Zvenyika Makonese

It is not a secret that I drink beer, but I am very responsible. People are just jealous, that is why they spread these rumours.^[2]

When pirates insisted on renewing Makonese's contract, the footballer retraced his steps to Shabanie Mine Football Club helping them survive relegation from the top flight league. He went on to play in Mozambique for Deportivo of Maputo.^[2] His most lengthy stint at a club in the South African League was with Santos.

Teams Played For

• Santos (South Africa)
• Orlando Pirates(South Africa)
• Shabanie Mine (Zimbabwe)
• Deportivo (Mozambique)

Transfer Rumours

In 2007 Makonese was speculated to have been on the wanted list of English outfit Stoke City.^[3]

Death and Bankruptcy Rumours

Makonese was rumoured to have died in a car crash and the news of his alleged death went viral on social media especially in South Africa. The story of Makonese's death was picked up by top South African newspapers which even generated more speculation about his death.^[4] There were widespread claims on social media by people who claimed that they had actually been on the scene of the accident, the claims ranged from those who claimed to have seen beer bottles in the car that Makonese was said to be in, to others claiming that his death had been long coming since he was said to have been a reckless person who spent all his money on beer drinking.^[4] It was also rumoured that Zvenyika had fallen on hard times in South Africa as he was struggling to make ends meet which saw him having to rely on being a tout at Newtown taxi rank in Johannesburg. The report also claimed to have visited the aforementioned taxi rank to verify if indeed Makonese had fallen on hard times which saw them claiming that indeed the former Pirates defender was a spent force.^[5] It was also reported that Makonese's move to venture into touting had been just weeks after his family had received church donations at Impact for Christ Ministries sometime in December after the couple failed to pay rentals at their Wenchester suburb home. Despite the widespread circulation that these reports got, Makonese scoffed at them saying that he was not a tout and had only been at the taxi rank occasionally since he had two taxis that operate on the said route. The very same paper which claimed that Makonese had fallen from Grace was also the same paper that had published other negative stories about the footballer which had turned out to be true. Makonese was quoted saying

I have heard about those stories and I am really disappointed. Is it a crime for me to be seen at the Park Station or anywhere like it? People must first confirm their facts because I run a transport company. This is not the first time this kind of stuff has been written about me and I am now getting used to these rumours that are always floating about me. If you remember well, last time they went on to even report that I had died in a road accident.^[6]

Conviction For Theft

On 16 December 2015, Zvenyika Makonese was fined R3000 by a Beitbridge magistrate after he was convicted of stealing a G-tel A718 cellphone from a police officer named Melody Masiya. The police officer said she had asked one of the bus crews at Beitbridge border post to recharge her phone using the bus phone charger.

Makonese pleaded not guilty to a charge of theft when he appeared before resident magistrate Miss Gloria Takundwa but was convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence.

He escaped jail after the magistrate slapped him with a one-month imprisonment with an option of a fine.

The court heard that on an unknown date in August 2015, the police officer who was at Beitbridge Border Post approached one Farai Chinyani, a driver at Ngonweni bus services so that he could recharge her cell phone using the bus phone charger.

Zvenyika Makonese allegedly entered the bus while the driver was fast asleep and stole the complainant’s phone, after which he gave the cell phone to one Calisto Tobaiwa in Zvishavane who sold it on his behalf.

The matter came to light when the woman went to the bus driver intending to collect her phone. A report was made to the police leading to Makonese’s arrest following investigations.

The phone G-tel A718 phone which was valued at $468 was never recovered.^[7]

Picture Gallery

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  Makonese during training for the national team

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  Makonese in action for the national team

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  Zvenyika tussling for the ball with an opponent

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  Zvenyika sharing a moment with a teammate

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  Makonese in action for Pirates

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  Zvenyika Makonese on the field of play

Scandal

Makonese made the headlines for the wrong reasons in 2014 when he was reported to have been missing despite his team having a pending crucial premeir league tie with How Mine as both teams were fighting relegation at the time. It was alleged that no one knew where Zvenyika was, an incident which his coach described as very unfortunate given the position that the team was trapped in.^[8]

References