FUNERAL services company Doves Funeral Assurance has pledged to continue honouring some of the country’s sporting luminaries of years gone by after coming to the aid of Zimbabwe football legend George “Mastermind” who recently celebrated his 77th birthday.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
As a way of honouring Shaya, Doves Funeral Assurance and its South Africa-based sister company Zororo-Phumulani Repatriation and Funeral Plan, hosted a belated birthday party for him at his Glen Norah home in the capital.
The company also pledged to provide monthly groceries on top of a curved 65-inch UHD TV birthday present at the event that coincided with Shaya’s golden jubilee marriage anniversary with wife Agnes.
It was indeed pomp and funfare as the event that saw popular and talented acoustic soul singer Gemma Griffiths, who is also Zororo-Phumulani Repatriation and Funeral Plan ambassador, entertaining guests among them other football legends like Shaya’s close friend, David George.
Addressing the guests, Doves Funeral Assurance managing director Talent Mazivisa paid tribute to Shaya’s contribution to the football fraternity. Shaya is one of the greatest players to emerge on the domestic football scene and won on the Soccer Star of the Year accolade a record five times.
“It is an honour to be here as Doves recognising the value of our legends be it in the cultural sphere or key figures within our realm. We should at every turn appreciate our living legends. We should ensure that the livelihoods of those who raised our flag are sustained,” he said.
“We are the water around this fish, our legends, the moment the water moves away the fish will die. Let us support our legends while they are alive. As the business community, we have to realise that sports have a short lifespan and we have to identify sound safety nets so that in the post-sport era one still retains sustenance of their livelihoods.”
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Mazivisa challenged the corporate world to come up with compact measures that could sustain the lives of sportspeople after their prime.
Zororo-Phumulani Repatriation and Funeral Plan operations director Brian Makunike told Standard Sport that as part of their social responsibility, they reach out to different people across the borders.
“As a leading funeral service and repatriation company, Zororo-Phumulani Repatriation and Funeral Plan deals with a lot of grieving families so we are the first ones to know that it is important to celebrate life and this time around we are celebrating with a football legend, George Shaya, who has achieved a lot for the country,” he said.
“We have been in touch with Mrs Shaya and one of the things that comes with being in touch with a person is that you get to understand the things that they may require. Mrs Shaya has been planning this and all we needed to do was to follow her lead in order that hopefully we would be able to put a smile on this football legend.”
Doves Funeral Assurance and its South Africa-based sister company Zororo-Phumulani Repatriation and Funeral Plan are also the sponsors of the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe’s Player of the Month award since October last year.
