Winky D

Yoliswa Dube, Sunday Life Reporter
HIS high-octane performances will keep you on your feet with your eyes firmly fixed on him.

The king of dancehall, Winky D (real name Wallace Chirumiko) comes with him a captivating aura.

He walks onto the stage and before he even opens his mouth, elation can be felt in the atmosphere.

Gaffa, as he is affectionately known by his fans, commands his ship like a true boss as the decibels hit the high notes and the low notes.

And with every line that rolls from his tongue comes an unfazed dose of energy.

He has headlined numerous shows and become known for upstaging international artistes.

Winky D comes on stage and you know it’s going down. He has an array of accolades to his name — no one can dispute his king of dancehall status.

Off stage — from your car radio or through headphones connected to your cellphone — the ninja president’s instrumentals and lyrics will either leave you grooved up or thinking deeply.

In his latest offering Panorwadza Moyo, Winky D features the superstar Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi in what has proven to be an epic track and sealed legendary status for him.

Panorwadza Moyo (where the heart aches), is a track that says Zimdancehall, Winky D, and indeed the entire music industry in Zimbabwe has arrived and asserted its place as a vehicle, not only for entertainment in the nation and beyond, but also to take profound messages to the people.

Winky D is an internationally-recognised artiste who has flown the country’s flag high on various stages across the world.

Many believe he has arrived — he is all that and a bag of chips.

But he doesn’t seem to think so. The 30-something-year-old musician carries a burden in his heart. He is yet to live his dream.

Performing at the Golden Pilsener Afro Fusion Music Concert recently, Winky D, who some have described as a snob, shared intimate thoughts in what was the most emotional interlude of his performance.

Introducing his yet to be officially released song titled 25, Winky D asked his fans not to dance and listen to the lyrics, which he said were close to his heart.

“The song is called 25 and I want you to listen carefully to the lyrics. I don’t want you to dance Bulawayo — just listen because I know you can relate to this. The song talks about the things I wanted growing up but look at me, I’m now 30-something and I still haven’t achieved these things,” said Winky D.

The song describes the aspirations he had as a growing young man. He hoped to have amassed wealth and married a beautiful woman by the time he was 25 but now in his 30s, Winky D says he is yet to live his dream.

The emotional Gaffa who kept demanding his fans’ sober attention said he did not imagine he would have to endure certain struggles in his life and still have to deal with them to date.

“Let me explain it . . . Ndichikura ndaiti ma funny handimbotambura mari pa corner toita dzekusakura ndaiti pa25 hazvizofi zvakandinetsa kuzoisa food patafura but zvandiremera pandakura, Gaffa rikunetseka ndakura . . . Ndaiti ndikasvika 25 ndaigaya ndenge ndine better life ma jaguar pa den neka nice ndaigayira ka life kekudenga denga,” chanted Winky D.

Winky D alludes to how this confusion exposed him to advice from other “ghetto youths” who suggested he try different “deals” and “hustle” for money.

As if assuming the role of big brother, Winky D says although certain goals may not be achieved at set targets — throwing in the towel is never an option.

He said being guided by vision is a key component in attaining any form of success.

“Bulawayo, I said please don’t make any noise — I want you to catch the lyrics . . . Ndavhura maziso ndabva nda facer reality, ndabata musoro ndati chii nhai ichi. Zvinoda vision musa lacker sight. Pachi gaffa ndinoti just do it,” sang the dancehall igwe.

His manager, Jonathan Banda, said despite winning the hearts of many and asserting himself as indefatigable, Winky D is a humble man.

“Winky D still survives in the ghetto. He doesn’t drive a fancy car, he’s a humble man and will use anything that can move him from one place to the other,” said Banda.

A curious question among his many fans, especially women, has always been — is Winky D married?

Said Banda: “Let me put it this way — Winky D is many people. He’s an artiste, he’s a producer — Winky D is management. The only person who can get married is Wallace.”

@Yolisswa

Delta Milayo Ndou
It is not often that one gets to revisit a column they used to pen, it feels like trying to rekindle a love affair and feeling anxious about how the other person will respond to the conciliatory overtures.

I think Adele in her music consistently captures that sense of apprehension and encapsulates the courage it takes to allow yourself to be vulnerable especially when you don’t know for certain how your return will be received.

I return to pen this column, in an Adele-sque spirit of hopefulness, vulnerability and reconciliation to say: “I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited but I couldn’t stay away” so “I was wondering if after all these years you would like to meet and go over everything”? So, hello dear reader — it’s me.

Over the last three years, I have had many people ask me why I don’t write the ‘Heartbreak’ column anymore, some of them have invited me to take up the craft again because the column and the conversations I struck up were meaningful, important and insightful to them.

I have often proffered many reasons as to why I don’t write anymore and space does not allow, in this instance, for me to exhaust those reasons. But I can readily answer the question of why I am writing now.

The answer is that I would like to make an appeal, a plea for help and a call for solidarity on behalf of my former boss, mentor, colleague and friend whose baby urgently needs a liver transplant within a month.

I have been led to believe – and I hope I am being neither presumptuous nor misguided on the matter — that I had or still have a considerable following drawn from a cross-section of our society who enjoyed reading the Heartbreaks column.

So I have come up with an admittedly unusual fundraising proposal to aid in raising $43 000 for the liver transplant that Manqoba Mabhena, the nine-month-old daughter of Lawson Mabhena (a treasured friend) urgently requires. Manqoba was born with a condition called biliary atresia, diagnosed when she was five months old. Then, surgeons couldn’t perform any corrective surgery because the liver was showing signs of significant damage, leaving the only option being a liver transplant.

And the sad story is that her liver can fail to function any time from now. The doctors said the biliary atresia is life-threatening if uncorrected. And performing corrective surgery after 120 days of life makes it unhelpful.

My proposal to you dear reader, or rather, to you dear follower of Heartbreaks Column is as follows: for every $10 that is donated towards this cause, I will pen and publish a Heartbreaks article on the Sunday News website and Facebook page daily and on the print edition weekly. What this means is, if $100 is raised for example, then I owe our Sunday News readers, 10 Heartbreaks articles.

So in practical terms this is how it will work. If you would like to take up this cause and help the Sunday News family to raise funds for our Baby Manqoba Mabhena please make an EcoCash contribution of $10 to Econet number 0772935224 (that line belongs to the baby’s mother — Shamiso Yikoniko). Once you have made your contribution please send me a WhatsApp confirmation on 0718686240 so that I can keep track of how many articles I owe and how much we would have raised as we kick-start this unorthodox fundraising initiative.

You can also confirm your contribution by posting on the Sunday News Zimbabwe Facebook page or tagging Sunday News on Twitter (@SundayNewsZimba) using hashtags #SaveManqoba and #SundayNewsSolidarity.

You can email me on ndou.milayo@gmail.com or tag me on Twitter @deltandou or send me an inbox on Facebook (Delta Milayo Ndou) — I will endeavour to check my messages regularly and respond.

The gist of my appeal in summary, and to paraphrase Adele’s lyrics: Hello, it’s me, I was wondering if after all these years, you’d like to collaborate; and help me raise funds for Baby Manqoba?

Let’s bring back the Heartbreaks column, for a worthy cause.

The sum of money required to save Baby Manqoba is quite substantial but if we can pool our resources, amplify the plea of the Mabhena family, perhaps someone somewhere can make a contribution, no matter how small towards raising the $43 000.

Other ways to contribute or assist include:

i) Bank transfer or deposit to:

Name: Shamiso Yikoniko

Bank: FBC Bank

Branch: FBC Centre

Account Number: 3070070770125

ii) EcoCash whatever amount you can spare to Shamiso Yikoniko on 0772935224.

iii) Contribute online via GoFundMe campaign set up by Netsai Margareth Machingambi-Mhlanga. Just ‘Google’ the fundraising campaign titled ‘New Liver for baby Manqoba’.

) If you are corporate, you can sponsor the Walk For Manqoba campaign that is being spearheaded by Bulawayo journalists.

iv) If you are a well-wisher, you can take part in the above mentioned Walk For Manqoba sponsored walk on 1 October from the Large City Hall car park at 7am. You will need to make a small contribution of $5 (for adults) and $2 (for kids) to register and you will receive a free T-shirt.

v) If you are an artist and would like to assist, sign up to perform with other Bulawayo artists who will provide free entertainment at Hillside Dams at the end of the sponsored walk on 1 October.

vi) If you cannot take part in the sponsored walk and cannot make any monetary contribution — you can still play a huge role by spreading the word on social media and in your spheres of influence — we would greatly appreciate that.
Please Note: The Heartbreaks articles that you sponsor will be uploaded on to the Sunday News website at 2pm daily and shared on Facebook and Twitter using hashtag #SundayNewsSolidarity and #SaveManqoba. Please link up with me on WhatsApp (0718686240) if you are interested in taking up this noble cause.

Delta Milayo Ndou is a former Sunday News staffer who penned the hugely popular ‘Heartbreaks’ column. Reviving this column is her way of contributing towards the ongoing fundraising efforts to get Manqoba Mabhena a new liver.

Shamiso Yikoniko with baby Manqoba

Delta Milayo Ndou

FORGIVENESS is romanticised. This thought occurred to me when I was reflecting on a message from a married man who is trying to reconcile with his wife whom he cheated on.

The man sent me a message sounding very remorseful and admitting to an affair that resulted in a child whom he says he has not seen or given his attention to because he blames that child for the ruination of his marriage. And he admits that it is unreasonable to blame the child but, in trying to track where things went horribly wrong in his marriage, he finds that having a child out wedlock is the greatest offense he committed against his wife.

His wife left him and is adamant that she doesn’t want to reconcile; they have three kids and would have celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary in a few weeks. Now it is all gone. And the only way to save the marriage and rebuild the relationship is if his wife forgives him and takes him back. According to this man, he has sent emissaries, deployed family elders to go and plead with his wife on his behalf to no avail.

I cringed a bit when I got to that part of sending a delegation of elders to ‘reason’ with the wife because I could imagine how the conversation must have gone. I am sure the wife was reminded that men do this all the time, that other women have faced similar situations, that all men are the same and she doesn’t stand a hope of finding a man who won’t do the same or maybe even worse.

I could imagine them telling her that the baby is innocent and has done no wrong and so she must accept the situation because it has already happened. I have a problem with this kind of intervention because in many ways it is designed to downplay the pain of the betrayed woman by pointing to all other cases as if to imply that being subjected to excruciating heartache is all a normal part of being married to a cheat.

How about we take a step back and honour this person’s pain, acknowledge that her feelings are legitimate and her grievances are valid and that she has been wronged in the most profound ways possible?

Can we make it okay for the betrayed wife to express anger and hurt and unimaginable pain before we try to ram platitudes down her throat in the name of resolving issues? What good will that do, one might ask? What is the point of honouring the wife’s pain, to what end and for what reason?

The attitude of some of these forgive-your-husband emissaries tends to lean towards parroting (in a rather insensitive fashion) dictums such as osekwenzakele sokwenzakele, what’s done is done, no point in crying over spilt milk. Their approach to engaging the aggrieved wife goes something like this:

“Yes, your husband cheated on you and now there is a baby, its really unfortunate but that baby is innocent so accept the new reality and deal with it”.

I find this approach to be callous and insensitive because there is no room in that narrative to offer emotional support to the wronged party. Her pain is made subordinate to other ‘more important’ considerations like the innocence of the baby born from the affair, her pain must be deferred to advance the greater goal of family unity and keeping the marriage alive, her pain must be a thing to be endured stoically and it is not to be privileged in the process of reconciliation.

This is wrong and brutal and also a very emotionally wounding way of dealing with a woman whose husband has betrayed her. Sometimes the fact that our pain is acknowledged, that other people ‘get’ our pain and that our heartache is understood as a legitimate response to the hurt that has been inflicted upon us – is the first crucial step towards healing.

To have emissaries gang up on a woman who has been betrayed and press her to offer forgiveness and even drop threatening hints that failure to forgive swiftly could drive the husband further away – is a tactic that many have used to circumvent the necessary process of honouring their spouse’s pain.

To honour someone’s pain is to say: “I acknowledge and accept that I have hurt you and because I have hurt you I know that in this time – the only thing that matters, all that counts is you. How you feel, what you feel, the pain you are in – this is the only thing that I care about. Everything else can wait, everyone else can stand in line until you are ready to deal with it”.

The reason why people are so terrible at honouring the pain of others is because it is uncomfortable to be ‘unforgiven’ so we press the ones we have wronged to forgive us so that we feel better. We fail to recognize the act of forgiving for the burden it is and often feel that our saying sorry and being sincere in our remorse qualifies us for swift clemency – it doesn’t.

Forgiveness isn’t something that can be rushed. It is like having an open wound and then it starts to heal but on some days the scabs fall off and it bleeds anew; then the healing has to start all over again – the process is repetitive, emotionally exhausting and psychologically torturous.

You can spend a whole day processing a hurt and by evening feel like you have made some progress towards forgiving the person that has wronged you but then you wake up the next morning and realise you feel the hurt freshly and must process it all over again to try and get it out of your system.

Very rarely do people who extol the virtues of forgiveness dwell on the emotional cost of processing hurt, betrayal and eventually healing from the wounds inflicted. We don’t do enough, I believe, to honour the pain of those whom we have hurt or who have been hurt by others because we are more interested in the end goal (forgiveness and reconciliation) than we are in the means of getting there (i.e dealing with gaping wounds that mend slowly, re-open and bleed anew, then mend slowly again).

And because we know other people have gone through the same or even worse – we are impatient, unsympathetic and abrupt with the hurts of others in the pursuit of reconciling estranged spouses. The process of forgiveness is unglamorous though we may want to romanticise it and venerate those women who put up with the most emotional torture.

It is a burden that only the one who has been betrayed carries – alone. We should at least try to honour their pain, give it room and allow the hurt person to come to terms with the reality that has befallen them.

There is nothing as breathtakingly, gut-wrenching and soul-crushing as discovering that one’s husband has made another woman pregnant. Yet so many men are reckless with their dangling bits, and even moreso with the hearts of the women they have wedded and vowed to cherish until death – and then turn around, apologise and claim it was all a mistake; then expect instant clemency. The weight of forgiveness is a heavy, the burden is immense and the pain of betrayal is a journey that the betrayed travels alone. Show empathy.

Parting shot: “It was a mistake,” you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.”  ― David Levithan

[Written as part of the #SaveManqoba fundraising campaign. This article was sponsored by a #Heartbreaks fan. #SundayNewsSolidarity]

Baby Manqoba

Delta Milayo Ndou

A few idle observations on the matter of love triangles and apportioning blame. When a person chooses to cheat on his or her spouse or partner, he or she is responsible for that choice and assumes total culpability for it. I think we misdiagnose the causes of marital disharmony and erroneously assign blame to the ‘other woman’ or the ‘other man’ who are essentially symptoms of the problem not the cause.

The admonition that the cheated wife or husband should ‘deal with your person’ and not attack the ‘other woman’ or the ‘other man’ is spot on. Concluding that the problem is the person that is cheating with your spouse and not your spouse per se, is simple misdirection. I, for one, do not subscribe to the whole so-and-so ‘stole my husband’ or ‘stole my wife’ mantra – it absolves the cheating spouse of any responsibility, like they are an article of clothing or a plate of sadzaleft unattended and at the mercy of whatever grubby little fingers that are itching to pilfer a married person.

I have also heard it said that the ‘other man’ or the ‘other woman’ is a ‘home wrecker’ and the suffering of the children is laid at their doorstep because they have ‘torn a family apart’.

Surely, the person who should care more about what happens to his or her children is the married person because it is unreasonable to expect ‘an outsider’ to bear the burden of caring more for the stability of someone’s family than the person who started that family. If a married man or a woman can’t think of what having an affair will do to his or her children, pray tell, why must it be the job of the ‘outsider’ to ‘think about the children’? Wouldn’t that be akin to crying louder than the bereaved?

If a married man or woman is not worried about how having an affair will wreck his or home, why should the ‘outsider’ bend over backwards to keep the home from being wrecked? How is it the outsider’s business whether or not the cheat is fending for their family or misspending their money? Surely, it is the responsibility of the married person who has children to care about the welfare of his or her children, to care about their well-being and to be invested in keeping his or her family intact?

Why should this burden or expectation fall upon the ‘outsider’? If a grown man or woman decides that the person they are having an affair with is far more important to them than the welfare of their family or happiness of their children – why should the ‘outsider’ be held liable?

If you happen to have a cheating spouse and want to use the welfare or fate of the children to make your case, you are better off addressing your cheating spouse than haranguing an ‘outsider’. Think about it, in real terms, what does the ‘outsider’ owe you? Nothing. Not a single damn thing.

It is easy to blame the ‘outsider’ for the demise of the marriage because they are easy targets, low-hanging fruit as it were. But the fault is often closer to home and the truth that cuts closer to the bone is your marriage was in trouble long before the ‘other woman’ or ‘other man’ came along. It is just easier to shift blame and misdirect one’s anger.

Surely if the father or mother of your children cannot be swayed by your tears and pleas, or even moved by your evoking the wellbeing or happiness of the children you made together – how will similar antics play out with an ‘outsider’?

People do not address effectively problems that they do not properly diagnose.

As long as the prevailing wisdom holds that spouses can be ‘stolen’ or that ‘outsiders’ can single-handedly ‘wreck homes’ – there will always be misdirected apportionment of blame.

A marriage is the responsibility of the parties who enter into it – no one else. Lets not get it twisted.

Let’s say for argument’s sake, that all ‘outsiders’ refused to date married men or married women. Would families be stronger and homes more peaceful? I doubt that. I think some married folk would be left high and dry, stuck in their miserable marriages (if indeed they are miserable) with the person they chose to marry and be fighting without reprieve or opt for divorce. I could be wrong of course.

But at the end of it all, the ‘other man’ or the ‘other woman’ will never cry louder than the bereaved. If some married people disabused themselves of the notion that ‘outsiders’ owe them or their children anything, maybe they would start to take concrete steps towards correctly assessing and appropriately diagnosing what ails their marriages.

Fighting every person your spouse cheats on you with will never address the root cause of why your spouse strays or why your marriage is in the doldrums.

That’s my two cents worth.  Stop fighting people you don’t know or prevailing upon them to give a damn about you or your children or the state of your marriage if your own spouse who promised to love and cherish you cannot be bothered with it. You will be fighting a losing battle and, more to the point, you will be fighting the wrong battle.

PARTING SHOT: “He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.” ― Markus Zusak

[Written for #SaveManqoba fundraising initiative. #SundayNewsSolidarity]

Delta Milayo Ndou

It is paradoxical that the truth hurts and simultaneously, one’s heart is always safer in the custody of a partner who is unflinchingly honest. It takes a great deal of emotional courage to be straightforward in a relationship.

For the greater part, deception is preferred over honesty because honesty is so messy and hard and costly. I will explain myself. Honesty is messy because it shatters the fantasy and lays bare ugly truths and flaws, whereas lies often allow one to blissfully build castles in the air.

Honesty is hard because it often entails disclosing unpleasant or hard-to-swallow facts about one’s past, present and so-called ‘baggage’. Honesty is costly because very few people can stomach the imperfections of others and usually the fear is that one gets dumped for making a truthful disclosure whereas a lie keeps them safe from rejection.

There are some people whose superpower is honesty. I mean they will tell you like it is, as it is and you have to take it or live it. I regard it as the highest sign of integrity and respect to have someone ‘come clean’ and at least allow you to make informed decisions about a relationship so that you know what you are signing up for from the word go.

Telling the truth is not easy because it involves exposing oneself, risking rejection and making yourself vulnerable. Lying in relationships is all too common and sometimes the most damaging lies are lies of commission – the things that should have been disclosed but weren’t. The longer one waits to disclose certain vital information, the harder it gets to do so and before they realise it – deception is the fabric of the relationship. Think of women that do not disclose that they have children and go to the extent of marrying someone who doesn’t even know that they are marrying someone who is a mother.

I think the existence of a child is something too serious to hide from your partner. It is neither fair nor reasonable to say, “well, I was never asked about it, so I saw no reason to disclose it”. Surely, somewhere in the ‘getting to know each other’ stage of the relationship, one’s narration of their life story cannot omit an event as major as giving birth to a child? I equally do not understand families that will also conspire to hide such a thing?

You hear of cases where a child grows up thinking their birth mother is a sibling or aunt or random relative whilst the rest of the clan shamelessly participates in the sham. It is just so disrespectful to the man who lands in such a web of deceit – disrespectful and cruel. The harm done to the child cannot be overstated – why is it so hard to just tell the truth rather than build a relationship or marriage on a foundation of lies?

There are many men of course, who are equally guilty of the same. It is emotionally brutal to have a wife find out her husband had other kids during the course of their marriage, when those kids show up at her husband’s funeral – to the ready embrace of family members who knew and were complicit in concealing the matter. How do you do that someone else, surely?

It makes the wife feel like her whole marriage was a lie, that her whole relationship with her husband was falsehood – and she was the fool for believing in it. To make matters worse, there is no closure for a woman caught in such a situation because the husband is dead and she cannot confront him to demand an explanation, to get much-needed answers. The likelihood is the husband would have lied to ‘keep the peace’ at home because being honest would have caused a mess that he wouldn’t have wanted to deal with.

But, really, people should own their messes. That’s the honorable thing to do, as far as I’m concerned. I have repeatedly assured my siblings that they can absolutely never rely on me to keep damaging secrets from their spouses – I will not be party to malicious deception – it is so abhorrent.

Then of course you have that common brigade of deception-mongers. The married men who will pretend to not be married and string someone along without disclosing their marital status. The lies never end and you will find people that bend over backwards to woe someone whom they have no intention or capacity to commit to martially because they are already marriage. Why can’t you just let people’s children be? You just hope that the karma that is coming to such men does the requisite press-ups in order to deal them a harsh blow from which they will never recover – those cruel devils.

Then there are those people who will get into a relationship and not disclose their HIV positive status until they transmit the virus to an unsuspecting sexual partner whose only crime is to be too trusting and not press for couples’ HIV testing and counseling prior to being intimate.

For all the cases I have singled out above – there are people who choose to be brutally honest from the very beginning. It is as though truth-telling is their superpower and no matter how much making the disclosure hurts them or hurts the recipient of their message – these people will tell the truth and nothing but.

So as we navigate the maze of relationships and as we all work towards sparing ourselves heartache and pain – I hope the good Lord, the ancestors, the heavens or whichever deity is merciful makes sure you encounter people who would rather hurt you with the truth than deceive you with lies. And, may decency grant you the emotional courage and integrity to be a teller of the truth as you relate with others. The truth always comes out anyway, make it less messy by coming clean, it will earn you a bit of respect down the line.

Parting shot: A broken heart is one of those experiences that all of us as humans can share, yet you can only experience alone.

[Written as part of the #SaveManqoba fundraising campaign. This article was sponsored by a #Heartbreaks fan. #SundayNewsSolidarity]

Eye on Fashion by Rutendo Chidawanyika

IT’S very unfortunate that we live in a world that is obsessed with beauty. People will try to become what they see on magazines because they are not satisfied with who they see in the mirror. Women tend to be more obsessed about their looks than men, maybe because men are rarely judged on looks (mostly on wealth and strength). As a young woman there are societal expectations required from you in order to be considered as attractive. You have to be thin, well developed, have clear skin, shave all body hair, basically you can’t be your natural self.

The cause of this obsession with beauty stems from the media. The beauty, fashion and entertainment industry are famous for hiring women based on their looks. Social media plays the biggest role in influencing this new obsession. The selfie trend seems to be growing, it has even been made taking pictures simpler with the invention of the ‘‘selfie stick’’. We are used to seeing selfies of gorgeous celebrities such as Pokello, Amber Rose and Nomzamo Mbatha on Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat. Seeing these selfies make most people feel the need to improve their looks, as the standard will have been raised.

Another reason for our fixation with physical appearance is our need to impress others. It is when we value another person’s opinion of our looks that we put on the most make up and wear our best clothes. Girls get praised for their appearance rather than their accomplishments. If everyone could afford plastic surgery, we would modify ourselves constantly in order to fit in, in societies standards.

If it wasn’t for the pressure from society, truth is most of us wouldn’t look the way we do. This, however, is not a healthy obsession but a painful one. We spend money on weight loss pills, waist trainers, makeup, anything that will make us feel better and more beautiful. Women tend to hide imperfections under makeup, paint our nails to avoid discolouring. What seems like a harmless habit now, spending a couple of hours finding the perfect angle for your selfie or right profile picture for Instagram, can build up over time making you increasingly self-conscious.

When you spend time focusing on your hair, your skin, or facial features, you end up seeing flaws that do not even exist. You may think that being pretty solves everything, as if beautiful people are happy but they are disadvantages. This is what you will go through:

— Women don’t want to hang out with someone more attractive than they are

— People will just want to be your friend for your looks and not the person you really are

— Being stalked constantly by weird looking guys

— Guys will not approach you because of the fear of being rejected, so you will barely be approached by intelligent and normal people

— People expect you to be less talented or not smart at all

— You feel you always have to be perfect to live up to other’s high expectations

— People will ALWAYS gossip about you

The obsession with physical appearance is harmful to everyone. Happiness shouldn’t be based on how you look, even if you altered your looks you will still find a fault. No one is saying don’t go to the gym, don’t use makeup or look pretty. There is absolutely nothing with that, the only problem is when it becomes an obsession and you go to the extremes, such as surgery or bleaching.

You don’t need surgery or expensive cosmetics to improve your looks. Drink loads of water, it will clear your skin. Get enough sleep, seven-eight hours of uninterrupted sleep at night is recommended to look and feel good. Eat healthy and exercise at least three-four times a week.

Some things can be changed and some can’t be changed, but a great smile is an asset.

Email: rutendochidawanyika3@gmail.com

Emperor Haile Selassie

Nkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
Broken down to its simplest form, Jah Rastafarian means, “Created of God”. Jah means God, Rasta means Head and Faria means Created. From this, any person created by God-any god can be considered a Jah Rastafarian.

However, Rastafarian culture goes deeper than that. The culture developed in the mid twentieth century in Jamaica amongst the black working class after the appointment of Haile Selassie I into power as Ethiopian emperor. Loyal followers of Selassie formed the movement as a social protest against the middle class and the mostly white leaders who ruled the islands at the time. To them, Selassie represented emancipation of the black as he was the first black to have a seat in the League of Nations 1936 when he was still the only independent non-European monarch in Africa.

Although many types of Rastafarians have emerged since then, they still share some of the most basic beliefs. Rastafarian religion borrows a lot from Christianity. They believe in a God that created the universe (Jah) and gave his son (Yeshua) as a sacrifice for his people. Rastafari accept most parts of the Bible, although some believe its meaning has been clouded by certain systems. Some Rastafari identify strongly with one of three “Mansions of Rastafari”— Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Some Rastafari, however, choose not to align themselves with any particular denominations.

The devout Rastafari’s diet is based on Ital, meaning vital. Rastafarians do not consume food that may harm their livelihood.

They eat food that promotes longevity of life. As a result, Rastafari diet consists mainly of natural foods. Radical Rastafari do not eat processed foods, and the most extreme even refrain from consuming salt. Vegetarianism is also observed by some Rastafari. Although excessive consumption of alcohol is not considered “ital”, Rastafari can occasionally dabble in alcohol so long as it does not cloud the mind. They do or some, however, regularly smoke ganja which they view as a gateway to understanding. According to them, ganja opens up the mind and strengthens the connection between one and Jah.

The Rastafari colours; red, gold and green are the colours of the Ethiopian flag. This is how Rastafari pledge their allegiance to the Ethiopian state. Red signifies the blood of those who gave up their lives for the Rastafari cause, green stands for the vegetation in Ethiopia and gold the wealth in Africa. The lion of Judah is another recurring image on Rastafarian clothing.

Most but not all Rastafari wear their hair in dreadlocks. This is in accordance with the Nazarene law that says hair should be worn naturally. Traditionally, Rastafari women only wear skirts; pants are considered as disrespectful. Head wraps are a must for Rastafari women and on days when head wraps are not worn, a hat should be worn instead. Make-up may be worn but only in natural colours.

Notorious for having their dialect, Rastafarian view pure English as an imposed colonial language. Iyaric, locally known as Isiyaman is used as a counter to the English language. Iyaric borrows largely from the English language. Rastafari however, shy away from using the word “hello” in their greeting as part of that word spells the word “hell”. The most common greeting is the handshake with direct eye contact, and a warm smile. In most circumstances Rastafari do not swear and talk about intimate issues is generally frowned upon. Etiquette is important to Rastafarians. One has to wait until invited before using someone’s first name and friendships deepen, one may be asked to call another person by their nickname. Once a friendship has been established, women may hug and kiss on each cheek, starting with the right. Men often pat each other’s shoulder or arm during the greeting process or while conversing.

When it comes to marriage, Rastafari barely settle down with someone outside the Rastafari community. Although this does not apply to all Rastafari men, the preference for them is usually women who do not swear, do not consume alcohol and do not act vain. Once married, the Rastafarian wife – or empress as they are sometimes called- is to look after her husband or Kingman. The family structure is largely patriarchal and the system forbids contraception and abortion. The empress therefore has the major responsibility of bringing up the children and rearing them in the ways of the Bible until they grow to appreciate Rastafari by themselves. The empress should avoid friendships with adulterers, pagans and drug addicts.

Rastafari commemorative days come in two types. The first types are Reasoning ceremonies where they gather and discuss issues affecting them, be they political, social or philosophical. During these ceremonies ganja is smoked as it is believed to heighten feeling of belonging to that comunity. The second types of ceremonies are called Groundation ceremonies.

Groundation celebrations involve music, dance and prayer. They are also called Black Victory celebrations. Groundations may take place on Africa Day, Ethiopian Christmas and Ethiopian New Year.

Although these are the most basic traits of Rastafari culture, they may vary from one Rasta to another. As a geographically widespread people, Rastafari’s customs may differ slightly from one place to another.

Steve Vickers

Joel Tsvakwi, Sunday Life Correspondent
ZBC National FM producer presenter, Ezra Kaunda, who is fast gaining a reputation in soccer commentary, has described his nomination for the inaugural 2016 Zimbabwe Radio Awards (ZIRA) as a sign of development in his career.

Kaunda is battling it out in the Best Sports Presenter Male category against some of the country’s finest soccer commentators; Steve Vickers, Marc Pozzo, Sibongumusa Dhlodhlo and Spencer Banda.

The awards are meant to add limelight in the broadcasting sector and entertainment industry, and are scheduled for the 7 Arts Theatre in the capital on 29 October under the theme: “Honouring the celebrity behind a celebrity.”

In interview with Sunday Life, Kaunda who does his commentary in his mother tongue – Chewa was ecstatic about being on the nominee list.

“Being nominated for the ZIRA took me by surprise. But it’s a good development, it shows that my presence is being felt in the sport casting fraternity, indeed, this is a milestone considering our numbers in the craft,” he said.

Agrippa Palazi who is the project director of Celebrity Check – an entity which is responsible for the ZIRA awards said the research which started in September 2015 came to fruition with its four main objectives chief among them, the environmental factor.

“The awards are a ‘going green’ project that is there to promote local celebrities, help City Councils reduce the use of posters and fliers and give artistes other means of advertising their music and events through use of digital marketing and communication. In that way they won’t have to stick posters on buildings or electrical poles which will keep our cities clean,’’ said Palazi.

“Celebrity Check is a web platform (online magazine) where celebrities meet and communicate with their fans for events, artistes, lifestyle, fan-clubs, entertainment, information and news, both bulk emails and SMS services. It is a subsidiary of a Zimbabwean software development start-up called CytNet ICT, aimed at environment friendly methods of entertainment notifications and advertising.”

He further said the award which was also meant to motivate the youth to actively participate in the media and entertainment industry would start with 6 radio stations in the country.

“The involved stations are National FM, Power FM, Radio Zimbabwe, Spot FM, Star FM and ZiFM Stereo. It seeks to recognise the presenters by giving them more value than they tend to have at the moment,” he said.

The categories are as follows: Best Vernacular Language female presenter/producer, Best Vernacular Language male Radio presenter/Producer, Best Urban female Presenter/Producer, Best Male Presenter/Producer, Most Popular Vernacular Language female Presenter/Producer, Most Popular Vernacular Language male producer/presenter, Most Popular Urban female Producer/Presenter, Most Popular Urban male Producer/Presenter, Best Hip Hop DJ, Best Dancehall DJ/MC, Best Rhythm ‘n’ Blues & Soul DJ, Best Sungura DJ, Best Urban Grooves DJ, Best Urban Grooves DJ, Best Gospel DJ, Best Jazz DJ, Best House Music DJ, Most Humorous Producer/Presenter on air, Best Vernacular Language female news anchor, Best Vernacular Language male news anchor, Best Urban female news anchor , Best Urban male news anchor, Best Vernacular language talk show presenter, Best Urban talk show presenter, Best Sports male presenter, Best Female Sports presenter, Best Vernacular language sports commentator, Best Urban sports commentator. – @joeltsvakwi

Prudence Katomeni

Bruce Ndlovu
WHEN life gives you lemons, make some lemonade goes the popular saying. Whoever coined this age old motivational phrase, which time and frequent use has worn to a cliché, must have had a prophetic eye trained on the 2016 edition of the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo as it best describes events at this year’s arts fete.

A Bulawayo spring is not complete without Intwasa, the annual festival that comes around every year to reinvigorate the citizens of Bulawayo and in explosive mix of song and dance, banish any memories of the shivers and colds of the preceding cold winter.

Simply put, Intwasa is the very pulse of a new spring, indicating the excitement of sunnier days ahead.

This year however, Intwasa’s glow was diminished a bit. The fever-pitch excitement with which Bulawayo greets the performers that twist their bodies and strain their voices for their entertainment for six whole days was not as intense as usual.

This was not due to a lack of effort from both artistes or the people of Bulawayo. The 2016 edition of the festival has simply not had the resources it had in other years.

The most glaring absence at this year’s festival was the main stage, which over the years has attracted both artistes and spectators like moths to light. This year, the stage only surfaced on the fifth and penultimate day of the festival.

While venues like the National Art Gallery in Bulawayo and Bulawayo Theatre have played host to some of the best and most sophisticated acts in a variety of arts genres, the main stage has always been Intwasa’s nerve centre. Without it for the first five days therefore, the arts extravaganza looked like it had lost its soul. The low level of excitement around this year’s festivities indicated that indeed when the main stage caught a cold, the rest of the festival sneezed.

The annual fashion show, which was also starting to set its own tradition within the festival, was also another high profile event that got shelved.

“Honestly, this year’s festival has set us about five steps back. We’ve struggled like everyone else and if you look around the country, only about five of the 30 major festivals will be taking place,” festival spokesperson Nkululeko Nkala said previously.

However, all these problems did not seem to have any impact on those that had the honour of taking to the stage for this year’s extravaganza.

Artistes showed that even though sponsors had held back the precious coins that made the practice of their craft possible, they could still please arts lovers with the little that they have.

There was no better example of this than Thursday’s Spring Jazz Festival. Established talents like Prudence Katomeni Mbofana showed that their high billing is justified, while Lady Tshawe’s mix of song and poetry won many hearts on a momentous and soulful night.

Intwasa however, is not all about the big names and this year, it continued its penchant of plucking out relatively unknown names from the dark corners of the arts scene into the full glare of the spotlight.

Accompanied by the Outfit Band, which effortlessly supplied the soundtrack to most of the sets by acts on the night, young Mimmie Tarukwana handled herself expertly as she gave a convincing performance, which was crowned by a flawless rendition of Brenda Fassie’s Weekend Special.

Perhaps the highlight of that night was when Albert Nyathi and Katomeni again performed Senzeni Na over two decades after they made the original.

After fiddling around a few rhythms, Katomeni’s band found the right groove to compliment her heart wrenching lyrics and voice, which in turn provided the perfect springboard for Nyathi to launch his famous lyrical onslaught.

It was a moment of pure spontaneous magic that could not have been possible on any other stage, and with other such nuggets of brilliance littered throughout the six days of the festival, Intwasa for all its troubles, proved that it is still a vital and necessary platform for artistic expression.

In happier times: Judith Sephuma and husband Siphiwe Mhlambi

Songstress Judith Sephuma has on Thursday afternoon reportedly confirmed that she and her husband Siphiwe Mhlambi are divorced.

Speaking to Destiny magazine the South African star, who has toured Zimbabwe on a number of times, confirmed the news but did not want to divulge too much information.

“I do not want to comment on this‚ but what I can tell [you] is that I am divorced. And I am the one who decided on the divorce‚” she said.

Even though the songbird did not want to reveal what led to their split‚ she did say that she is “doing well“.

When contacted by the magazine Siphiwe declined to comment‚ however the status on his Facebook page has been changed to “divorced”.

The couple have faced their fair share of tragedy over the past two years.

In March 2014 the couple lost their three month old baby who was born prematurely and fell ill before her death.

“Born at only 32 weeks‚ my little angel’s life was short lived.

“Her beauty and magic will linger forever. Till we meet again my angel…Your mom and dad love you‚” Siphiwe posted on Facebook at the time.

Judith also spoke out in numerous interviews about her child’s death.

Judith could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing this story. – Sowetan.

Hi Sis Noe
I HAVE been living with my boyfriend for five years but I no longer love him. I don’t know what to do because I can’t leave him because I like the flat we live in. It is very beautiful and gives me status and makes my friends jealous. I just can’t go back home to my parents in Makokoba. — Stressed.

Reply
Are you for real? You are staying in a failing relationship because you can’t give up the bricks and the mortar? I am sure you have a beautiful home, but what about your happiness, your sex life and your future wellbeing? What about your boyfriend’s happiness? Surely you cannot string him along forever just because you love his flat? You mentioned your friends — that clearly shows how immature you are. Why do you care what anyone thinks? You may dislike your parents’ house but that’s your real home — that is where you grew up. You are a Makokoba girl; you cannot rub it off you. You can take the girl out of the ghetto but you can’t take the ghetto out of the girl. Try as you may. Do me a favour — please grow up!

Hi Sis Noe
I am a married man but I have a girlfriend who doesn’t know that I am married. She is now talking about us settling down and having children. I love her I don’t know what to do. — Confused.

Reply
You are a man living on the edge. You are telling so many lies and leading so many people along, your mind is in a whirl. But the fact of the matter is that you are already married, so you are in no position to marry anyone else. Therefore, it’s only fair to tell your partner exactly what is going on and how tied up in knots you are. Of course she is going to hit the roof, but she has to know where she stands.

Hi Sis Noe
My girlfriend expects me to do what she wants in bed but when I come up with my own suggestions she refuses flat out. Sex is about her needs, she does not consider my needs. — Help.

Reply
It sounds as if your misguided girlfriend needs to have it pointed out to her that healthy relationships thrive on mutual respect coupled with give and take. She needs to understand that you simply are not satisfied. Suggest rebooting your affair with romantic dates, early nights and nicer behaviour in general. Make it clear that you have needs too, which are currently not being met. Sadly, if the truth of matter is that she is taking you for granted and is treating you with contempt, perhaps you both have to accept that the respect has gone and the game is up. Moving on will not be bad idea.

Hi Sis Noe
I have a very beautiful girl but her behaviour worries me. She is very rude and bad mannered. Even my friends don’t like her. I once took her out for dinner and she was rude to the waiters. — Worried.

Reply
You wanted to ask me if she is the girl for you – the answer is NO. She is not. You are clearly a nice guy; if you stay with her you will lose friends and even relatives because she is that type of girl who thinks the world revolves around her. She is immature and crude and was not bought up very well. Dump her before you begin to despise her. Your girlfriend may consider herself superior and sophisticated, but the truth is that she is a fool.

Hi Sis Noe
I am sleeping with my friend’s boyfriend. He seduced me and we have been having sex secretly. It is great but I have fallen for him. He says he can’t dump his girlfriend because it will break her heart. — Confused.

Reply
You are being used but unfortunately none of us likes to admit we are being used. I’m sure that this man is very smooth and makes you all sorts of wonderful promises. But the reality is that he is your friend’s partner and she is still with him. It doesn’t matter how much he waffles on about the future – he is in no position to be with you full-time and it would be very wrong of you to attempt to steal him from under her nose. Do yourself a favour and back off before he hurts and disappoints you anymore.

Hi Sis Noe
I am a girl aged 21 and I have two kids. The father is staying with another woman but he still comes to me and he says that he loves me and he will come back to me. — Worried.

Reply
You are living in denial and you do not want to face reality, so you take comfort in feeding on his blatant lies. But it’s about time you woke up, he is married, forget about him and move on with your life. I can go on telling you about the disadvantages of being with him but I won’t because you know them. The children you have with him should not tie you to him, there are many men out there would jump at the chance to have you. I don’t think you are comfortable with being the secondary woman in his life that is why you wrote to me. So do something about. At 21, you still many years and adventures ahead of you.

Hi Sis Noe
I am 19 and he is 26. My problem is that when I have sex with my boyfriend I start bleeding for some days. Please help me am worried. — Worried.

Reply
If you bleed after sex and you are not on your period see a doctor. If you have abnormal bleeding or spotting between periods than that could be a symptom of an STI and needs to be looked at. Although it is scary to think about, ignoring the problem could make things a lot worse. Bleeding after sex with your partner could be caused by a number of reasons ranging from a side effect of the contraception pill if you are on one to a naturally virus known as HPV which causes cervical cancer. Any abnormal bleeding must be looked at. See a doctor.

Hi Sis Noe
I am a girl aged 20 and my problem is that every time I have boyfriends they have sex with me and after that they dump me bonke. I am trying to avoid it but I can’t. — Please help.

Reply
Treat yourself like a bicycle and men will ride you and leave you. You need to stop opening your legs to every guy that tells you he loves you because that is just a gimmick for you to let down your guard. Your history of being easy got around and now every guy who approaches you wants one thing and one thing only — to unload and leave. You need to respect and love yourself before you love a man. Loving yourself will see you attracting the right kind of man, a man who will love you for you not for what you were. Take some time off this dating game and list down the things that you want in a relationship. See where you were going wrong and correct your mistakes. Do a self analysis and trust me you will come out a changed woman.

Delta Milayo Ndou
FORGIVENESS is romanticised. This thought occurred to me when I was reflecting on a message from a married man who is trying to reconcile with his wife whom he cheated on.

The man sent me a message sounding very remorseful and admitting to an affair that resulted in a child whom he says he has not seen or given his attention to because he blames that child for the ruination of his marriage. And he admits that it is unreasonable to blame the child but, in trying to track where things went horribly wrong in his marriage, he finds that having a child out of wedlock is the greatest offence he committed against his wife.

His wife left him and is adamant that she doesn’t want to reconcile; they have three kids and would have celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary in a few weeks. Now it is all gone. And the only way to save the marriage and rebuild the relationship is if his wife forgives him and takes him back. According to this man, he has sent emissaries, deployed family elders to go and plead with his wife on his behalf to no avail.

I cringed a bit when I got to that part of sending a delegation of elders to ‘‘reason’’ with the wife because I could imagine how the conversation must have gone. I am sure the wife was reminded that men do this all the time, that other women have faced similar situations, that all men are the same and she doesn’t stand a hope of finding a man who won’t do the same or maybe even worse.

I could imagine them telling her that the baby is innocent and has done no wrong and so she must accept the situation because it has already happened. I have a problem with this kind of intervention because in many ways it is designed to downplay the pain of the betrayed woman by pointing to all other cases as if to imply that being subjected to excruciating heartache is all a normal part of being married to a cheat.

How about we take a step back and honour this person’s pain, acknowledge that her feelings are legitimate and her grievances are valid and that she has been wronged in the most profound ways possible?

Can we make it okay for the betrayed wife to express anger and hurt and unimaginable pain before we try to ram platitudes down her throat in the name of resolving issues? What good will that do, one might ask? What is the point of honouring the wife’s pain, to what end and for what reason?

The attitude of some of these forgive-your-husband emissaries tends to lean towards parroting (in a rather insensitive fashion) dictums such as osekwenzakele sokwenzakele, what’s done is done, no point in crying over spilt milk. Their approach to engaging the aggrieved wife goes something like this:

“Yes, your husband cheated on you and now there is a baby, it’s really unfortunate but that baby is innocent so accept the new reality and deal with it”.

I find this approach to be callous and insensitive because there is no room in that narrative to offer emotional support to the wronged party. Her pain is made subordinate to other ‘‘more important’’ considerations like the innocence of the baby born from the affair, her pain must be deferred to advance the greater goal of family unity and keeping the marriage alive, her pain must be a thing to be endured stoically and it is not to be privileged in the process of reconciliation.

This is wrong and brutal and also a very emotionally wounding way of dealing with a woman whose husband has betrayed her. Sometimes the fact that our pain is acknowledged, that other people ‘‘get’’ our pain and that our heartache is understood as a legitimate response to the hurt that has been inflicted upon us — is the first crucial step towards healing.

To have emissaries gang up on a woman who has been betrayed and press her to offer forgiveness and even drop threatening hints that failure to forgive swiftly could drive the husband further away — is a tactic that many have used to circumvent the necessary process of honouring their spouse’s pain.

To honour someone’s pain is to say: “I acknowledge and accept that I have hurt you and because I have hurt you I know that in this time — the only thing that matters, all that counts is you. How you feel, what you feel, the pain you are in — this is the only thing that I care about. Everything else can wait, everyone else can stand in line until you are ready to deal with it”.

The reason why people are so terrible at honouring the pain of others is because it is uncomfortable to be ‘‘unforgiven’’ so we press the ones we have wronged to forgive us so that we feel better. We fail to recognise the act of forgiving for the burden it is and often feel that our saying sorry and being sincere in our remorse qualifies us for swift clemency — it doesn’t.

Forgiveness isn’t something that can be rushed. It is like having an open wound and then it starts to heal but on some days the scabs fall off and it bleeds anew; then the healing has to start all over again — the process is repetitive, emotionally exhausting and psychologically torturous.

You can spend a whole day processing a hurt and by evening feel like you have made some progress towards forgiving the person that has wronged you but then you wake up the next morning and realise you feel the hurt freshly and must process it all over again to try and get it out of your system.

Very rarely do people who extol the virtues of forgiveness dwell on the emotional cost of processing hurt, betrayal and eventually healing from the wounds inflicted. We don’t do enough, I believe, to honour the pain of those whom we have hurt or who have been hurt by others because we are more interested in the end goal (forgiveness and reconciliation) than we are in the means of getting there (ie dealing with gaping wounds that mend slowly, re-open and bleed anew, then mend slowly again).

And because we know other people have gone through the same or even worse — we are impatient, unsympathetic and abrupt with the hurts of others in the pursuit of reconciling estranged spouses. The process of forgiveness is unglamorous though we may want to romanticise it and venerate those women who put up with the most emotional torture.

It is a burden that only the one who has been betrayed carries — alone. We should at least try to honour their pain, give it room and allow the hurt person to come to terms with the reality that has befallen them.

There is nothing as breathtakingly, gut-wrenching and soul-crushing as discovering that one’s husband has made another woman pregnant. Yet so many men are reckless with their dangling bits, and even moreso with the hearts of the women they have wedded and vowed to cherish until death — and then turn around, apologise and claim it was all a mistake; then expect instant clemency. The weight of forgiveness is a heavy, the burden is immense and the pain of betrayal is a journey that the betrayed travels alone. Show empathy.

Parting shot: “It was a mistake,” you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.” — David Levithan.

(Written as part of the #SaveManqoba fundraising campaign. This article was sponsored by a #Heartbreaks fan. #SundayNewsSolidarity)

If you would like to take up this cause and help the Sunday News family to raise funds for our Baby Manqoba Mabhena please make an EcoCash contribution of $10 to Econet number 0772935224 (that line belongs to the baby’s mother — Shamiso Yikoniko).

Once you have made your contribution please send me a WhatsApp confirmation on 0718686240 so that I can keep track of how many articles I owe and how much we would have raised. Baby Manqoba needs $43 000 for a liver transplant in India.

You can also confirm your contribution by posting on the Sunday News Zimbabwe Facebook page or tagging Sunday News on Twitter (@SundayNewsZimba) using hashtags #SaveManqoba and #SundayNewsSolidarity. You can email me on ndou.milayo@gmail.com or tag me on Twitter @deltandou or send me an inbox on Facebook (Delta Milayo Ndou) — I will endeavour to check my messages regularly and respond.

Pamela ‘Gonyeti’ Zulu

Godwin Muzari
IT was an emotional interview as dancer and vocalist Pamela “Gonyeti” Zulu intermittently broke down on Wednesday when she narrated the story of her alleged sexual abuse by former employer Jah Prayzah. She began with a disclaimer.

“I did not want this information to go public. I just got angry in a meeting last week and spilled the beans in front of other people. We were only five in the meeting and tempers flared until I reminded him about his sex escapades in anger. It is embarrassing to share a story of sexual abuse with the world and I thought the issue would end in the meeting. I was surprised to see a story about it in a newspaper and I feel so bad, but I don’t have anything to hide anymore,” she said.

Gonyeti was referring to a story published by our sister paper H-Metro on Tuesday in which Jah Prayzah’s lawyer Eddie Hamunakwadi was quoted as saying she was seeking compensation for sexual abuse in addition to claiming outstanding unpaid fees for her services in the band.

The gorgeous vocalist denies asking for compensation for sexual abuse and said she is heartbroken because the issue has gone public. She said all she wanted was to get her outstanding allowances for the work she did for the band.

She admitted having been abused sexually without protection by Jah Prayzah on numerous occasions for the past three years to safeguard her job, but insisted she had no plans to make the sensitive issue public.

“Many women do not disclose issues related to sexual abuse because they are afraid of stigmatisation. I was one of them. What will people say when they know Jah Prayzah had sexually abused me without protection? I had to live with it. I had to please my paymaster. Now they have told the world about it and the most painful thing is that Jah Prayzah is saying I am lying. Why would I lie that I slept with him? Why would I lie to embarrass myself . . . ?” For a moment she could not continue as she wept uncontrollably.

Gonyeti said the sexual abuse was the main reason why she left Jah Prayzah’s Third Generation band.

“I asked myself why I was hanging on when I was being abused in many ways. I was a sex slave and I was also not getting paid for my services in the band. I just had to keep pleasing my master with my body, my voice and my energy for nothing. I just said ‘enough is enough’ and I quit the band. Honestly, the issue of sexual abuse was personal. Now they have told the world about it and everyone will see me as a dirty person.”

The energetic dancer said during tours, other band members would share hotel rooms and Jah Prayzah, as the boss, was always booked alone and he abused that scenario to have quality time with his subordinate before and after shows.

“I always shared the room with Stimela (Fatima Katiji, the other female vocalist) and I would be called to the boss’ room and leave her alone. We also met at various places in Harare during the week when we were off duty. That was the life I led at Third Generation. It was risky because I knew many other girls that Jah Prayzah was involved with.

“He has many girlfriends among his fans and we knew most of them. When such a person continuously demands unprotected sex, it becomes dangerous. He says he does not fear contracting any sexually-transmitted infections because he is circumcised.”

Gonyeti said she is now being terrorised by some of Jah Prayzah’s female fans on social media.

“I left the fans’ WhatsApp group and they continue adding my number and using abusive language towards me. Some of the ladies say there is nothing special about being sexually abused because they have also slept with Jah Prayzah.”

As her voice cracked and tears rolled down her cheeks, Gonyeti said she regrets being involved with Third Generation because the memories will haunt her forever, especially because the issue is now public.

She said when she first saw Jah Prayzah as an unknown artiste and assisted him to record his first albums, she did not know the relationship would grow into a sad tale.

“I first met him at Jazz 105 when he was a supporting artiste to our band Jabavu Drive. I was the lead singer at Jabavu Drive and he liked my voice. He asked me to do backing vocals for him in the studio and I did most of his early songs including the album ‘‘Ngwarira Kuparara’’ before I even joined his band.

“My first album as a full-time band member was ‘Tsviriyo’. The relationship began professionally, but he took advantage of his growing fame to abuse me.”

She said she is taking a legal route to recover her salary arrears and would not want her attention to be distracted from the real cause of her confrontation with her former employer.

Efforts to get a comment from Jah Prayzah were unsuccessful as he is currently in South Africa shooting a video for the track “Mdhara Vachauya”. However, according to reports last week, Jah Prayzah’s lawyer Eddie Hamunakwadi wrote a strongly-worded letter to Gonyeti’s lawyer, Simon Mupindu denying the allegations, declaring that the musician was ready for any court action to clear his name and will not pay a cent towards the claim.

Nonetheless, Gonyeti who now fronts her own band called Horse Power said she will soldier on despite the emotional spell and focus on her solo career.

Muchabaiwa — popularly known as Mama Filo — was Jah Prayzah’s manager when he was still chasing fame and she said she is disappointed by his approach to the Gonyeti issue.

Who is Pamela Zulu?
Pamela “Gonyeti” Zulu was born in 1986 in Victoria Falls in a family of three girls and one boy. She attended Chinotimba Primary and Mosi oa Tunya Secondary schools, but dropped from her studies in Form Two when she fell pregnant. Both her parents died when she was still young.

She had interest in music at school and a neighbour discovered her vocal prowess and invited her to join Mulura Jazz Band that was based in the resort town.

Pamela worked with the band for three years before relocating to Harare where she joined Summer Breeze as lead vocalist. Another jazz band Jabavu Drive enlisted her services and she would alternate between the two bands. She met Jah Prayzah at Jazz 105 when he was curtain-raising for Jabavu Drive and he admired her voice and took her as a backing vocalist for his songs in the studio.

In 2013 there was a vacancy for a female backing vocalist in Jah Prayzah’s Third Generation Band and she joined the group. She got the nickname Gonyeti because of her huge body and energy on stage.

Pamela toured many parts of the country with Third Generation and also went for international tours to countries like United Kingdom, Australia, Botswana and South Africa. She left Jah Prayzah’s group in August this year citing unfavourable working conditions and abuse to form her own band called Horse Power. — Herald.

Peter Matika - @peterkmatika
HORN of rhinoceros, penis of tiger, Spanish fly, blue pill, silver bullet, manarithi, ntonga yabafana mborozoma, umvusankunzi . . .

So colourful and exotic is the list of substances or aphrodisiacs that are claimed to heighten sexual appetite that it’s hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment on first beholding the latest entry — mugondorosi/gondolosi, which has gripped Bulawayo by storm.

Mugondorosi/gondolosi otherwise known as the sausage tree is an age old aphrodisiac, which is mostly found in rural Zimbabwe but is native to Malawi.

According to those that use the plant, there is one thing that distinguishes it from other known aphrodisiacs, “its” endowment properties.

The plant is a woody climber with large tuberous root stock, which is widely distributed in tropical Africa.

The plant has been used for generations to cure male infertility problems.

For the past few months there has been a surge of men in Bulawayo and perhaps the country that have been resorting to taking aphrodisiacs to please their partners, as they are reportedly suffering from sexual dysfunction caused by the waning economy.

Aphrodisiacs are substances that increase sexual desire or libido. A survey carried out by Sunday Life this week, assumed that there were growing numbers of men taking sexual aphrodisiacs, which are available in both traditional herbal and medicinal concoctions.

In an interview, a female herbalist-cum-traditional healer that operates in Makokoba’s Mkambo market, said aphrodisiacs were a common feat in spicing up a sexual relationship, stating that there were some cases of women seeking treatment or aphrodisiacs to spice up their sexual lives.

“There are various herbal concoctions available. Lots of men have been coming here seeking these herbs. The most popular here is umvusankunzi; men love it and prefer it as the results are instant. Most men that seek some of these aphrodisiacs are aged between 35 and above. We have also seen a few women coming to buy these aphrodisiacs,” she said.

Some of the herbal aphrodisiacs, which have names with sexual connotations include, spikiri, mbanda, manarithi, ntonga yabafana and mborozoma.

“These aphrodisiacs work in different ways. We always give clients dosages on how to take the aphrodisiacs. The most popular is umvusankunzi, it has stood the test of time and has great results,” said the traditional healer.

A 29-year-old man from Bulawayo said mugondorosi/gondolosi was actually quite a popular plant and could save many marriages.

“I occasionally chew it. I usually chew a small chunk of the plant if I know that I have a date. It works both ways, as in men and women,” said Lincon Nyasaya.

He added that the plant could be dried and ground into a powder, which could be taken as a herbal drink.

“Trust me if you take it you can never go wrong,” said Nyasaya.

The particular aphrodisiac is derived from the sausage tree commonly known as mugondorosi/gondolosi. It is widely believed to be some sort of herbal viagra. Some say it will enhance the size of the penis and instantly turn one into a “sex god’’.

According to a study there is a belief that the roots of the sausage tree, hold an elixir for penis enlargement. However, Morgan Zimunya, the manufacturer of the Musimboti Nyama drink said gondolosi was used to treat various ailments that could lead to sexual dysfunction.

“We farm the plant and sell it to the public. Scientifically it is said to possess properties that can boost one’s sexual libido. Gondolosi is used to treat many ailments and illnesses. Particularly for nyongo. People tend to mistake the plant for an aphrodisiac. Sexual dysfunction is only a symptom of an illness,” he said.

Gondolosi is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa from Guinea to Kenya to Angola. In Kenya, the Luhya tribe calls it mukombela, or “love and forgiveness”, while in Cameroon it is called limte, and Angola, mundondo. Its scientific name is mondia whitei. It is a wild, high climbing vine with red-purple flowers and large heart-shaped leaves almost telling of its “romantic” qualities. The roots have a strongly pleasant aroma and a sweet enjoyable taste, rather hot and bitter at first then slightly sweeter later. People either chew the root or brew it as a tea.

Mondia whitei is a remedy for anything and everything not just sexual prowess — it’s a one stop pharmacy for a multitude of ailments — heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, gonorrhea, abdominal pain, constipation, bilharzia, premature uterine contractions in pregnant women, appetite stimulant, asthma, and high blood pressure. Beyond its pharmacological capabilities, it is also nutritious having tested positive for micronutrients like vitamins A, D E and K, zinc, iron, magnesium, and calcium — so it’s a healthy turn on! (Pun intended). It’s not only good for people but animals too – as a valuable nutritious animal fodder, though it was unpalatable for goats, it increases milk production in Frisian cows and lactating mothers (yes, real human beings). In addition to all these health benefits of the root, the leaves have even been used as a cooked vegetable, the roots as a culinary spice, and the seeds as an arrow poison. And last but not least, it has spiritual qualities bestowing luck on people who are about to embark on a difficult endeavour. Is there anything this plant can’t do?

In Malawi, gondolosi is believed to promote sexual arousal, enhance sexual performance, increase sensitivity, and cure erectile dysfunction in men. Mounting scientific evidence is proving that mondia whitei can attest to all its claims. A 2008 study, found that mondia whitei increases human sperm motility. Sperm motility is considered an important characteristic of sperm — it describes the quality of the sperm, specifically its ability to move towards the egg. Other research has shown that mondia whitei enhances libido by increasing testerone levels. More recently, it has been shown to have an effect on erectile dysfunction similar to sildenafil (viagra) which stimulates the release of nitric oxide which relaxes muscles, increases blood flow and causes erections.

Denzel Burutsa

Bruce Ndlovu
THE debut of Studio 263 in 2002 marked an important turning point on the Zim small screen. While Zimbabwean viewers were used to weekly TV dramas, Studio 263 was the country’s first soapie.

The ground breaking production, which depicted an assortment of characters in modern day Zimbabwe, was a national phenomenon which grew to a key national pastime in a short space of time.

If you were not watching Studio 263, it simply meant that you had no television set. If you did have one and it was not tuned in to ZBC when David Chifunyise’s infectious theme song announced a new episode, then either the TV set or your viewing taste needed adjustment.

Occupying a much coveted prime time slot, small screen addicts would congregate in front of their screens for the soapie’s daily dose of drama while their meals were still steaming hot in front of them.

Watching the soapie was a tradition, a ritual only broken by a two-day sabbatical on weekends when the show did not air.

Weekends allowed Zimbabweans to digest what had been dished out over the week as come Monday, their taste buds would be tantalised by the show’s regular diet of drama and suspense.

By mere fact of being the country’s first soapie, the show had strolled into the history books, but that was not the reason why it was so popular. Before the soapie, Zimbabwean dramas had been at pains to tackle topical societal problems like HIV and Aids. While such topics were and are still important, sometimes the moralist tone in the dramas weighed down their entertainment value, particularly for youths, who were getting exposed to morally unfettered content from Hollywood studios.
After watching a titillating episode of Santa Barbara, for example, watching a local drama began to feel like a 30 minute sermon in comparison.

Although it also grappled with these issues, Studio 263 brought a certain air of cool, urban freshness and style that made it appeal to the modern day youth. If most of the programmes on ZBC used TV as a vehicle for positive social awareness and change, Studio 263 was the national broadcaster’s prized Ferrari, getting Zimbabweans to the same destination, but doing so in style.

Central to this air of urban cool and vibrancy was Jabu, a character played by the talented Denzel Burutsa. Baggy jeans, oversized shirts were the young Burutsa’s preferred attire, which were complimented by neat cornrows or an Afro which seemed to demand constant attention from his ever present comb.

There was no TV character that better illustrated and represented the style and mood of the urban groves listening youth in the early years of the new millennium.

Burutsa’s appeal did not end with his appearance, as his boyish good looks made him the apple of many a young woman’s affection and obsession.

One thus wonders how a young Burutsa back then coped with the attention of women who no doubt, would have thrown themselves at his feet.

In an interview with Sunday Life, Burutsa laughed at the suggestion that he might ever have been tempted to cash in on the goodwill and attention that members of the fairer sex threw at him. Studio 263’s demanding schedule killed any hopes of any naughty sexual adventures.

“I ate, slept and lived for TV work, so I never had much time to be swayed,” he said.

While for a few years, Studio 263 had enchanted Zimbabweans, the magic gradually evaporated from the show as like many Zimbabwean programmes, it drowned in a sea of problems. The fortunes of its main characters have not followed a similar script, with the likes of Tongayi Chirisa going on to achieve greater success while others have disappeared altogether from the screen, leaving some to question whether Studio 263 was the pinnacle for most of those that took part in it.

“For lack of better phrasing, I’d say it did (overshadow our subsequent work). I think we just raised the bar for television which is hard to forget for everyone,” Burutsa said.

While he won the hearts of Zimbabweans with his good looks which made him a natural in front of the camera, Burutsa is now bent on proving he is more than mere good looking flesh as he now equally prioritises his work behind the scenes.

“Yes, I’m happy with my role behind the scenes. No matter how good your acting is, it goes to waste if the technical side is lacking.

“Production quality has always been ignored which made our local productions less competitive on the international market. I was concerned and I got involved.

“There’s been some gradual change, now artistes are more involved in the business side of art. Entertainment is a game of numbers, more viewership translate to good business. Now producers appreciate the commercial aspect of art,” he said.

Burutsa has been a part and parcel of popular television series Wenera, which has helped break out of the “Jabu” box that viewers might have inevitably placed him in.

“Every role I play comes with different challenges. Both productions have done well on TV and it’s all because of the synergies we harness on set with co-actors. So I’d say its two different families with the same goal, which is to be ahead of the pack.”

While he has moved on to other things in a career that has taken many detours including a stint in South Africa, Burutsa acknowledges the lasting impact that Studio 263 had on him.

“Every day on set was a new experience. I’m fond of the whole journey from episode one. When you spend 16-hour days with people at work, they naturally become family. So yeah, we’re always in touch.”

As Studio 263’s popularity spread, viewers began to hunger for more information about this talented bunch of people who delivered TV gold day in, day out. Half-an-hour of Jabu was not enough as avid fans were dying to know what Denzel Burutsa did with the rest of the day off set.

A marriage to fellow fan favourite Eve Bizure was just the fodder gossip mongers needed, as the goings on in their marriage became much talked both in the Press and on the streets.

After their much-publicised split, Burutsa contends that he has gone on to make better decisions.

While Studio 263 might be dead, there is no doubt that the obituary on Denzel Burutsa’s career is far from being written.

Nkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
UPON hearing the play’s title, Women without husbands, one might assume that the contents of the play include a bunch of women musing over their by gone glory years and lamenting over how they still have not found appropriate suitors.

Yet with Raisedon Baya’s literary genius, coupled with Memory Kumbota’s unmatched directorial skills and an all new, all female cast, Women without husbands manages to address genuine problems facing women in Zimbabwe or what the internet would call #BlackGirlStruggles.

The five women in the play each stand for something different that affects women and naturally audience members may find themselves identifying with one or more of the five characters.

MaNtuli, played by Memory Mguni is a housemaid between her late 30s to early 40s. She stands for the traditional woman who focuses on her duties as the perfect wife. Although her husband has been away for six years, she still quite naively believes that he will come back for her although he has not made contact for a while. Eventually she learns that her husband has been living with another woman.

Mguni’s portrayal of MaNtuli perhaps invokes the audience’s sympathy because she stands for the woman who does everything right and yet somehow fails to get the man in the end. She represents the many women who look past reason and practicality to defend their husbands even when everyone else around them sees that there is not much to wait around for.

Women who have put their lives on hold for men who do not come through for them will definitely identify with MaNtuli.

MaNtuli’s employer, Femi, played by Angel Mpofu is a small business owner, left by her husband because she could not conceive. However, it turns out it was her husband who was sterile. For the most part of the play, Femi is the voice of reason, giving advice to her maid and her younger sister. Towards the end of the play, her business is going under and she is faced with the dilemma of either accepting help from her former husband or letting her business collapse.

Femi will be best understood by the Miss Independents of this world. She represents the woman who rises above rejection and being told that she is not good enough and comes out of that perhaps stronger than she was before. Femi is a lightning rod for everyone else and deals with everyone else’s dysfunction. Unfortunately, Femi also represents the woman who has been so strong for so long that she has been told that she cannot cry or show emotion at any level. This makes her slightly bitter and at a time when she really needs help from her ex-husband her bitterness gets the better of her. Sadly at her lowest, the people she has been there for are nowhere around and in the end, she resorts to alcohol for comfort.

Delicacy Ngulube plays Nikiwe, Femi’s younger sister. Nikiwe is your typical contemporary black woman. She has a mind of her own and rejects what are culturally viewed as gender roles. Nikiwe is a radical thinker. She believes in the right to own one’s sexuality and when she finally decides to settle down, she goes to extreme lengths such as stealing money from the company she works for to give her future husband to pay her lobola. Tragically, shortly after her wedding, her husband leaves her.

The youth are most likely to see a bit of themselves in Nikiwe. She embodies every twenty something that has fallen hopelessly in love to a point where they do something that is not only irrational but illegal as well. Nikiwe symbolises how for most women, although they may try to fight against the cultural system; it somehow comes to bite them in the back. Nikiwe, paying her own lobola is her way of challenging the system, but it is the system that sees her thrown out of her matrimonial home because of her failure as a traditional bride.

Femi and Nikiwe’s aunt, played by Louisiana Charumbira makes a cameo appearance in a flashback scene. She tells Nikiwe what is expected of a young bride. She tells her niece of how everything she does from the wedding day onwards should be to the pleasure of her husband. The aunt stands for women who help to perpetrate the oppression of other women. Not out of ill intention but because they have gotten so accustomed to the way things have always been that it ends up seeming natural to them.

The fifth cast member is Qabujile, a work associate of Femi’s. Qabujile is played by Charlene Ndlovu and perhaps the only character in the play who is not attached to any man. She does not possess any of the obvious man problems that her fellow cast members reflect. However, throughout the play, Qabujile has a very detached mannerism about her. She represents women who are perhaps too rational. They neglect to ponder over emotional considerations when making decisions. Qabujile walks out on Femi when Femi is having a break down and when she (Qabujile) loses her job, she does not take time to reminisce on her lost job but starts to think of where to find another one. Qabujile ends up coming off as a very unsentimental human being.

These five women have through their dynamic characters managed to capture the essence of what it is to be a black woman in a contemporary African setting.

@nkocykay

Walter Magaya

LOCAL prostitutes have seemingly turned Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder and leader Prophet Walter Magaya’s Bulawayo offices into a red light zone, as they now operate from outside the premises situated at 11th Avenue between George Silundika Street and Robert Mugabe Way.

Security guards that man some offices situated at Ramjis Complex said the prostitutes had been operating outside the PHD Ministries offices in Bulawayo for a long time.

“They have been operating here for quite some time. They don’t cause problems, they just stand by his office perhaps because it is lit in the evenings and they prefer to stand there to attract customers,” said the guard.

Contacted for comment personnel from the office referred all questions to their headquarters in Harare, professing ignorance about the issue.

“We are not aware of that. I think you are best suited to get a comment from our headquarters. We are not allowed to talk to the press,” said a lady who preferred anonymity.

A lady from the Harare office also professed ignorance about the matter.

“You will have to get a comment from our superiors,” said the woman who declined to be named. — Peter Matika

Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Reporter
FOR imbibers a beer drinking outing should either be serene or lively with loud music being belted on the spot as they make an effort to drown their sorrows or exhilarate their celebratory mood.

In essence the environment where one partakes the “wise waters” depends on their choice or mood. In Zimbabwe, especially in Matabeleland region, particularly in Bulawayo, the need for one to seek an appropriate or alternative environment to down their favourite brand of liquor led to the birth of shebeens.

A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Scotland, Canada, the United States, England, Zimbabwe, the English-speaking Caribbean, Namibia, and South Africa.

Shebeens are however, still illegal drinking spots in Zimbabwe despite numerous attempts by various lobby groups and legislators such as the late luminaries Sydney Malunga and Dr Sikhanyiso Duke Ndlovu to have them legalised. To them, shebeens were a place of socialisation among men from the same neighbourhood and are said to have played an integral role in the uprising against the British colonial rule.

As these beer drinking houses became more and more popular and famous, they began to attract women imbibers with some flocking there to solicit for the purpose of prostitution.

In recent times MDC legislator, Thabitha Khumalo has joined the fray to legalise these binging houses.

Not to be outdone, settlers at Ngozi Mine squatter camp in Bulawayo are now home to a number of these home drinking holes.

Ngozi Mine is situated at a City Council dump site on the outskirts of Bulawayo, which is at the peripherals of the high-density suburbs of Cowdray Park and Emakhandeni as well as the medium and low-density suburbs of Richmond and Norwood respectively.

Its habitants are mostly unemployed men and women mostly youths that seek a living through picking up and modifying various items that are dumped at the garbage site for resale. Instead of coming daily to their “workstation” most opted to reside within its vicinity.

Some individuals might rebuke Ngozi Mine settlers as societal misfits or outcasts but in reality these people are merely less-privileged members of the community.

Upon realising that they needed a place for leisurely whiling away the time after a laborious day of poking and fidgeting the mountainous heavily stinking junk offloaded by trucks at the dump site in search of “potential valuable” wares and goodies, some enterprising settlers started to operate shebeens.

The Sunday Life news crew paid a courtesy call at Ngozi Mine on Wednesday to explore how members of this community spend their pastime. This reporter warmly greeted one young man probably aged 25 and asked where one could buy beer. The young man pointed at a cluster of shanty houses. As the news crew’s vehicle meandered and made its way in between shacks, made of plywood, corrugated metal, sheets of plastic, and cardboard boxes, it attracted the curiosity of most of the residents more so because of its smartly dressed occupants.

Most of the people were visibly unsettled and shaken by the presence of these (news crew) strangers probably purporting they intended to disturb their “peace”. The uncertainty mood that had engulfed that section within the vicinity of the lagoon soon died after this reporter pulled a couple of the “greenback” notes to buy two calabashes of opaque beer and invited some of the patrons seated on the veranda at Freedom “Sihlama” Maseko’s shebeen for a drink.

“We spend most of our time searching for various wares in the heaps of garbage that will have been offloaded by trucks. It is quite a tiresome chore and thus the shebeens afford an opportunity for those that drink beer to refresh while taking their favourite brew,” said one of the settlers, Brighton Dube.

Maseko’s sheeben is just like most of the shanties at the squatter area save only for the fact that it has a veranda with huge speakers pitched on poles balancing the roof of the balcony.

The shebeen king who is probably above 60 years of age specialises in selling opaque beer. At Maseko’s drinking hole, imbibers have to brace the ordeal of hordes of the flies lingering around them while at the same time taking gulps of opaque beer in a bid to outsmart the “naughty” flying insects from plunging into their liquor.

“We host a number of patrons here even those coming from nearby suburbs. Even some affluent people have been here as well,” said an elated-looking Maseko.

As the news crew’s local drinking mates mellowed and started co-existing, Brighton suggested that they move to another lively joint which sells bottled ice-cold beer.

Brighton added that MaMoyo’s shebeen was a haven of local and “foreign” prostitutes that would have shied away from stiff competition at other red-light districts. The commercial sex workers are said to be charging a paltry $1 for a session. The cheap services rendered by the ladies of the night seems to be the one luring men and more clientele at the lagoon’s “up-market” shebeen.

“This shebeen is the best in this area. It is even frequented by drinkers from Cowdray Park and Emakhandeni suburbs. If you come here on Fridays and Saturdays there will be a hive of activity with local ladies as well as those from the nearby suburbs soliciting for sex for the purpose of prostitution,” he said.

As the news crew made their way to MaMoyo’s shebeen in the company of Brighton it also noted that cases of early marriages were rampant at the shanty town as girls as young as 15 years were said to be married.

“Most of these girls whom you are seeing are married but there are plenty others that make a living through prostitution,” said Brighton.

MaMoyo’s beer selling venture seems to be lucrative as the shebeen queen is even contemplating buying a gas-powered refrigerator to stock more consignments.

The shebeen queen currently stores her beer in a huge cooler box, which would be packed with ice with a blanket placed on the basement of the container as a “coolant” to keep the beers in chilled conditions for “some time”.

“This is the only shebeen around here that sells bottled beer. I buy ice blocks in Cowdray Park which I use to keep the beer cold. It can stay chilled for up to two days. I however, intend to buy a fridge which is powered using gas,” said a bragging MaMoyo.

Clive Chibuku

Peter Matika, Senior Life Reporter
ONE of Bulawayo’s much adored rib ticklers, Clive Chigubu is soon to welcome fatherhood, as he recently announced that his longtime girlfriend is pregnant, Sunday Life has learnt.

The 26-year-old comedian told this publication that his girlfriend of more than three years was five months pregnant.

“My man, there’s going to be a little Clive running around soon. My girlfriend called me one day telling me that she had missed her period and you know soon after that I ironically began seeing baby adverts on TV,” he said jokingly.

Chigubu said they were yet to go for a scan to establish the child’s gender.

“Gosh, I’m very happy about this. We will be visiting a doctor soon to see the child’s gender,” he said preferring to keep the identity of his girlfriend out of the media, for now.

Chigubu said fatherhood would likely make him even more responsible.

“I have to focus on providing for my family, this means I have to work even harder. I want to be the best dad ever and I want to be there for my child. My father was never there for me when I was growing up and I want to be there for my child,” he said, reflecting on his life.

Perhaps taking on responsibility, Chigubu recently donated stationery to Mzilikazi Primary School, under his initiative — Yeyeee Family.

“Well, I recently gave back to my community under an initiative I call the Yeyeee Family. The initiative is centred on bettering the lives of those in my community. It not only focuses on my community but many other ghettos in Bulawayo. I want to encourage youths to rely on education if ever they want to be successful. For this project to be a success I want to thank my manager Donald Nyoni,” he said.

Chigubu added that he was part of a worldwide non-profit making organisation called Global Shapers Community.

The Global Shapers Community is a network of hubs developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their potential, achievements and drive to make a contribution to their communities.

Kudzai Musariri aka Kudzi

Nkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
FROM Sunday School choir member to solo gospel recording artiste. So goes the story of 22-year-old Kudzai Musariri, affectionately known as Kudzie, a newcomer in the gospel music industry.

“I was very young when I started singing, I sang in Christian Faith Pentecostal Church Sunday School choir and at that time, I did not realise what a big deal music was to me. It was only after I joined the Praise and Worship team that I realised that I have a ministry and from there I started writing songs and went on to start recording music in 2015,” said the petite-sized musician.

She then recorded her eight-track debut album, Makatendeka last year which was only released towards the end of this September.

The album consists mostly of upbeat Shona and English praise songs, borrowing beats from different music genres such as house and Afro-beat. Kudzie said she draws her inspiration from her life experiences.

“Every time I write a song I reflect on everything that God has done for me and everything that He has taken me through. He has uplifted me in so many ways and it would be wrong not to share that with the world.”

Having tried and failed to secure herself a permanent spot in the corporate world, Kudzie realised that perhaps day jobs were not meant for her.

“I tried working here and there but because I was not passionate about those jobs, I had to leave them. Music is my passion and I always found myself going back to music after leaving a job. I tell people that music is my full-time job and they say that it is not practical, and there were times where I listened to them and almost gave up but looking back, I realise that God had a plan for me,” she said.

Kudzie, who alternates bases between Bulawayo and South Africa, says she has received a fair response from both sides of the border.

“Support from both my Zimbabwean and South African churches is overwhelming. My congregants were the first people to buy copies of my album, and of course, my parents have always been my biggest supporters,” she said.

While waiting for her first album to gain momentum in the market, Kudzie is already working on her second album; a nine-track project entitled Amazing Grace.

@nkocykay