{"id":47172,"date":"2026-01-10T23:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T23:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=47172"},"modified":"2026-01-10T23:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T23:02:48","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-highlanders-coach-thabo-senong-told-to-return-to-sa-by-zim-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/10\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-highlanders-coach-thabo-senong-told-to-return-to-sa-by-zim-authorities\/","title":{"rendered":"New Highlanders coach Thabo Senong told to return to SA by Zim authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-139503\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t<!-- .entry-header -->&#13;<br \/>\n    &#13;<br \/>\n\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"478\" height=\"264\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/New-Highlanders-coach-Thabo-Senong-told-to-return-to-SA.jpg?resize=478%2C264&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"object-contain h-46 w-full rounded-lg  md:rounded-none md:rounded-lg wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.soccer24.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Thabo-Senong-190828-G1050.jpg?w=905&amp;ssl=1 905w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.soccer24.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Thabo-Senong-190828-G1050.jpg?resize=300%2C166&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.soccer24.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Thabo-Senong-190828-G1050.jpg?resize=768%2C424&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.soccer24.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Thabo-Senong-190828-G1050.jpg?resize=478%2C264&amp;ssl=1 478w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content custom-text-styles\">\n<div class=\"soccer24-advanced-banner soccer24-banner-type-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/New-Highlanders-coach-Thabo-Senong-told-to-return-to-SA.jpeg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Banner2image\" class=\"soccer24-banner-image\"\/><\/div>\n<p>Highlanders\u2019 newly appointed coach, Thabo Senong, has been forced to return to his native South Africa after being advised to do so by Zimbabwean immigration authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Senong arrived in the country earlier this week ahead of his official unveiling as the new Bosso head coach. He takes over from Dutchman Pieter De Jongh, whose contract expired on 31 December.<\/p>\n<p>According to the club, the coach entered Zimbabwe on a visitor\u2019s visa and successfully submitted his application for a work permit. However, immigration officials later instructed him to leave the country to avoid breaching the conditions of his stay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegional Immigration Office officials visited the club and advised that, having successfully completed the permit application process, coach Thabo Senong is required to leave the country with immediate effect so that he does not engage in any activities that may jeopardise the work permit application.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe club proceeded as advised and managed to secure an afternoon flight back to South Africa for him today,\u201d Highlanders told Zimpapers.<\/p>\n<p>Senong will be assisted by former Bosso striker Mkhokheli Dube, while the rest of the technical team will be finalised soon.<\/p>\n<p>The club is also expected to appoint former Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari as technical director, a role that will see him working closely with the incoming coach as part of Highlanders\u2019 restructuring plans ahead of the new season.<\/p>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related Posts<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .entry-content -->&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n\t<!-- \n\n<footer class=\"entry-footer\">\n\t\t<span class=\"cat-links\">Posted in Local<\/span><span class=\"tags-links\">Tagged Highlanders, Thabo Senong<\/span>\t<\/footer>\n\n -->&#13;<br \/>\n    &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Highlanders #coach #Thabo #Senong #told #return #Zim #authorities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; Highlanders\u2019 newly appointed coach, Thabo Senong, has been forced to return to his native South Africa&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[146,573,230,1152,9516,5830,7613,691],"class_list":["post-47172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-example-3","tag-authorities","tag-coach","tag-highlanders","tag-return","tag-senong","tag-thabo","tag-told","tag-zim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47174,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47172\/revisions\/47174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}