HARARE – Former CAPS United coach Steve Kwashi has died aged 67.
Kwashi – who won the league title with United in 1996 – succumbed to Covid-19 at his Harare home on Monday morning, according to his son, Fungai.
Fungai said they would bury him on Tuesday in line with Covid-19 regulations which decree burials within 24 hours.
Kwashi’s coaching career was cut shot in 2001 after a horrific car accident while returning from a match in Hwange put him in a comma for seven months. After he was discharged, he had physical disabilities that left him unable to return to football.
The former Zimbabwe Saints and Dynamos winger spent the last 20 years completely dependent on his family as he struggled for speech and other routine physical activities like walking. He also suffered memory loss.
Before he was handed the coaching job at CAPS United, Kwashi took charge of Blue Line Aces.
His former Zimbabwe Saints teammate Gibson Homela said: “We played football together for a very long time at Zimbabwe Saints. He was a very talented young man, playing right wing and was very fast.
“I took him as a young brother in the sense that we both hailed from Zvishavane. When he left for Harare, I was also transferred by my employers, Edgars, to Harare but we still managed to fulfil the fixtures for Saints, who were based in Bulawayo.
“We teamed-up and had our own private training sessions at the Kopje area in Harare. There were four of us because we were also joined by Labani Kandi and Lucky Rufani.
“Every weekend I made it a point that I transported these guys to Bulawayo for the Saints’ games and we never missed a fixture. Such was the commitment, despite the distance.”
