwean roots. The Negri family eventually retraced its Italian heritage, via South Africa, culminating in Sebastian’s journey to represent the land of his forefathers. Janusz Negri travelled to Lyon last week to support his son and the Italian side in their epic clash with New Zealand, as the European side was trounced 96-17 by the All Blacks. Away from France, another World Cup, in cricket, started in India on Thursday. The Zimbabwean connection there is with England all-rounder Sam Curran, who is playing in his first 50-over World Cup. The 25-year-old fast-medium bowler and batsman — son of the late former Zimbabwe ace all-rounder Kevin Curran — was born in Northampton, England, when his father was an overseas player for Northamptonshire. There are striking parallels in the upbringing of England star cricketer Curran and Sebastian Negri, who has been singing the Italian national anthem full throttle at rugby’s World Cup. Like Negri, Curran also went to Springvale House in Marondera for junior school. As kids, Negri was a keen cricketer, and Curran a very good rugby player. In other matching events, the Currans’ family farm was also taken over by the government during the fasttrack land reform programme. Situated on the Harare-Mutare highway in Rusape, their father Kevin’s place of birth, the farm was also the boyhood home of Sam and his two cricketing playing brothers Tom and Ben. Left homeless after the farm eviction, the Curran family found sanctuary at the Harare house of former Australian cricketer Geoff Marsh, who was Zimbabwe’s head coach between 2001 and 2004 while Kevin Curran was the assistant coach. Marsh’s sons, Shaun and Mitchell — who went on to play for Australia — spent some of their early years in Zimbabwe alongside the Curran lads. In 2019, legendary former Australia captain Steve Waugh tweeted a photo of young Mitchell Marsh and Sam Curran playing with a lawn mower at the Marshs’ suburban Harare home. Waugh’s throwback came after Marsh and Curran had squared off against each other in an Ashes series match between England and Australia in 2019. Now, from once sharing a house, the two close families have now made a unique piece of World Cup history. The Marshs and Currans are one of seven families in world cricket to have provided a father and son who have played in cricket’s premier World Cup since the tournament was launched in 1975: Geoff with Shaun and Mitchell, then Kevin with Sam now. But, had the situation been different, Sam Curran would probably be strutting his stuff in the red colours of the Chevrons, with his fellow SVH old-boy Sebastian Negri accumulating the caps in the green-and-white hoops of the Sables. It is however the blue of the Three Lions and the blue of the Azzurri that they represent with pride, and certainly no one can begrudge them. Australia great Steve Waugh shared this photo of Mitch Marsh (back) and Sam Curran enjoying playtime at home in Harare in the early 2000s. NewsHawks Issue 151, 6 October 2023
NEWS $60 Covid tariff for visitors & tourists CULTURE Community radio regulations under review @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com Thursday 1 October 2020 WHAT’S INSIDE ALSO INSIDE Finance Ministy wipes out $3.2 Billion depositors funds Zim's latest land cStory on Page 3 Story on Page 8 Chamisa reacout to Khupe Unofficial president calls for emergeFriday 6 October 2023 From the ruggedness of 'ghetto' to World Cups ALSO INSIDE Sports Brought together by the power of sport, and a family affair ENOCK MUCHINJO YOU know you have some serious catching up to do as a nation, when a senior official of your home football federation flaunts the presence of an inspector, who is in your country to assess two condemned and outmoded stadiums in an era the rest of the continent is fast adopting a modern approach to sports facilities. Josh Knipp, the youthful South African consultant, was recently in Zimbabwe on an assignment from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to inspect the state of Harare’s Rufaro and National Sports stadiums. Signs are that Zimbabwe’s grounds — which have been suspended by Fifa since 2020 for “not meeting required standards” — will miss the deadline for the beginning of World Cup qualifiers next month. With the Warriors travelling to Rwanda before hosting Nigeria — and if the powers-that-be in Egypt and Switzerland do not offer us a face-saver — it points to Zimbabwe hosting the Super Eagles in the neutral venue of a neighbouring country. But what on earth do we think we are that the entire world really should always be worried about the damage to our integrity as a people, when we as the citizens of the land do nothing, absolutely nothing, to protect our own reputation? It has been nearly three years now, since February 2020, when our stadiums were declared unsuitable for international football following an inspection by Caf the previous November. As fate would have it, Covid-19 appeared out of nowhere to send shockwaves across the globe. Amidst that period of great uncertainty the world over, Zimbabwe was given temporary reprieve to play at home albeit in an empty stadium, including the crucial 2-2 draw in Harare against a Riyad Mahrez-inspired Algeria, the African champions then, as the Warriors put one foot in the 2022 Afcon tournament in Cameroon. The coronavirus-forced sporting break, had we been a country with visionary and astute sports leaders, surely should have allowed us to buy time to address the stadia crisis. Then came the Fifa suspension early 2022, which lasted a good 17-months before it was finally lifted in July. During the diplomatic offensive of negotiating readmission by Fifa, we however went back to sleep and forgot that we did not have a single stadium. And then when a Caf inspector was in town few weeks ago, he was told by shepherding senior officials of all the country’s relevant sports bodies that “we’ve done this, but we haven’t done this and that.” As if there are separate standards for Zimbabwe in this rapidly changing world in which shoddiness is sneered at. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have recently won a joint bid to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals – the first time that the competition will be staged in East Africa. There can be no doubt that these three tight-knit countries are sure to host a tournament to remember in the continent’s fastest-growing region. Even our neighbours Zambia and Botswana went in with a joint entry of their own for that 2027 Afcon edition. I am a little disappointment that their bid was not successful because I know that they would have staged a blast due to the new and upgraded infrastructure they have, as well as the strides both nations have made in economic growth. As for us, our casual attitude to life is likely to come at the big price of collective national shame come November, if Nigeria’s Eagles land somewhere other than Harare or Bulawayo for a meeting with the Warriors. Botswana hosted Zimbabwe at the refurbished National Stadium last weekend in the country's Independence Cup match. The Gaborone stadium was one of the facilities presented in Botswana's joint 2027 Afcon bid with Zambia. For some strange reason, we seem to think that rules shouldn’t apply to us Enock Muchinjo HawkZone