The Sunday Mail
Makomborero Mutimukulu – Acting Sports Editor
THE image of Zimbabwe national cricket team coach Steve Mangongo embracing his mum after last Sunday’s three-wicket victory over Australia at Harare Sports Club captured the imagination of the world.
It made the pages of newspapers across the world nearly as much as that of Prosper Utseya hitting the winning stroke, a perfectly timed six.
It was Zimbabwe’s first victory over Australia in 31 years, the last and only one coming at the 1983 World Cup, and it gave the world a chance to see the softer side of Mangongo.
The Chevrons gaffer does not give much away in terms of emotion, in both good and bad times.
So, a frozen moment of a smiling Mangongo, with designer sunglasses at the top of the head, embracing his tearful mother, who had jumped over advertising boards and ran about 60 meters to share in the moment of glory, was a rare moment, iconic even.
The world media’s lenses could not afford to miss it.
They did not.
However, they missed the emotional verbal exchange between son and mother.
“When (Prosper) Utseya hit that ball, there was deafening silence as people wanted to see where the ball would land, but I was convinced that it was a six and I jumped over the advertising boards and started running towards Steve.
“He saw me and started running too and when we hugged I said to him ‘Mwanangu, Mwari atiitira nyasha; wadadisa nyika. Kuna Mwari kudenga shuwa (My son, the Lord has shown us His grace; you have made the nation proud. Truly, there is God in heaven.’
“He didn’t say much, he just said ‘Mhamha’,” Margaret disclosed.
Having lost her husband when Steve was just four, Margaret knew that the terrain would not be easy.
She was right.
However, the deeply religiously woman counts it all joy as Steve pens his script as the country’s first black national cricket team coach, while his siblings do well in their chosen fields.
Margaret believes last Sunday’s historic moment is a taste of what is to come in his son’s long, and often frustrating, cricket journey.
“It was a miracle,” she says of the victory over the Aussies.
“Beating the top-ranked team when you are number 10 is a miracle and we thank God for that. The journey has been long; having to raise a family of six children as a single mum is not easy.
“My task was made even more difficult as I had to support a son who strived to succeed in a sport full of white people who just could not appreciate that a black kid from the ghetto can be good at cricket.
“Many a times I had to comfort Steve after he was overlooked for selection despite him having proved his worth.
“My son loved cricket since the day his brother Gibson introduced the game to him, but his efforts to play the game were always frustrated.
“At one point, the headmaster at Prince Edward School, where my son had become the first black Zimbabwean to be offered a cricket scholarship, Mr (Clive) Barnes told me that ‘Your son is good at cricket and should be playing for the junior national teams, but it’s unfortunate that we have whites who are racist.’
Faced with such a hostile environment, Margaret made it a point never to miss Steve’s matches.
The ritual has continued — from his days at Takashinga Cricket Club, to being Under 19 coach, to his stint as Zimbabwe A coach and national team assistant coach — to this day.
Margaret explodes with a hearty laughter when asked if Mangongo, for all his perceived toughness, is a mummy’s boy.
“Oh, well, I don’t know about that, but we are close; I have been both mother and father, even friend, to him so you know how it is . . . Mwana mwana, shamwari (a child will always be a child, my friend.)
“I know people say he is tough on the players, but you know what Steve has so much passion; he is not cruel, no. He just wants the team to succeed and tells everyone the truth no matter how much it hurts.
“In his eyes, there is no black or white, everyone is Zimbabwean and equal,” she said.
Anything you think we don’t know about Steve?
“Plenty my son, plenty . . . but will just give you two. He has qualifications in Public Relations and loves tea so much.
“When he was young he would drink three cups of tea while his siblings would struggle to down a single one.
“I once asked him why he drinks so much tea and his answer was ‘cricket inondipedza power, amai, saka ndofanira kudya’ (Cricket is taxing, mom, I need to eat.)”
Anyone for tea?
