Donovan Bernard has not been lucky on South African soil.
The gifted goalkeeper, one of the best in Zimbabwe, has been so unlucky as far as the Rainbow Nation is concerned.
In July 2022, the soft-spoken shot-stopper packed his bags, said goodbye to his Chicken Inn teammates and left for South Africa.
The reigning Goalkeeper of the Year had agreed to join South African First Division side Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM).
Everything was on course for the deal until the Limpopo-based side changed the goalposts on the player’s wages at the eleventh hour.
They made a sudden U-turn and offered Bernard the same salary he was getting at Chicken Inn.
The deal collapsed and returned to Zimbabwe, to the surprise of many.
In June 2024, Bernard returned to South Africa after his drafted into the Warriors squad for the World Cup qualifier against Lesotho.
Interim coach Jairos Tapera trusted Bernard and named him into the starting eleven for the clash against the Crocodiles at the Orlando Stadium.
He made a costly howler which gifted Lesotho the opening goal, and the Warriors lost 2-0.
So costly was the error that football fans bombarded his Facebook page with insults, and he temporarily deactivated it.
Earlier this month, another opportunity in South Africa came for Bernard.
It emerged that another South African First Division side, Kruger United, were interested in Bernard.
An agreement was made between the Mpumalanga-based side and Chicken Inn for the transfer of Bernard.
On July 7, Chicken Inn announced on X, formerly Twitter, that Bernard had moved to South Africa.
“Goodbye Donovan, 138 games for us. It’s been a blast, all the best in your next chapter,” read the post by the Gamecoks.
Fate had other ideas though, and just like the last deal, this one also collapsed at the eleventh hour.
It later emerged that Chicken Inn had not given Bernard his clearance because they were waiting for Kruger to pay transfer fee for the goalkeeper in full, which never happened.
Reports of financial problems at the South African club surfaced, the deal was not done despite Bernard traveling to Mpumalanga.
It collapsed and he is back at Chicken Inn.
