AS exclusively revealed by this publication early this week, Mbabane Highlanders have parted ways with their Zambian-born mentor Happy ‘Messiah’ Simfukwe.

These developments will probably come as little shock to many people as Simfukwe’s eminent departure from the ‘Black Bull kraal’- like symptoms of flu - has been long coming. Highlanders’ board of directors’ secretary Musa Masuku officially announced yesterday that Simfukwe was no longer their coach with immediate effect. True to this newspaper’s revelation on Tuesday, the team’s MTN league game against Hellenic FC, which they lost 0-1 on Wednesday night, was Simfukwe’s last assignment for the capital giants.
“We had a meeting as a team today (yesterday) where we came to the decision to terminate the services of Happy Simfukwe as our coach. I must mention that we have stood by the coach for a long time but upon seeing that the team’s performance was moving from bad to worse, we had to take this decision in the best interests of the team,” Masuku said. Adding, the long-serving Highlanders’ official explained that the team would temporarily be drilled by some senior players ahead of their SwaziBank Cup clash against Midas Mbabane City on Sunday at the Somhlolo National Stadium.
replacement
“We have tasked some of our senior players to take charge of the team while we look for Simfukwe’s replacement. I can, however, assure our supporters that we would have a new coach by next week when we prepare for our trip to Uganda for the CAF Cup. We are talking to some potential candidates but we have not yet finalised the deal,” he said.
It has been reliably gathered that captain ‘Mlungisi ‘Madzala’ Ngubane, attacking winger Nana Dlamini and industrious Congolese mid-fielder Mbaya Katala would temporarily be drilling the team in the absence of a permanent coach.
Efforts to trace comments from Simfukwe hit a snag at the time of compiling this report last night as his mobile phone rang unanswered. This was his second season with the black and white outfit after leading them to both the SwaziBank Cup and SwaziTelecom Charity Cup triumph last season.
His future with the team has been a subject of speculation in recent weeks after falling out-of-favour with the team’s management committee (MC) and supporters alike who have been openly showing their dissatisfaction over his coaching tactics. The defeat to Hellenic only helped to worsen his situation.
It is expected that Midas City’s coach Caleb Ngwenya, who was recently roped into the team’s technical bench as Simfukwe’s assistant, would be tasked with leading them during the CAF Confederation Cup second leg clash against Uganda’s Victors FC next week Friday