As Dynamos Football Club languishes in the relegation zone in the 2025 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season, former defender Cephas Chimedza has lifted the lid on a chaotic episode from 2003, revealing how the club's struggles have long roots stretching back over two decades.
In a candid and, at times, humorous recollection, Chimedza described how Dynamos, then in the middle of a title race, travelled in what he bluntly termed “a death trap” of a bus, one that, by all standards, should never have been on the road. He said:
Writing about Dynamos missing out on the league title in 2003 got me thinking about something crazy that happened that season.
Dynamos had a bus like the one on the photo,that bus to put it lightly was a death trap,it was not supposed to be on the road at all.
The only players who could operate the troubled vehicle were Tendai Tanyanyiwa and Munyaradzi Mashiri, who became makeshift co-drivers.
On one unforgettable Sunday, while en route to a match at Rufaro Stadium, the bus broke down near Holiday Inn in Harare. Efforts to revive it failed, forcing players into an unexpected and awkward situation.
Dressed in their match kits with no phones or money, standard practice since only players travelled to matches, the team faced being stranded.
In a bizarre twist, their title rivals AmaZulu, known for their Seventh-day Adventist Christian values, happened to be camped at the same hotel. Chimedza recalled with a laugh:
Now here is the crazy part, we realised AmaZulu whom we were in a title race with were camped at Holiday Inn, we saw them going onto a big luxurious bus. They were going to play at Gwanzura.
I'm not sure if it was Lenny [Gwata] or Agent [Sawu] who went to talk to an official of AmaZulu to give us a lift to Rufaro Stadium as they would pass by Rufaro.
As we all know, the AmaZulu brand was built on the Christian SDA faith,so as good Christians they "happily" gave us a lift.
But the ride was far from comfortable. Said Chimedza:
In football, we have to sing to get ourselves in the game, that singing unites you, it gives you that confidence, you know the feeling.
Up to now, I still get goosebumps watching teams singing. Unfortunately, on that day it was awkward, how do we do it?
We couldn't be on other people's bus and start singing. We just had to look for free seats or just sit next to someone and smile politely. Deep inside I just wanted to start singing Dembare yaita mamony
The story only got more absurd. Dropped off at the main road near Rufaro, the team had to walk in full kit through crowds of fans to the stadium gate.
But without a bus in sight, officials inside refused to believe the actual team had arrived. Said Chimedza:
The main gate where we had to use was always packed with people trying to get in for free and the people manning it used to ignore the banging because they knew it was just people wanting some favours.
So there we were standing there and dealing with young boys asking for bandages and some daring fans asking if you may take them in with you.
The main gate at Rufaro is/was solid, so the guys inside would open just a crack to take a peek, they were being told the team is here but they could not see the bus, so they were not opening the gate.
Eventually let in, the team had just ten minutes to prepare for the match. Reflected Chimedza:
It was just a normal day for anyone associated with Dynamos, it was not seen as an embarrassing episode or something that needed to be addressed.