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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
SPORT and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane has applauded Highlanders FC for taking the initiative to communicate with their fans and generate income through a club magazine they launched last week. The publication will also be available on soft copy to widen their communication channels.

The Bulawayo giants, who ran a similar project in 2000, launched a monthly magazine called Bosso Bulletin, which will hit the streets next year.

Hlongwane urged other clubs to emulate Bosso, emphasising that communication between sporting institutions and their members is vital in sport governance.

“I want to commend the good work that I see in this magazine. This is a beautiful piece of work that I would like to encourage other clubs in the country to embrace and perhaps to follow and learn from Highlanders and other clubs that’ve done it as a way of making sure that they communicate,” said Hlongwane.

“What the club has decided to do is very important. One of the focal areas in the ministry, which will be rolled out starting next year, is governance. One of the things that’s key when we talk about governance is a sporting institution’s capacity to communicate with its stakeholders. A bulletin or magazine like this provides insights into what Highlanders is doing as an institution to the millions of fans that love Highlanders. The ability to reach out to your fans is part of the governance infrastructure as far as we’re concerned at the ministry.”

Hlongwane said through the bulletin, Highlanders will communicate their mind as an institution and also get feedback from their supporters.

Supporters will have their say through the letters to the editor column.

Hlongwane said the magazine has been launched at an opportune time as Bosso prepare for their 90th anniversary.

Highlanders’ chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede, who is also the Bosso Bulletin editor, said: “Highlanders is a big institution and has many stakeholders hence as club authorities, we’ve seen it fit to come up with a publication that would allow us to effectively communicate with our fans, sponsors, members, partners, footballers, prospective partners and the public in general. To make the magazine affordable to the whole cross section of our fans, the Bosso Bulletin will cost just $1.”

Gumede said he was confident that the club will generate substantial income through selling advertising space.