The Sunday Mail
Sports Editor
THE late Sables legend, Zivanai Dzinomurumbi, has been described as a pioneer and revolutionary who laid the foundation for black players to feature in the national senior rugby side.
He lost his battle against a heart ailment in Masvingo on Thursday.
He was 55.
Dzinomurumbi had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy — a disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body — and had been in and out of hospital over the last two years.
The former Sables centre, who also went on to coach the national team, was laid to rest at his sister’s farm near Serima Mission in Masvingo yesterday.
The funeral was attended by friends, family and colleagues, who included the Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) vice president (South) Martin Shone and Norton Member of Parliament Temba Mliswa.
Simply known as “Super Ziv” on the domestic and international rugby fronts, Dzinomurumbi was adored by many largely because of his dedication to the game and passion for youth development, especially the previously marginalised black players.
In a speech read on his behalf by Shone at the burial, ZRU president Aaron Jani paid a glowing tribute and chronicled the former Old Miltonians player’s contribution to the game.
Jani, himself a former Sables international, spoke about how Dzinomurumbi and other greats, who included Hall of Famer Richard Tsimba, laid the foundation for black talent to be appreciated and given a chance to play for the national team.
Despite the country attaining independence in 1980, rugby had largely remained a preserve of whites until the golden generation of Tsimba and Dzinomurumbi blazed the trail.
He also teamed up with the likes of Victor Olonga in the struggle against race-related injustices, especially in team selection for Zimbabwe’s tours.
“I first met Super Ziv in 1988 on the rugby field as a schoolboy on holiday who had been invited to play for OMs Rugby Club.
“I would later join OMs club as a wing and Ziv would be my centre.
“He was such a brilliant player that you only had to follow him and he would create gaps for you to score tries.
“I think what made him such a great centre was that for national team games, he would actually play as a wing, so he was very versatile,’’ Jani said.
However, his relationship with Dzinomurumbi had grown beyond the rugby fields over the years.
“Our relationship extended to off-the-field.
“Ziv was older than me, so he always made sure he looked after me, together with the other younger boys in the team like Victor Olonga.
“He gave us lifts to training and games, and also opened up his flat to us for food and entertainment.’’
It was, however, the pioneering role that Dzinomurumbi played for black players in the Sables that Jani believes will always remain etched in the memories of the local rugby family.
“Ziv was part of a small elite group of black rugby players who were pioneers in national rugby.
“Together with the likes of Julian Kamba, Richard Tsimba, Gilmore Kangai, Milton Nyala and many more, he showed us that black people could play good rugby.
“They opened the doors for us.
“They were the legends of rugby.
“For us as the rugby community, we are saddened by this loss and tears will never dry.
“On behalf of ZRU, the board, executive and the rugby community at large, we say fly high Ziv, your efforts and contribution to rugby will forever be cherished.
“Hamba kahle!” Jani said.
Dzinomurumbi is survived by four children — three boys and a girl.
Apart from being a Sables backline coach, he coached Old Miltonians and the Matabeleland senior men’s teams.
He also helped found a black-administered outfit, Highlanders, now known as Panthers.
Thirty-one years after he made his Test debut for Zimbabwe Sables in a crunch game against Ivory Coast in Harare, Dzinomurumbi on Thursday finally lost a different battle he had been fighting away from the green grass of Hartsfield, Harare Sports Club, Police Grounds, Old Hararians and Old Georgians.
And, as Jani pointed out, Zimbabwean rugby will be poorer without Super Ziv.
