Charles Yohane
Charles Yohane | |
---|---|
Born | Mbare | August 26, 1973
Died | February 12, 2022 | (aged 48)
Body discovered | Mzimhlophe Hostel, Soweto, South Africa |
Residence | Zimbabwean |
Occupation |
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Years active | 1990s-present |
Known for |
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Charles Yohane was a former Zimbabwean footballer and sports personality who played for a number of local and foreign clubs including Wits University as well as the Zimbabwe National Soccer Team.
Background
Charles Yohane was born on 26 August 1973.
He was born as the fourth of seven kids in the high-density suburb of Mbare.[1]
Career
Charles Yohane was part of the warriors' team that played in the 2004 AFCON finals held in Tunisia. The team was coached by a veteran football legend Sunday Chidzambwa and captained by the heroic Peter Ndlovu. He played as a defender in a team that included football legends such as Peter Ndlovu, Lazarus Muhoni, Wilfred Mugeyi and Kaitano Tembo.
Yohane came through the Dynamos junior ranks before switching to Fire Batteries where he played with Gilbert and Kelvin Mushangazhike along with Innocent Chikoya and Mike Maringa, who was once with Kaizer Chiefs.
In January 1995, he arrived in South Africa joining the Gordon Igesund coached African Wanderers along with Chikoya earning R900.
The following year, while Chikoya moved with Igesund to Manning Rangers, Yohane returned to Zimbabwe to win the title with CAPS United.
From CAPS United, Yohane joined South African club AmaZulu at the recommendation of Mike Makaab.
Just months into his stay at Amazulu he had an offer to move to Saudi Arabia where he would have earned R45 000 with a signing on fee which would have reached R500 000 but missed out and stayed on to continue earning R6 000 in Durban.
After a year and a half with AmaZulu, he moved to Wits University where Charles Yohane played over 200 games before joining FC AK during the winter of 2006 earning double what he was getting with Bidvest Wits plus medical aid and accommodation.[1]
He returned was back at Wits in 2008 as a developmental coach.[2]
Yohane played for Bidvest Wits and held the record for appearances at the club, after playing for them 268 times, over a period stretching between 1997 to 2006.[3]
Coaching
In September 2020, Charles Yohane was left jobless after Bidvest Wits sold their franchise to TTM, who took the first team to Polokwane and changed the name, from the 2021 season. Yohane had joined the Bidvest Wits developmental side in 2008 but, eight months later he left because there was a stint he had at FC AK to play in First Division. He returned to Bidvest Wits to be a player/coach.[3]
At the time of his death, Yohane was driving for e-hailing service Bolt on a part-time basis after training sessions at the academy where he was coaching.[1]
Death
In February 2022, Charles Yohane was murdered during a carjacking in South Africa.[4]
Reports indicated that one of the suspects in Yohane’s murder was arrested in Soweto after he was found driving around in the deceased’s car.
Yohane went missing on 12 February 2022 only for his body to be found by his family and friends in South Africa on 15 February 2022 with a gunshot wound in the head.
According to family members, Yohane had gone to a match and encountered the carjackers in Soweto on his way home.
CCTV footage of Yohane’s kidnapping at a traffic light emerged where a gang of four men jumped into his BMW vehicle and forced him to drive off.
The gang had reportedly failed in an attempt to hijack another car before they attacked Yohane.
After the arrest of one of the suspects in Soweto on 14 February 2022, while driving around in the car, the search for Yohane narrowed to the Soweto area and on 15 February 2022, with the help of the police, his body was positively identified.
One of his friends and former Warriors defender, Innocent Chikoya identified Charles Yohane’s body on 16 February 2022.
The family started the process to repatriate the remains, with former Zimbabwe footballers pooling resources to help in the repatriation via a local funeral services company.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Details revealed on Charles Yohane's death, KickOff, Published: February 16, 2022, Retrieved: February 16, 2022
- ↑ Grace Chingoma, Yohane reveals how he nearly snubbed SA, The Herald, Published: September 24, 2020, Retrieved: February 15, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Grace Chingoma, Wits’ collapse leaves Yohane jobless, The Herald, Published: September 12, 2020, retrieved: February 15, 2022
- ↑ Charles Yohane found murdered in SA, Soccer24, Published: February 15, 2022, Retrieved: February 15, 2022
- ↑ Kevin Mapasure, Yohane’s murder: details emerge, NewsDay, Published: February 16, 2022, Retrieved: February 16, 2022