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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
SPORTS Journalists Association Southern Region (SpojaSR) has appealed to the city fathers to honour the late veteran boxing trainer Phillip ‘‘Striker’’ Ndlovu by allowing him to be buried at the Lady Stanley Cemetery where other Bulawayo icons are buried.

Ndlovu succumbed to prostate cancer at his Ejingeni Flat in Makokoba suburb yesterday morning at the age of 66.

In a condolence message to the Ndlovu family, SpojaSR, secretary-general Nash Mukokwayarira said it was only befitting that Striker be buried where the remains of other civic heroes and heroines of Bulawayo are interred.

“Philip ‘Striker’ Ndlovu is no more and we offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and the whole boxing fraternity.

“No doubt Striker is a hero and a legend when it comes to boxing in the City of Bulawayo and the entire country.

“It can only be befitting that he be buried where other heroes and heroines are buried. We are hoping that the city fathers will give him the honour he deserves and offer Lady Stanley as his final resting place,” said Mukokwayarira.

For someone to be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery, that person must have made an outstanding contribution to the well-being of the community in one or more of the fields of social activities, civic matters, education, religious leadership, business leadership, sport, charity, journalism, philanthropy, trade unionism and invention which benefited the community as a whole and any other outstanding contribution as may be deemed appropriate from time to time.

Other sporting personalities that lie buried at the civic shrine include Willard Mashinkila Khumalo, Adam Ndlovu, Barry Daka and Mephias Webb.

If the request is granted, Ndlovu will become the first non-footballer from the sports sector to be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery.

In his prime, Ndlovu identified and trained a number of Bulawayo boxers who include former World Boxing Association (WBA) Pan African heavyweight champion Thamsanqa Dube and ex-World Boxing Federation (WBF) Africa heavyweight title holder Elvis ‘Bulawayo Bomber’ Moyo.

He was an influential figure in Zimbabwean boxing in the past 30 years and many top boxers passed through his hands at Tshaka Youth Centre where Ndlovu was the resident coach.