Ex-SuperSport United defender Nyasha Chazika has fallen on hard times in Zimbabwe, where he is living in poverty.
During his three-year stint in the South African top flight from 2003 to 2005, he pocketed thousands of rands in wages while also leading a decent life.
But now, the former defence stalwart tells how his riches to rags ordeal has left him on the verge of drug abuse.
Chazika was close to tears as he lamented how his relatives abandoned him despite being their breadwinner at some point.
CHAZIKA TRYING TO SURVIVE
“My relatives abandoned me. They left me despite that I gave them money, I paid for schools for them and their children, so I’m in pain because of that.
“Like my brother [James] was saying, I’m not a drug abuser, but my relatives mistreated me. It’s like they dumped me straight into the bins like trash,” Chazika said as he battled to withhold tears.
The former Dynamos captain added: “I’m trying to survive alone, but I have friends who have money so much that if you’re told that he was Nyasha’s best friend, you might deny it and think I will be lying.
“So it pains me that I am suffering in their eyes, yet some of them actually owe me, but it’s now challenging for me to get the money back from them.
“I have accepted this life, and I surrendered everything to God. I appreciate my brother [James]. He has been the only supportive person to me.
“Had he been in a better situation, maybe I wouldn’t be suffering like this.”
THE FORMER PSL DEFENDER’s BRIEF HISTORY
Chazika is fondly remembered in Zimbabwe for the captaincy role he played during the famous ‘kidznet’ era at Dynamos, then under Moses Chunga.
He rose through the ranks from the Dynamos juniors in the early 2000s, and his brilliance deservedly attracted SuperSport United to sign him in 2003.
Sadly a nagging knee injury hampered his promising career as it kept him sidelined for the better part of his stay at the club while he also struggled to pin down a first-team jersey at Matsatsantha.
After leaving South Africa in 2005, the then-talented defender traced his footsteps to Dynamos, a club that gave him fame during the ‘kidznet’ days.
The former Young Warriors captain later played for the now-defunct Buymore and Harare giants Caps United.
With Caps United, he won one league title but was released at the start of 2009 before earning a living by playing in the Harare-based Bankers Social League.
