NOMORE Mapanga, the young Harare businessman who died in Norton on Sunday night when the Lamborghini Urus he was driving overturned, has been remembered by colleagues as a focused entrepreneur who was destined for the stars.
Mapanga was 32. In a few short years, he had built a car dealership in Eastlea from the ground up and had become a recognised figure in Harare’s car-dealing community. Friends and fellow traders said his progress had been marked by discipline, ambition and a willingness to learn from people who had already established themselves in the business.
The crash happened as Mapanga and a friend were returning to Harare after travelling to Bulawayo on business during the weekend. The high-performance luxury SUV overturned in Norton, killing Mapanga and leaving his friend badly injured.
News of the accident left people in the motor-trading sector struggling to accept the loss of a businessman whose career was still gathering pace. Colleagues said Mapanga had been building both a successful company and a future for his young family.
“He was a rising member of our family as businessmen who buy and sell cars, you guys prefer to call us dealers but we are real businessmen,” said a colleague, who chose not to be identified.
“He started from the bottom but he had focus and within a short space of time he had built his car dealership from scratch into a thriving business.
“He was young but he was focussed and you could tell that he learnt from all the established guys who gave him a chance in this business by asking him to work for them.
“It’s a tragedy and we can only wonder the things he would have done if he had lived longer but that is life, isn’t it, we never know what happens tomorrow.”
Another businessman who buys and sells cars said Mapanga’s death had been difficult for his friends to absorb. He described him as energetic, determined and committed to giving his family a better life.
“It’s hard to accept my friend because you see this guy was full of life and he was building a future for himself and his young family and the signs were good,” he said.
“In our business, it’s not easy to make it, the competition is tight and there are many who have already made their name who dominate the business deals.
“But Nomore took his chance, he decided to try it and he made it and it’s sad that he has died so young.”
Mapanga had recently bought an apartment in Avondale West. He leaves behind a young wife and a child who was around 4 months old at the time of his death. His colleagues said the young family had been central to his plans and that his progress in business had given those around him confidence in what he could achieve.
“He was setting the right examples for his fellow young businessmen,” said a colleague.
“He had bought an apartment in Avondale West and he leaves behind a young wife, and a kid, who is around four months old.
“It’s sad, very sad.”
His body was expected to be collected from Doves, where a service was scheduled for 2pm in Harare on September 2. He was due to be buried at his rural home in Murehwa on September 3.
Scottland FC also sent a message of condolence to the Mapanga family. The club, which had recently been crowned PSL champions, said its president, Honourable Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya, and everyone at the club mourned the businessman’s death.
“Scottland FC presidet Honourable Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya and everyone at the club mourns the death of businessman Nomore Mapanda in a road accident on Sunday night.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the Mapanga family. May his soul rest in peace.”
The Norton crash came as Zimbabwe was again confronting the heavy human cost of road accidents. On August 28, 4 people were killed and 12 others injured in a head-on collision along the Roy–Buffalo Range Road in Masvingo Province.
The collision occurred at about 8pm at the 120-kilometre peg. A Toyota Hilux travelling towards Zaka, carrying 9 passengers, collided with a Nissan AD Van travelling towards Chiredzi, which had 5 passengers on board. The bodies of those who died were taken to Chiredzi General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examinations.
“The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred at the 120 kilometre peg along Roy–Buffalo Range Road on 28/08/26 at approximately 2000 hours,” the ZRP said.
“Four people were killed while 12 others were injured when a Toyota Hilux vehicle, which was travelling towards Zaka carrying nine passengers and a Nissan AD Van, which was travelling towards Chiredzi with five passengers, were involved in a head-on collision.
“The bodies of the victims were conveyed to the Chiredzi General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.”
The two recent accidents have brought renewed grief to families in different parts of the country, with one involving a private luxury SUV and the other involving public road travel between communities. In both cases, families were left waiting for news, while friends and colleagues were forced to make arrangements for funerals and medical care.
Mapanga’s death has also drawn comparisons with the crash that killed Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his younger brother André Silva in Spain in July 2025. The two incidents involved Lamborghini vehicles and two people travelling in the car.
Jota, 28, and Silva, 25, died in north-western Spain after their Lamborghini suffered a suspected tyre blowout. Spain’s Guardia Civil said the car had apparently been overtaking on the A52 motorway near Palacios de Sanabria when it left the road and burst into flames.
“Everything also points to a possible excessive speed beyond the speed limit of the road [highway],” said Zamora’s local traffic police.
Police also said they had studied the marks left by one of the Lamborghini’s tyres and that “all the tests carried out so far indicate that the driver of the crashed vehicle was Diogo Jota”. The intensity of the fire almost completely destroyed the vehicle.
Jota’s accident happened 11 days after he married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso. The couple had 3 children. The brothers had been travelling towards the Spanish port of Santander so that Jota could return to Liverpool for pre-season training.
For Mapanga’s colleagues, however, the focus remains on the young businessman they knew: a man who started with little, took an opportunity in a competitive industry and built a thriving dealership before his life was cut short.
His friends said he had shown other young entrepreneurs that progress was possible, even in a business where established dealers controlled many of the major deals. They said his story had been one of steady work, confidence and determination, and that his family, employees and friends would now have to carry on without him.
As preparations continued for his burial in Murehwa, tributes continued to describe Mapanga as a rising star whose achievements had come early, but whose ambitions had been far from complete.