SOUTH African coach Thabo Senong has finally lifted the lid on the “unfair” collapse of his tenure at Highlanders.
The tactician revealed he was forced to choose between his professional integrity and a compromised role after the club pivoted to Benjani Mwaruwari under pressure from financial backers.
Speaking in an extensive interview with Metro FM’s Andile Ncube on Tuesday night, the former Amajita coach confirmed that despite being the legally appointed head coach, he chose to step aside rather than participate in a “messy” technical reshuffle in the best interests of the club.
The timeline of the deal paints a picture of a club caught between a signed agreement and a massive financial windfall.
Senong confirmed that after four weeks of negotiations with Highlanders, he signed a two-year contract on December 9 last year.
He arrived in Zimbabwe on January 5, but was forced to return to South Africa after immigration issues delayed his work permit, a development that marked the beginning of complications in his engagement with the club.
“During the process of the work permit application, that is when developments started unfolding while I was back in Johannesburg,” Senong said.
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“The club management, particularly the CEO, kept updating me on discussions within the executive committee, especially around changes that were being proposed by some financial backers of the club.”
The “financial backers” in question expressed interest in injecting financial support into the club on condition that a different coach be appointed.
It was during these discussions that the name of Mwaruwari, a former Warriors captain, was proposed.
“They were mindful that I had a two-year contract, so I was consulted,” Senong explained. “There were suggestions that I could take up the role of assistant coach or technical director.”
The shadow of club benefactor Wicknell Chivayo looms large over this transition.
On December 1, a week before Senong signed his contract, Chivayo had publicly proposed that Highlanders engage Mwaruwari, offering to cover his contractual obligations.
Following Mwaruwari’s formal unveiling last week, Chivayo gifted the club US$300 000 to cover the coach’s annual salary and player engagements, alongside a luxury bus worth US$285 000 and a pledged vehicle for the former Manchester City striker.
For Senong, the proposal to shift into a secondary role did not sit well with him, given the original agreement.
“I had committed myself wholeheartedly to lead the team’s project,” he said.
“It was disappointing for management to expect me to shift roles. I have no issues with any position in football.
“I respect both the assistant coach and technical director roles — but that was not how this process started. I felt it was unfair for me to readjust simply to satisfy the executive and financial backers.
“I, therefore, thought it was only fair to remove myself from the project and allow Benjani to implement his own ideas.”
Despite the public handover to Mwaruwari, the situation remains legally complex.
Senong remains contractually bound to the club, a point of contention that was discussed at Highlanders’ annual general meeting on Sunday.
The executive committee indicated that engagements with Senong are still ongoing to find an amicable resolution.
For now, the “Senong Era” ends before it truly began — a casualty of the high-stakes intersection of footballing contracts and deep-pocketed benefactors.
