Beating transport blues…H’LANDERS BUS  EN ROUTE TO BYO The Highlanders luxurious Marcopolo bus
The Highlanders luxurious Marcopolo bus

The Highlanders luxurious Marcopolo bus

Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS Football Club’s transport woes are set to end on Saturday when the Bulawayo giants take delivery of a luxurious bus. The bus has already been branded and is expected to arrive in the city anytime from today after a driver was dispatched to collect it from neighbouring South Africa.

The arrival of the luxury coach would be a relief to the financially-crippled club that has been hiring transport and spending up to $1,000 to fulfil matches outside Bulawayo.

Highlanders set aside $20,000 from their 2013 Mbada Diamonds Cup pickings to buy the bus in South Africa and the club’s long time benefactor Tshinga Dube provided an additional $25,000.

The air-conditioned Marcopolo bus has a toilet and state-of-the-art entertainment system.

Bosso should have taken delivery of the bus at the beginning of this year but failed to raise enough money to pay for duty after their efforts to get a tax waiver from the government failed.

Highlanders’ chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede said yesterday that a club member in the transport business offered Bosso his driver and fuel to collect the bus from South Africa.

“A bona fide member of the club, who prefers to remain anonymous and is involved in freight services, offered to send his driver, who is familiar with the South African route to pick the bus for Highlanders,” said Gumede.

All importation documents are said to have been completed.

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to handover the bus to the club at a star rally at Barbourfields Stadium on Saturday marking the end of Dube’s campaign for the vacant Makokoba parliamentary seat. Dube is contesting the elections on a Zanu-PF ticket.

There will be a road show to unveil the bus to Bulawayo residents starting at the Large City Hall and ending at Barbourfields Stadium. There will be a stopover in Makokoba’s Fusini area before the bus heads to Emagumeni.

Pictures of the bus have already flooded social media.

Bosso declined the usage of a coach availed to them by Nyaradzo Funeral Services because of contractual obligations which they felt were likely to clash with the interests of their primary sponsors BancABC.

The funeral services provider gave Highlanders’ rivals Dynamos a similar bus last year and DeMbare have been using it despite being sponsored by BancABC.

According to impeccable sources, Nyaradzo Funeral Services were supposed to use the club to market their services.

BancABC have exclusive rights in terms of branding and the club felt that since the bank pays the players’ salaries, it could not risk jeorpadising the relationship.

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