After missing out on defending the Premiership title, Ngezi Platinum Stars have set their sights on the Chibuku Super Cup as they eye a quick return to the African Safari.
For the platinum miners, competing in the African Safari is part of the club's long-term plan to compete at the high-est level on the continent.
Club president Takawira Maswiswi told Zimpapers Sport that winning the Chibuku Super Cup will be a consolation for the club after missing out on the league title.
Ngezi Platinum Stars face Dynamos in the Chibuku Super Cup final at the end of the month, a repeat of last year's final.
Dynamos won the final 2-0 at the Baobab and Ngezi Platinum Stars now hope to turn the tables and win at DeMbare's home stadium.
"It would have been good to win the title two years in a row, but a top-three finish is something that we can equally be proud of.
"Our eyes are now on the Chibuku final and yes, it is some sort of consolation for us. If we can get some silverware this season, it will be quite some consolation for us," said Maswiswi.
Maswiswi said that consistently playing in the African Safari is one of the club's main objectives "We intend to have Ngezi Platinum Stars emerge as one of the key contenders on the African continent.
"And if we do win the Chibuku Cup, which we hope we will, it means we go back into Africa, we'll get experience, we'll start playing against the big teams because that is where we want to be and we want to be consistently in Africa.
"So in the next five to ten years, we want to build a strong team that competes at the highest level in Africa and that is the legacy we want to create and it will go beyond ten years," said the Ngezi Platinum Stars president.
Amid speculation of late payment of players last month, Maswiswi admits that the operating environment has not been ideal for clubs in the country.
"We can't talk about player welfare in the public domain, but what I can comment on and say is that we have established Ngezi Platinum Stars as a very solid club in terms of structure, in terms of the systems we have, and the investment that we've put into the club over the years.
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"If you look at the situation in Zimbabwe over the past few months particularly, we have seen a lot of businesses in distress.
"Ngezi Platinum Stars is not alone in terms of being exposed to the environment in Zimbabwe. A lot of clubs, in fact probably almost all the clubs in the PSL are affected one way or the other to a different magnitude," said Maswiswi.
