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shoulder workout

Simon Gama

BEGIN with a press, either with dumbbells, a barbell on a smith machine. Start off nice and light — the shoulder joint is delicate so it’s better to go a little overboard on warming up the area by adding an extra set or two of warm-ups.

Once you get into the groove, go up in weight from set to set. Presses attack all three heads of the deltoid muscle, giving a lot of work to the front and middle while also engaging the rear heads to a lesser extent. Once you have the press out of the way it’s time to give a little touch to all three heads, separately.

Pump the side delts first with standing laterals, the move to front raises and finally to bent — over laterals. While dumbbells have an effective weapon of choice for the shoulder, cables provide constant tension all the way through lateral-type moves making them a solid part of your shoulder workout rotation.

Try pyramiding up your weights when doing side laterals. Here’s an example of pyramiding training principle: Start with 30-pound dumbbells for 15:50 pounders for 12 and 60 pounds for 10.

Wide grip pull up: Start: Some call it the number one back exercise. You can’t build a complete back without it.

Smith machine seated press: Start: the front press with a free barbell most of the time, sometimes I’ll use the smith machine, which provides better balance. Using a seat with a back support set your feet solidly on the floor and take a shoulder width grip on the bar.

Action: press the bar up as high as you can without lacking out your elbows at the apex. I don’t look out because it takes the tension off and when you do that you’re losing part of why you’re doing the exercise in the first place. On the way bring the weight to your chest without pausing at the bottom before beginning another rep.

Dumbbell Lateral raise: Start: Stand with your feet shoulder — width apart holding two dumbbells with your palms facing each other maintaining a slight bend in your elbows so the weights begin in front of your hips. If you prefer you can also start with the dumbbells at your sides, either way is effective so its just a matter of preference.

Action: Contract your debts and lead with the weights until they come up and out to your sides. Your upper arms should be parallel with the floor,  only a brief pause at the apex, continue with a slow and controlled movement back to the start position and immediately begin another rep. Sometimes I’ll switch up and use cables for a change of pace.

Dumbbell front raise: Start: stand with your feet shoulder width apart, holding two dumbbells with your palms facing the sides of your thighs and with a slight bend in both of your elbows.

Action: Lift one weight in front of yourself to just above level with the top of your head, twisting your wrist so your palm faces the floor at the top. I hold it there for a brief second, then lower the dumbbell back down.

After returning to the start position with that first dumbbell, immediately switch arms and follow the same procedure to complete one full rep.On this move sometimes I’ll use a barbell for variety’s sake. You can also try the dumbbell version using palms — facing hammer grip the entire time instead of performing the twist on the “up” phase.

For efficiency and a change of pace, front raise can be paired with side lateral, do a front raise and a lateral raise with one arm, then the other alternating until you complete 12 reps of each move per arm.

Delt workout (Exercise)
Dumbbell lateral raise, 4 sets, repeat 15 times,15 times; Dumbbell Front raise, 2 sets, repeat 20 times, 15 times; Bent over lateral raise, 3 sets, repeat 12 times; Bent over lateral raise, 3 sets, repeat 12 times

In this reverse drop set, pyramid up the weights while dropping the reps, do 20 reps, drop the weight ,do 15 reps ,drop the weight etc. Dont rest between drops and run through this four-drop set twice. — Additional information from Online Sources.
n The writer, Simon Gama is a fitness coach at Body Works Gym in Bulawayo.

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Danai Gurira as Michonne in the Walking Dead

Bruce Ndlovu
AS she progresses in her career and becomes a fully fledged movie star, Zimbabwean actress Danai Gurira’s days as a zombie slaying warrior on one of the most watched TV shows, The Walking Dead, may be numbered, as there’s speculation that her character might be killed off in the not too distant future.

The popular TV show returns for its ninth season this week and if Hollywood speculation is anything to go by, this might be the last season that fans see Gurira as the sword wielding Michonne on the post apocalyptic series.

Despite a distinguished small screen career, Gurira has begun to make inroads as a legitimate movie star, with her roles in Marvel’s Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, guaranteeing her a spot as one of Hollywood’s elite.

Blockbuster roles in an upcoming Star Trek movie and another in King Kong mean that Gurira is now one of Hollywood’s hottest properties, making it highly unlikely that she will continue her role in the television series because of her bigger profile and increased workload.

Gurira’s departure is expected to be one of many changes in The Walking Dead in the new season.

“Original cast member Lincoln will leave this season, and most likely in the first half. Lauren Cohan who plays Maggie Greene will also leave at some point later this season. Danai Gurira who plays Michonne and joined in the third season is now a film star (Black Panther, and the next Star Trek sequel) so her days are likely numbered.

“That leaves Melissa McBride, who plays Carol, and Norman Reedus (Daryl) as the remaining originals,” American publication Newsday reported last week.

Despite rumours of an impending departure from the series, Gurira has spoken fondly about the upcoming season of the zombie series.

“There is a lot of movement in this because truth is kind of impossible in the sense of the world we are now in.

Things can go in any way, so it feels very hopeful and volatile at the same time, so there is a healing energy to this season and to this sort of interaction that we have — not only with the world we’re in, but how we’re adapting to it, and also with the people we’ve known and gone through everything with. Who do we become? And the terrain shifts and as our struggles shift.

There’s a very interesting hopeful yet volatile energy to the season. It’s really fulfilling,” she told Entertainment Weekly.

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Ckanyiso Dat Guy

Khahliso Ncube
THREE years in a row, Bulawayo comedians are scooping prizes of comedy in Shoko Festival. In 2016 Shoko Festival was celebrating Mandla Da Comedian, in 2017 it was celebrating Maforty and now in 2018 it was Ckanyiso Dat Guy and that is all the proof needed in labelling Bulawayo comedy the best.

The Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s fastest growing international festival and has established itself as a major event on Zimbabwe’s annual arts calendar.

Shoko is a vibrant space that hosts everything from live concerts, comedy nights, talks and discussions, to cutting edge presentations on tech and new media.

This show was tough for Ckanyiso Dat guy as he was the only performer from Bulawayo and he had to make Bulawayo proud like his fellow brothers Maforty and Mandla Da Comedian.

In all his performances that he had played he had never made jokes out of a theme most of his jokes were random and that made him nervous as he has to be sticking to a particular topic and be relevant.

“The competition was tough for me because when I was back stage I heard a guy performing and his piece was good and that made me doubt myself.

When I looked around the backstage I saw that I was the only guy for comedy from Bulawayo and that made me feel out of place but in the back of my mind I told myself that I will nail my performance and the Bulawayo guys who had performed previous years had won so I had to win also,” said Ckanyiso Dat guy.

Mandla Da Comedian was the first comedian to open doors of winning for the Bulawayo comedy in the Shoko Festival.

He won his Shoko prize in 2016 and the rest of his Bulawayo brothers followed and that made him proud of Bulawayo comedy that it has invaded Harare. From his view him and his comedy brothers winning, it was a way of proving that winning is not determined by the city you are coming from as the guys from the capital city always looked down on Bulawayo comedy.

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perspective

MENOPAUSE is no longer reserved for older women only. More and more women below the age of 45 are experiencing this phenomenon, and some are even getting divorced as a result of it.

Early menopause often comes with dryness down below, affecting your sexual relationship.

A workshop on vaginal atrophy revealed that two-thirds of women avoided intimacy because of vaginal discomfort during the menopause stage.

Many women around the world also find themselves suffering from depression due to menopausal effects on their marriages and relationships.

Sunday World polled women on Motherhood & Me, a Facebook group, to ask them about their experiences with menopause.
While some women revealed that they still could not tell if they were going through menopause, most spoke of how the phase changed their sexual life with their partners.

Nozipho Sithole, a high school teacher, opened up about her own personal struggles with menopause. “Mine came a bit early, I did not understand what I was going through. I had just turned 40 and my libido decreased.

“My partner thought I was no longer interested in having sex but I would experience serious dryness in my vagina.”
Other women said their menopause came earlier than expected. Bridget* said her marriage was on the rocks due to her early menopause.

“I was only 37. My husband thought I was uninterested in him. I also did not know what was going on until I secretly went to a gynaecologist,” said Bridget.

Bridget said she got the shock of her life when she realised that she was going through menopause. “It was as if my life came crashing down on me. I got married when I was 35 to a man I dated for a year, so now instead of having the time of my life with him, I was bored and always feeling fatigued.

“I used lubricants, but I would still not get in the mood and for me that was frustrating,” she said.

Bridget said she would try to initiate sex with her husband. “He would get an erection, but when he was supposed to penetrate me, I felt like he was too big for me because I would be dry and the sex was painful.

“He stopped trying because he could not understand why a woman my age would go through menopause,” said Bridget.
Experts at the workshop agreed that menopause can vary from person to person, but two of the most common symptoms are painful sexual intercourse and vaginal discomfort.

A study they conducted also revealed that 33 percent of women have more sex with their partners during menopause.
Gynaecologist Phuti Ratshabedi says women who suspect they are going through menopause should consult their gynaecologist.

“Menopause is a life stage that can’t be avoided. Women going through it should get more knowledge about menopause to understand what they are going through.”

However, Ratshabedi says the change can be positive for a few women.
Mpho Mulaudzi (47), says menopause improved her sex life. “My friends used to tell me that menopause would make having sex difficult.

“I actually experienced a high sex drive. I started looking after myself more, and my partner was surprised because I hardly initiated sex in the past.”

* Not her real name. (Also see www.dryvagina.co.za) — Sowetan.co.za

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toastmasters international

Tendai Bhebe, Sunday Life Reporter
A LOCAL organisation specialising in leadership skills training, Dream Achievers Toastmasters is set to host a Toastmaster International dinner at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair to celebrate the inception of their club on Friday.

The dinner is expected to attract members from across the country, who might be interested in joining the Toastmasters International club. The guest of honour will be the Toastmaster Southern African champion of public speaking Lloyd Mugabe.

In an interview, president for Dream Achievers Toastmasters club Future Moyo said the main aim for holding the event is to celebrate the opening of a new branch.

“We are celebrating our success as we have opened another branch. This shows there is growth in Bulawayo and we are hoping for more branches to be opened,” she said.

She said the club is meant to empower people in promoting career growth in communication and leadership skills.

“Toastmasters members come from all walks of life, from any workplace, civic and social groups and our aim is to help them in improving their speaking, listening and leadership skills,” she said.

She added: “Since 1924 Toastmasters International has helped millions of men and women become more confident in front of the audience. Our network of clubs and their members learn by doing programmes that will help an individual become a better speaker and a leader,” she said.

Moyo said the club was aiming to help different communities in different parts of the world in discovering hidden abilities and awaking latent talents.

“With more than 332 000 memberships in over 154 000 clubs in 135 countries, our aim is to help people discover hidden abilities, acquiring expanded vision of the role of communication and increasing self esteem through active participation in personal development worldwide.

“Our major challenge is that a few people are aware of the organisation and its benefits and we are hoping that more members can join hands with us and build a better future for the country and the world as a whole through the Toastmasters club,” she said.

@TendaiBhebe

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Lovemore Majaivana

Bruce Ndlovu
TO demonstrate how serious he was when he vowed never to sing again, self-exiled musician Lovemore “Majee” Majaivana rejected Oliver Mtukudzi’s plea for him to come back home for a few shows, and even went to the extent of turning down the fellow Zimbabwean music superstar’s offer for a collaboration.

Majaivana has not stepped on a stage since he left the country of his birth at the turn of the century, although he still commands a following that rivals any among his peers.

After Thomas Mapfumo made his return to Zimbabwe after 14 years in exile earlier this year, there have been renewed calls for Majaivana to do the same and stage one last show for his long suffering fans.

However, while others have only started adding their voices to the chorus calling for Majaivana to come back, for veteran radio personality and promoter Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, luring back Majee has been a 15-year-old pursuit. Since 2013, Sibanda has tried to lure Majaivana back, including soliciting the help of Tuku. According to the veteran broadcaster, although Majaivana attends Tuku’s gigs in the United States religiously, he refused the offer of a duet when Tuku asked.

“Previously I asked Tuku when he was in USA to speak to him and they met but still he refused to do a comeback or even record a duet with Tuku. He attends Tuku’s shows in States to watch every time he is there,” Sibanda said.

According to Sibanda’s grand plan, Majaivana would perform on a farewell tour around the globe before hanging the mic forever.

“I have been trying to convince and lure Majee to do a comeback, just for the sake of his fans. I want him to do a world tour and then retire since he said he doesn’t want to sing anymore. My plan was to do two shows in UK, one in South Africa before heading to Zimbabwe for two huge shows in Harare and the finale in Bulawayo. My first contact with him was in 2003 and he vehemently refused and I’m still begging him,” he said.

However, despite Sibanda’s overtures, Majee has been adamant that he does not want to come back, even asking for a change of subject whenever music is brought up in a conversation between the two.

“For the past 15 years I have been trying and he tells me he is not going to sing or perform again. He wants me and him to chat about sports or any other social issues, not music,” he said.

Despite his popularity, Majaivana felt rejected while he was still an active musician in Zimbabwe. That feeling that he was not fully embraced by his own has left him feeling music as a craft had not made a meaningful contribution to his life. Sibanda said people only started to see what they had been missing when they saw the prophetic power of the Makokoba-bred artiste’s words.

“He says he never benefited anything from music and all his sweat went to waste. I believe people only appreciated his music mainly when they discovered Majee’s music was prophetic. All he sang about has come to pass,” he said.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, the adage goes and every year the cries for a major farewell grow louder. Despite his reluctance to come back, Sibanda said that Majaivana was well aware of how popular he was.

“He knows full well that he is on demand but very he’s adamant not to sing again. We created a Facebook petition ‘Bring back Majaivana’ and thousands of people signed up. I then took it to him but he refused. Majee felt unloved and his music unappreciated during his singing career. It’s only now when people felt more connected to his music because of the situation,” he said.

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Oliver Mtukudzi

While some had speculated that Majaivana had become a pastor after he left music, others have claimed that he has been living large in the United States, with a posh home and vehicles. Sibanda confirmed that the veteran musician was now businessman.

“I don’t know anything about Majee being a pastor. I know he is a businessman in the States. I don’t want to get into details but I think he was put off by his record company as well,” he said.

Despite his efforts being rebuffed, Sibanda said he was not giving up and had not asked Thomas Mapfumo to make a plea to Majaivana on his and other fans’ behalf.

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celebrities on instagram

Rutendo Chidawanyika

CELEBRITIES used to entice us from a distance, from movies and magazines, but now they invite us backstage, into their bathrooms and on their private jets, giving us a close-up look at their oh-so-fabulous lives. Check your phone.

We are now kept up-to-date on every second of their day. But with their full-time jobs — performing on stage, touring, acting in television shows, prepping lines for a movie —how do they do it? Well, most of them don’t.

Beyond Extra Cash, Celebs Need to Feed Instagram to Stay Relevant: Even if celebrities don’t feel like, they realise that these days, movie/ music studios are going to look to go straight at their Instagram/ Twitter when considering them for the next big role.

With big money at stake, investors need to know who is going to encourage the most fans to the theatres or who is going to get the most fans to the concert.

Celebrities also need to constantly insert themselves into the conversation to stay relevant. With social media they cannot get comfortable.

It’s Not the Number of Followers, but the Number of Engaged Followers: Just having a large number of followers these days isn’t enough. The demand now is for engaged followers. It’s the ratio of likes/ comments to followers that is being sought after.

Engaged followers are more important — it shows that their followers are not just taking a look at their Instagrams but are actually participating. They are touching the brand. They are getting involved. The convergence of the fans buying the product is when the celebrity has a loyal engagement.

Behind Each Photo Is a Hidden Team of Professionals: The shot — the one of the perfectly fitted bathing suit hugging all the right curves by the azure coloured sea of a celebrity drinking the latest brand of coconut water — is an actual production.

It is very rare that there is just a simple picture of a celebrity with a product. It is set up in advance. There are hair and makeup teams. There is a reason they look so god damn perfect all the time.

A week’s worth of photos are often crammed into a day. The experts tell how they run around shooting them in their outfits.

They will have a rack of wardrobe and be ready to go. And it’s really quick, throw the hair up, thrown the hair down. At the end of the day, they will have 10 to 15 shots retouched. Anything after that, they will pay by the hour.

They can’t be too picky.
And of course there is the Photoshopping. There is 100 percent photoshopping of the pictures. Those pictures are selected to look absolutely perfect. Celebrities are by their very nature aspirational.

Let’s get real for a second. Do you really think someone’s picture perfect Instagram life is their reality? Do you really think that perfect selfie was taken on the first try or not edited a million times to get the perfect filter? Do you think that “perfect couple” you envy on Insta is seriously perfect? Do you think that person constantly showing off all of their expensive things is really happy because of what they own? Take a second to really think about it.

I’ll admit it, sometimes our hectic lifestyle leaves me stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted. But you better believe I’m not going to post a selfie of my tired and worrisome self like “hey y’alllll look like crap & feel like it too ;).”

Sorry guys. I’m not going to post a picture of the way I looked this morning, bed hair and zero makeup on. I’m not going to post about our messy house, unmade beds and pile of laundry in the corner of our room right now.

And nine times out of ten I’m not going to share on social media something I am struggling with internally — even if I do, it’s probably filtered one way or another.

I’m not saying that I put out a fake persona of what my life is really like. I’m just saying that you don’t see someone’s life in its entirety through their social media. I personally love to be a positive, happy go-lucky person and I feel like I portray that through my social media. But it doesn’t mean I don’t ever struggle. Everyone has hard times in life, don’t think they don’t.

Those blah, sad days where you just don’t feel like yourself. Those bad hair days, bad makeup days and days your jeans feel a little tighter than others. Even those days where you feel like the whole world is caving in on you. I’m telling you everyone has these days. Stop comparing yourself to these “perfect” people on Instagram, Facebook, wherever.

Remember that no one has the perfect life, we shouldn’t envy someone else’s life that may “look” different than yours in pictures. Stop questioning your beauty and worth because of what others are posting on the internet. Realise that everyone’s different and unique life is beautiful in itself.

If everyone was as “perfect” as they look on social media life would be boring. So next time you’re scrolling through your feed try to remember not to envy or wish someone else’s life was your own. Everyone has their own amazing story in life, cool Instagram pics or not. — Additional information from Online sources.
Email: rutendochidawanyika3@gmail.com

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Jah Prayzah

Bruce Ndlovu
OVER the last few years, Jah Prayzah has had the ability to raise his hand up when he is needed the most.

A lot has been said about his ability to dish out hit after hit but not enough time has been devoted to his impeccable timing.

Cooking up a hit is one thing and knowing when to release one is another. Over the last few years Jah Prayzah has proved that perhaps his hit-making skills are not a fluke, as he has managed to release hits whenever he has felt like it.

As the festive season approaches, the time seems ripe for another Jah Prayzah smash and grab. In the same week that the country’s finest minds in the worlds of commerce and finance set out strategies aimed at rejuvenating the country’s economy, it seems like a music industry desperately in need of festive season hits was given fair warning that the annual Jah Prayzah stimulus package was on the way.

During a listening session in the capital this week, it emerged that Jah promised that a follow up to last year’s Kutongwa Kwaro would arrive on 2 November.

The album, Chitubu, has a lot to live up to, as it comes in the wake of last year’s Kutongwa Kwaro, an album that put to bed any discussions about who was the biggest artiste in the country.

Packed with hits to cater for his very diverse following, Kutonga Kwaro solidified Jah Prayzah’s superstardom while once again enhancing his reputation as a political soothsayer, with many adopting the opinion that the album’s title track predicted the political changes that were about to sweep through the country.

No doubt many will be looking to see if he continues the streak on the latest album, as they take a microscope to his lyrics to see what he might have foreseen this time.

For the less politically inclined however, a Jah Prayzah album in November simply means the good times are once again about to roll. After all, what is a festive season without a few Jah Prayzah hits?

This year seems particularly primed for a Jah Prayzah takeover, with most of his competitors having dropped their albums earlier on in the year. The festive season is where the money is, and he prepares for the roll-out of another summer blockbuster some might be wondering whether Jah Prayzah has mastered the formula necessary for success in a tough industry.

“It’s not really a strategy on our part,” the star’s manager Keen Mushapaidze told Sunday Life. “We just make sure that he releases an album every year. It’s mostly coincidental that the album releases happen at the end of the year.”

As evidence that Jah was not always looking for a big festive season payoff when he released his albums, Mushapaidze highlighted the fact that the Kutongwa Kwaro hit-maker had released albums earlier in the year in the past.

“If you notice our albums from three or four years back we were releasing them earlier in the year. We released one album in March if I’m not mistaken. So anyone saying this is a strategy is just reading too much into things,” he said.

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David Masondo (left) and Moses Ngwenya

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondent
SOMETIMES when he is playing during a gig, Moses Ngwenya imagines the late Soul Brothers’ lead vocalist David Masondo in front of him, mic in hand, serenading thousands of adoring fans.

In fact, concerts nowadays are a sort of time machine for Ngwenya. Whenever he plays on stage these days, he is magically transported to the 1970s, back to the era when the Soul Brothers were born, and he can imagine himself playing with the original five members of the legendary group.

Back in 1976 when Ngwenya joined forces with three boys from Kwazulu-Natal, David Masondo, Tuza Mthethwa, Zenzele Mchunu and one young guy from Mpumalanga, American Zulu, he did not think he would one day carry the Soul Brothers torch alone. One by one they’ve left him and he is now the last Soul Brother standing.

When Sunday Life caught up with Ngwenya a day after the Soul Brother’s performance at Skyz Metro’s Umcimbi Wabantu in Bulawayo recently, he confessed that memories of not only Masondo but the rest of the original Soul Brothers haunt him on stage.

“Sometimes when we’re playing songs I just imagine what he would be doing. I miss a lot about all of my late colleagues because we’ve got songs that are over 40 years old and when you play them you start saying if so and so was alive he’d be doing this and if so and so was alive he would be doing this.

“It all comes back to me to me sometimes, but I try to tell the younger guys that if we have to keep our brand on top we’ve got to do this and that just like the original Soul Brothers used to do,” he said.

Death has stalked the Soul Brothers from the beginning, something that is expected for a group that has spent over 40 years as one of the most sought after outfits. According to Black Moses, as Ngwenya is popularly known, the first death, that of Mthethwa, was perhaps the hardest to swallow for the group especially as it came when they had just started to get famous.

“When we formed Soul Brothers there were five of us. During all these years we’ve had losses. First it was Mthethwa in 1975 due to a car accident. We were shaken because we were very young and only starting to be famous.

“That was our first taste of fame. We never gave up on our music and we kept our heads up and recorded songs like Deliwe during that trying time. After we had recovered from that tragedy we lost Mchunu in 1984. It was hard again but again we didn’t stop,” said Ngwenya.

With age comes wisdom, the adage goes, and although he and Masondo had become synonymous with the Soul Brothers brand, he has had the courage to take on life after the demise of a man who had been by his side through thick and thin. As painful as the loss of Masondo was, it was cushioned by the understanding support of the group’s die hard legion of fans.

“Luckily whenever we lose a member of the Soul Brothers the fans love us even more. Our CDs sell out at a faster pace following a death. What I’m trying to say is that even today even though Masondo has left me, I’ve not lost that spirit that we started out with.

“We don’t have to stop especially now because this band is too big all over the globe. I’m trying to keep the same spirit and say that although David has left us as the lead singer, we’ve got young boys like Thokozani who we’re grooming for that role,” he said.

Without Masondo, the man whose voice was the highlight of many a Soul Brothers hit, Ngwenya was adamant that the group had lost none of its old spark.

“When we do shows, people say that you’re still as good as before and some say that they can’t tell that Masondo is no longer there which I think is a good thing because this band is not Moses Ngwenya. This band is bigger than individual names and so I’m still pushing it and I know that I’ll make it,” he said.

As the only remaining original Soul Brother, Ngwenya is fully aware that he also will not live forever. As thoughts of retirements creep into his mind, he is also beginning to think of ways in which he can pass the torch to a younger generation of “ogandaganda” over the next few years.

While Masondo was the undoubted star with his voice, one thing that distinguishes the Soul Brothers from every other mbaqanga group is Black Moses’s work on the keyboard. This too is a skill that he is eager to pass on.

“I’m getting older now. I don’t think I’ll be playing 10 years from now. I also plan to retire and teach organists my style. From next year, because I’ve heard a lot of cries from musicians who say that they’ve been trying to play like I do but they can’t, I’ll be teaching young musicians the style that I play on the organ.

“I think in South Africa I’m the only one who plays the organ in that way. A lot of people don’t understand that I don’t play the piano but the organ. It has a certain feel that’s just different from the piano. It has this feel reserved for gospel songs, this feel that’s most suitable for weddings. This is the type of mbaqanga that I chose and people loved it. So from next year I’ll be holding workshops to teach younger people how to play like I do,” he said.

The Soul Brothers pioneered their own style of mbaqanga, a style in which each and every song begins with Ngwenya running his magic fingers on the organ. According to Black Moses, this was an invention that was a masterstroke and made the group who they are, as it separated them from hundreds of mbaqanga groups whose music kicked off with the sound of guitars instead.

“Before we formed the Soul Brothers all mbaqanga songs started with a guitar. So when we came and infused my style of play on the organ it changed things. When I started out I was a jazz artiste, playing the kind of music made by the likes of Rex Rabanye. When David and the others came from Natal they were making typical mbaqanga so when we jammed together then our style music was created. This thing was created and we won’t change it. Why change it when the people love it?” he said.

Before a power failure ended their gig prematurely last week, the Soul Brothers had got another rousing reception in the City of Kings. When Masondo visited drinking spots around the city on Sunday, he was given a hero’s welcome wherever he with Soul Brothers CDs selling like freshly baked cakes wherever he went. Although the group is loved in a lot of places, Ngwenya acknowledges that they share a special bond with fans in Bulawayo, something he credits to the group’s timeless music.

“I think it’s because Soul Brothers were popular before most of the people who attend shows now were born. So these young people grew up on our music and it has been passed from generation to generation. Our music is not about things that are going to end anytime soon. We sing about human issues that affect people on a day-to-day basis and will always be relevant. Our songs don’t get old,” he said.

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TelOne-

Bruce Ndlovu
AS the battle for the hearts and minds of television viewers across the continent continues, TelOne has also thrown its hat into the ring, thus emerging as the latest challenger to broadcast giant Multichoice with its Digital Entertainment on Demand (DEOD) service.

The product of a partnership between TelOne and South African digital media company Discover Digital, DEOD was launched on Thursday by Ster Kinekor during a snazzy ceremony attended by some of the city’s celebrities and business leaders.

The streaming service joins Netflix and Kwese iFlix as the latest challengers to DSTV, as new streaming services begin to get more prominence while the broadcast giants adapts to a changing landscape which has seen viewers migrate from subscription to streaming and video on demand services.

As fibre makes its way into many homes in Zimbabwe and elsewhere on the continent, streaming services have been gaining ground. In South Africa, DSTV lost as many as 100 000 subscribers last year alone.  Telone’s DEOD Premium offers a combination of News, Sport and On Demand for a take-all special price of $11.99 for 30 days. For viewers not interested in monthly payments, they can also pay a weekly ($4.50) or weekend ($2.50) fee.

DEOD has integrated payment channels that will allow customers to subscribe and buy/rent movies using mobile money and other digital payments platforms as well as purchase vouchers in-store at any TelOne outlet.

The Head Marketing and Business Development at TelOne, Maureen Mutsonziwa Chirambaguhwa, said that the unveiling of the service came at an opportune time for TelOne.

“The DEOD launch comes at a strategic time for TelOne after the recent completion of the 98 million China Exim facility which has supported our TelOne national broadband project and the deployment of fibre to over 33 000 homes and we’re targeting 100 000 homes before 2019,” she added.

Chirambaguhwa said that this latest innovation had the potential of revolutionizing TV viewing in Zimbabwe.

“This new innovation from TelOne will give Zimbabweans access to exciting new TV viewing options. It will unveil internet TV at another level. It will give viewers the ability to rent on a title by title basis or a pay per view basis. The pay per view option allows you the chance to access a movie for as little as $1.50. so for as little as 1.50 you will actually be to access a movie that you’ll be able to access over a 48 hour period. All this is at very competitive pricing,” she said.

Chirambaguhwa said that local content producers would also be in the mix, as the service was set to have a channel dedicated towards local content.

“We as TelOne are very excited about this latest innovation and we’re calling on all local content producers to see our representatives. We are going to have a local content channel on this platform. There’re interesting business opportunities for local content producers and we’re all for promoting local content,” she said.

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Amafikamahle

Nigel Siziba, Sunday Life Reporter
SOUTH Africa-based Maskandi group Amafikamahle is making it big across the Limpopo and has just won the best song of the year award.

The hit son is Unbelievable. It got the best prize  in the KZN CAMAS awards last month that were held at Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. In an interview,  Xolani Tshuma, the manager of the group expressed gratitude to people who voted for them.

“I would like to thank all those who voted for us especially our fellow Zimbabweans who supported us all the way. This means a lot to us and we are excited to have won this award and the fact that we are foreigners gives us more confidence going forward as artistes,” he said.

The group manager said South African people love their music and even though they are foreigners they are treated fairly. Amafikamahle already has three albums.

“We have three albums, these are Unembeza, Ungungunyane and Unbelievable that won us this accolade. Our music has been played a lot in SA radio stations and also in Zimbabwe in stations like Khulumani, Radio Zimbabwe and Skies Metro. In five years we want to be one of the best Maskandi group in Africa and our fans should keep supporting us all the way,” said Tshuma.
— @sizibanigel

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Mshoza

SOUTH AFRICAN musician, Mshoza, will be stepping away from the spotlight for at least six weeks as she undergoes training to be a traditional healer‚ the star has revealed to TshisaLIVE.

The music star‚ who is currently on tour promoting her catchy single Ayina Chorus‚ told TshisaLIVE that after years of fighting the call‚ she has decided to ukudla igobongo for six weeks so that she could understand her call more.

Once she has completed the process of ukudla igobongo and she has sorted out a few outstanding personal issues then she would return to ukuthwasa.

“The calling is something that has always been there. I believe people who have this special gift are born with it‚ it is not fashion or something that is exciting and everyone can just jump on it if they feel like it‚“ she said.

She said that she would still honour all bookings and commitments she had made before making the decision‚ but would not be accepting any new gigs so that she could focus fully on her calling.

“I will still be at shows I was booked for but won’t be engaging in certain things while doing igobongo‚‘‘ she added.

She said the hardest part of the calling was “accepting” it within herself after putting it off for so long.

“You keep thinking that you have so much to do and now is not the right time but you can only put it off for so long.” — Sowetan.co.za

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Beatrice Tonhodzayi

Sunday Life Reporter
The Zimpapers Annual Cancer Power Walk is back. This time it is bigger and better as it is happening in three cities — Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare.

The event will be held on 3 November and the Bulawayo walk will start the City Hall car park, use Gwanda Road and turn right at the robots at Holiday Inn and then turn back towards town at the curve at Ascot Race Course with the final destination being Coghlan Primary School where various activities will be held.

“Zimpapers, as part of its Social Responsibility and in partnership with Island Hospice will host its annual Cancer Power Walk on 3 November in the major cities of Harare, Mutare and Bulawayo. The major objective of the campaign is to educate the public on the cancers that are most prevalent in this part of the world, how to prevent them and where possible how to prevent them,” said Zimpapers Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Manager, Beatrice Tonhodzayi.

Cancer is one of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) presenting the country with headaches. Referred to as lifestyle conditions, these diseases and conditions often occur as a result of poor food choices, lack of exercise and addictions to certain harmful substances.

Genetic disposition, stress and other pre-existing health conditions such as HIV increase the risk of cancers and other lifestyle conditions.

“To kickstart the Zimpapers Group’s 2018 Cancer Campaign, staff members will observe the annual Takkie Day this month (October) which is Breast Cancer Month. On this day staff will come to work dressed in sneakers with their formal wear in solidarity with cancer patients and in memory of those who have died of cancer. Donations will be collected to go towards palliative care and hospice for cancer patients. The campaign will culminate in the walk itself. Everyone is invited to participate in this year’s edition of the Walk.”

The walk is open to the public and registration is $5 for adults for the Bulawayo event. The event will start at 6 AM and run for about three hours. For Bulawayo registration, the public can contact Charity Mugabe (0712389139) or at the Chronicle offices.

After paying the participation fee, participants will be given branded T-shirts for the event and all moneys generated will be donated to cancer associations.

There will be a zumba session at Coghlan primary school conducted by Sure Machakwa. Various organisations that deal with health issues like blood pressure, HIV, cancer, sugar diabetes will be at the venue to do voluntary checks and to give expert advice.

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Jeys Marabini

Bruce Ndlovu
HAVING seen Filabusi acquire a reputation as a sleepy town over the years, music star Jeys Marabini is determined to see it awakened for at least once every year, as he prepares to bring the second edition of the annual UGodlwayo Yithi to his hometown.

Determined not to become of those musicians that abandon their roots once they hit the big time, Marabini has decided to share some of his shine with the area that he credits for making him the man and musician that he is today.

With a scorcher of a new album behind him (Ntunjambila) and his reputation as one of the country’s most consistent musicians growing, Marabini is determined to open the eyes of a Filabusi community that has been starved of high quality music acts in the past.

UGodlwayo Yithi fest, to be held on 3 November, has thus become Marabini’s pet project for the attainment of this goal.

In fact, although his music is synonymous with the City of Kings, Marabini says that he would not have set in Bulawayo if his hometown had the sort of spectacle that he is now trying to bring when he was growing up.

“If Filabusi was as big as Bulawayo I would never have come to Bulawayo because that’s my home. I would have stayed and worked there. Now because I’m a musician who’s recognised around the continent and at home I believe that I should do something for my people. They should at least be able to rejoice and celebrate this one time during the year,” he told Sunday Life in an interview.

Despite a harsh economic landscape, Marabini said that this year’s fest was about building on the successes of last year.

“Last year it was a success and we’re trying to make sure that it’s the same this year. Even though things are tough economically we want to make sure that the festival happens at all costs. Even if it means holding it on a smaller scale it has to happen because we want it to be an annual gig,” he said.

In fact, as things got tougher, music could prove to be a remedy, a remedy that Marabini would like to see administered on the people of Filabusi.

“Music heals the soul. Even if people have problems they will feel better after listening to their favourite musicians play.

That’s why African people sing at funerals because it soothes them.

I would like to encourage the businesspeople and leaders of Filabusi to support the festival because the growth of the festival is also their growth,” he said.

Taking the fest to Filabusi would also help introduce modern forms of entertainment that people in the area had been starved of, Marabini said.

“It’s a sad thing that our people don’t know what a big stage is, what stage lights are or what big musician play like. I’m from Filabusi and after the success that I’ve got I will make sure that they know all these things.  It’s a remote place so people are starved of quality entertainment. This is what we’re trying to put right even though things are hard economically,” he said.

While the festival was still taking baby steps, Marabini said he wanted it to grow bigger with time.

“I’m very thankful to the artistes who have been very supportive of the festival up to this point. We would like it to grow bigger and see it attracting people from beyond Filabusi and even the country. For now however, we’re still crawling like a toddler but with time I’m sure we will be up and running,” he said.

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Simon Gama

Push Press
BODYBUILDERS typically execute exercises at a slow to moderate speed, however, doing some exercises that are explosive faster is very effective for developing the white fast twitch fibres which have great potential for hypertrophy.

One such exercise that involves not only the legs but also the shoulders and arms is the push press. In essence it involves some actions from the squat as well as the overhead press in a forceful high intensity movement.

Major muscles involved

In the shoulder joint the interior deltoid and upper pectoralis major. In the shoulder girdle for rotating and elevating the scapula. Serrates interior upper and lower trapezius, lavatory scapulae and rhomboid. In the elbow joint the triceps Brach.

The deltoid originates on the cuter third of the clavick, the top of the acromion and the posterior border of the scapular spine.

It inserts on the humerus just above the centre of the scapular spine. It inserts on the humerus just above the deltoid attachment.

The serratus anterior originates on the upper eight or nine ribs at the side of the chest and inserts on the anterior surface of the medical border of the scapula.

The trapezius a large flat sheer of muscle on the upper and middle portion of the back originates on the base of the skull ligament of the neck and seventh cervical to 12th thoracic vertebrae.

It inserts along the outer third of the posterior border of the clavicle the top of the acromion and the upper border of the scapular spine. The rhomboid originates on the spinout processes of the last cervical and the first five thoracic vertebrae and inserts on the medial border of the scapula.

The lavatory scapulae originates on the transverse process of the upper four cervical vertebrae and inserts on the medical border of the scapula. The triceps brachia lateral head originates on the back of the humerus from the middle of the shaft almost to the very top.

The medical head originates on the lower portion at the numerous for nearly two third of the length of the bone and the long head originates run into a common tendon which inserts on the elecianin process of the ulna in the forearm. The quadriceps muscle is not involved to the extent of the shoulders and arms so it is not discussed.

Execution
Stand with feet parallel and shoulder width apart. Hold dumbbells or barbell.

The weight should be relatively heavy (heavier than you usually use in the overhead press for the same number of repetitions) high on the upper chest with the trands pronated facing forward in the case and slightly wider than the shoulder width apart.

Bend the knees slightly and then vigorously extend the legs and simultaneously push the weight upward. Make the movements quick and forceful.

Keep your spine in its normal slightly arched position and pause at the top. Balance the weight and then return to the initial position under control and pause again. Repeat when ready.

Breathe in and hold your breath as you extend the legs and push the weight upward. Exhale on the return or when you pause on top.

Lower the weight and exhale as you reach the starting position.

Joint actions
In the push press the arms are extended straightened overhead from an on the chest position. The legs are also extended to assist early movement of the bar.

Sports uses
Body builders use this exercise to build up deltoids, upper pecs serratus anterior and the upper and lower portions of the middle back.

The combination of the shoulder joint flexion and elbow joint extension are used in many sports that require an overhead pushing or reaching action.

This action plays a major role in the weight lifting events such as the jerk and military press and in gymnastics when doing the handstand. It is also used in acrobatics, hand balancing and other overhead movements.

Overhead press strengths is involved in all overhead lifting actions, for example, the tennis serve and smash ceiling shot in racquet ball and overhead clear in badminton.

Comments

1. The main purpose of this exercise is to use greater than usual weight which recruits more muscle to develop greater strength and mass.

However, don’t think it’s an easy exercise because of the assistance from the legs. You must still rely heavily on the pressing action with the arms. Be sure to raise the weight until the arms are fully extended.

2. During execution make sure your spine remains in its natural position slightly arched position. Do not lean backward and cause the spine to hyper extend since this can cause injury.

If you find you cannot do the exercise in strict form use lighter weights. When you use heavy weights you tend to hyper extend the spine.

3. Breathing is important when heavy weights are used. Since you are raising a weight overhead you must maintain a strong and rigid trunk. This is needed to keep your spine stable and get more power and to give the muscles involved a firm base from which to contract.

Be sure not only that your mid-section especially the lower back. Muscles are under isometric contraction but also that you hold your breath momentarily while overcoming the most difficult up and down portions of the exercise.

4. If you start to lose your balance place one leg slightly in front of the other but still keep them shoulder distance apart. You will also be less likely to arch your back in this position.

To prevent loss of balance look directly forward with your head in a normal upright position. Looking up may cause you to lose your balance and fall backward.

5. Do not over emphasise the leg action. The push press is essentially on overhead press and the legs contribute some force in the inhale stages to help get the weight moving.

Do not go into a deep squat before executing the movement. The key to doing this exercise is to lower yourself at a moderate rate of 15-25 degrees and then quickly reverse direction to utilise the energy stored in the eccentric contraction.

This energy helps get you moving upward which creates same moving inertia of the weights. This in turn allows the shoulder joint and elbow joint muscles to contract with force to continue the movement.

If instead you went into a very deep squat you would lose all ability to switch the eccentric tension into the concentric overhead movement. It becomes a different type of muscle action.

6. For variety instead of holding the elbows forward you can hold the elbows down and the sides. In the variant you use more at the middle deltoid and the supraspinatus muscles.

By the alternating the two positions you can get greater shoulder development.—Additional information from Online sources.
n The writer, Simon Gama, is a fitness coach at Bodyworks gym in Bulawayo.

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Hapaguti “Harpers”

Khahliso Ncube/Nigel Siziba, Sunday Life Reporters
BEVERLY Sibanda’s manager Hapaguti “Harpers” speaks out that he and Bev have never went separate ways and they have never terminated their contract as people speculated.

The moment Beverly moved to South Africa her fans started circulating rumours on social media that she has parted ways with her manager.

“I never stopped to manage Bev. The only thing that happened is that she moved to South Africa and I remained in Zimbabwe. As her manager I was still aware of all that she was doing and I would give her blessings on what she was doing. I would talk to people in South Africa that wanted to work with her even when I was in Zimbabwe and I think that is proof enough that l am still her manager and I never stopped,” said Harpers.

Like any other working partners Bev and Harpers did fight at some point as they would not having the same eye on a particular idea but the fights were like any other of manager and artiste fight.

When Bev moved to South Africa she went with her manager as they had to sign contracts that side.

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BEVERLY-SIBANDA

Harpers stayed in South Africa for a month as he was arranging contracts for her. Bev never missed any show scheduled for her in Zimbabwe by Harpers and they are always in contact.

Bev only moved to South Africa for greener pastures and that was their strategy with her manager to make more money.

“I treat Beverly like my daughter; our relationship is like that of a daughter-father relationship and our problems we had we solved and they were just minor problems. Bev went to South Africa for greener pastures not that we got into a fight and she decided to move away. Everything she is doing in South Africa she does it after l approve as l am still her manager,” said Hapaguti.

Beverly is not going to South Africa forever she is just there for a while to grow and showcase her talent.
@hliso95/@sizibanigel

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Hi Sis Noe
I AM in a relationship with a guy aged 33 who I met a few months ago. He is a sweet and funny guy and we get on really well.

However, whenever we go out, I always pay because I have a lot more money than he does.

Whenever I ask him to pay he says he is broke. And the other thing is that he stays with his mother, she is a doctor. I don’t want to sound wrong but is it wrong to want the man to be able to pay for me sometimes? — Worried.

Reply

No it is not wrong. The arrangement you have is currently working beautifully for him — his mother houses him and you feed him.

You need to know upfront what level of motivation this man has and I can tell you right now that he is lazy and spoilt. He is with you because you “mother” him.

Away from home he sees you as the direct replacement for his mother. If you grow frustrated with having to provide for him, remember that you knew this upfront about him.

If you want to pursue this relationship, have realistic expectations. You can only choose to be in a relationship with who he is now. You can’t be in a relationship with who you hope he will become.

Hi Sis Noe

My marriage has been blissful and my husband does everything I want but I have just discovered that he was cheating on me.

My mother and aunt told me to forgive him and not seek divorce because all men cheat. — Worried.

Reply

Let’s talk about the culture that your mother and aunt want to promote – that all men cheat. Who are they cheating with? Do the women that they cheat with know that they are married?

If women knew their worth and refused to be with a man who has another woman, who would the men be able to cheat with?

Not all men cheat that’s a lie. You need to show you husband that you do not tolerate what he did. He needs to feel the pain that he made you go through. You need to sit him down and tell him that his cheating is unacceptable.

To drive the message home you can go and live with your parents for a week or so but I would not advise you to divorce him. Give him another chance to make up for his transgression. However, if that is what you have decided then by all means divorce him.

Hi Sis Noe

I am in love with a good man. He has a good job, he is handsome and my relatives love him but the problem is that he is married.

He promised to leave his wife but up to now he has not. — Help.

Reply

So he is Mr Perfect — he is handsome, your relatives love him and he is a good man but wait . . . he is married! Why is it that you thought he might dump his wife and marry you?

He was upfront with you from the start. Perhaps you had a hidden agenda, just pretending the wife bit was okay initially? Let us say he will leave his wife and marry you, would you trust him as a husband?

What’s to stop him from doing the same to you? This man is never going to leave his wife, the sooner you realise it the better. Dump him and find yourself a single guy who will love you wholeheartedly.

Hi Sis Noe

My boyfriend of three years dumped me while we were preparing for our wedding. I am devastated and I cannot move on without him.

Help me get him back. I have tried to talk to him but he says he just does not love me anymore. I tried to kill myself but I was saved by my mother. — Stressed.

Reply

At this point it is understandable that you had lost all hope and that you were too overwhelmed to think straight. You could have chosen to cry yourself a river or got yourself a rebound guy.

The point is that when you were completely devastated and overwhelmed, you chose how to respond. You chose. No one made you attempt suicide.

If you want to heal you need to start by taking responsibility for your choices.

This is not an insensitive judgment. When you realise that you have choices, you can move from being a victim to becoming the king of your life. Your relationship failed, your dream wedding did not happen and you feel shattered.

Take time to grieve and heal. You need to choose to define who you are, not as you reflect from a temperamental, stupid man. You are not a has-been or unwanted because some fool cannot see your value and worth!

Hi Sis Noe

My boyfriend does not like bathing. At times he goes for days without cleaning himself.

I discovered this when he moved in with me. It is turning me off and it is now affecting our sex life. He is confused when I refuse to have sex with him. — Help me.

Reply

Cleanliness is next to godliness but clearly your man likes to hang out where angels fear to tread! He sounds like a good guy, albeit a smelly one, and apart from the greasy hands and ruined bed sheets, he could be a keeper.

The real issue here is what you need to address. That would be honest communication. Trying not to hurt his feelings is creating insecurity in him, and unhappiness and dirty sheets for you.

You need to sit him down and have a talk, preferably over candles and some bubbles – the bath kind! Tell him all that you love and admire about him, reinforce his good qualities.

Tell him that you would like to always feel closely connected to him but that you are afraid that his bad habit is driving you away from him. Tell him that cleanliness is important to you and you find it a real turn on when he gets into bed freshly showered.

If he doesn’t feel attacked he will more than likely soap up, especially with the warm reception he is bound to find afterwards. Rather than jumping to all sorts of imagined conclusions, just be honest. It sounds like this relationship is worth it.

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Chawatama Marimo

Bruce Ndlovu
CHAWATAMA Marimo remembers the last time he was bitten by a snake. It was 14 years ago and he had got a call from someone about a creepy crawly that had taken residence in his home.

The snake was a highly venomous cobra and although the 44 year- old had managed to capture it , it had exhibited its trademark ferocity and bit him through the bag. Deep in the outskirts of Ruwa, the man who has made his name as Zimbabwe’s only professional snake charmer saw his life flashing before him.

“At the time I thought perhaps this is it. I thought this is the way that my life was about to end. At the same time I couldn’t understand because I thought I had the snake nicely tucked away. That was not to be because it bit me through the bag I was carrying it in,” he said.  Years after that encounter, Chawa has become a phenomenon.

He is the go to man whenever people spot a snake in their home and although he might not be on any wildlife channel, social media has spread his name far and wide.

Every video he posts has thousands of views and many people are bewildered by how calmly expertly he deals with creatures that strike fear into the hearts of most people. Chawa however, hastens to add that despite his reputation, whenever he goes eyeball to eyeball with a venomous snake, he does so with a hint of fear in his heart.

“I always approach animals with respect. Whenever I see a snake, the one thing that I give it is the respect because I’m aware of the damage that it can do. I guess you can say that respect comes from fear. If you approach a snake with 100 percent surety and no fear that’s when you get into trouble. That fear is very important,” he said.

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Chawatama Marimo

According to the snake charmer, he has managed to dance with some of Zimbabwe’s most dangerous animals because of his ability to hide his fear.

“I know how to hide it. Animals sense fear. It’s all about body posture and I’m sure that if you enter a hide and you show fear then even dogs will bite you. What’s important is not to act like prey. If you act like prey then automatically you become prey,” he said.

After 20 years handling some of Zimbabwe’s most dangerous animals, Chawa says that he is aware that being a snake charmer has had a toll on his family. Whenever he leaves home in the morning, he is convinced that they silently wonder if he will return to them in one piece in the evening.

“I’m sure that they worry about my health. Whenever I go out I think they must wonder whether I’ll be fine or not because what I do is fairly dangerous. They’re used to it now of course but I think that it must be hard for them,” he said.

The self taught snake handler said that he would not want any of his family members doing what he does. While the father of two allows his children to touch non-venomous snakes when he is around, he does not want them to grow up and do what he does for a living.

“I wouldn’t want them to handle snakes the way that I do. I have told them to never approach snakes under any circumstances when I’m not there. I have taught them to respect animals which I feel is the most important thing. I let them touch the non-venomous snakes when I’m home,” he said.

After spending 20 years as a snake charmer, Chawa says that Zimbabwean’s attitude towards snakes is changing. People no longer see him as some sort of wizard and they are also starting to let go of the belief that snakes in their homes are products of witchcraft.

As he changes the minds of Zimbabweans with every snake catch, Chawa, acknowledges that he might need to pass the button to other young snake catchers.

“The problem I have is that I don’t have land. As soon as I have land then I’ll be able to teach people how to behave around animals. I want to groom people and also teach the people such things as snake bite avoidance and snake bite treatment,” he said.

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Ndux

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondent
WHILE his music has stood the test of time, the life of Ndux Malax, like the life many other musicians from Matabeleland, remains a closed book.

While fans know everything there’s to know about Ndux Malax the musician, few have a clue about Ndux Malax the man.

Having had his prime in the era before social media, in era in which fans barely interacted with stars they idolised, the life and times of Ndux Malax remain largely a closed chapter. Beyond the studio, few have a clue about the man whose songs they love so dearly was.

Even among those that were close to him, Ndux Malax was a mystery. It is perhaps for this reason that in death, he has become different things to different people. His sister, Sikhangezile Ncube remembers a man who was initially shunned by a Kezi community that felt that his guitars would have undue influence on children and would lead them down the same path he had taken.

His son, Ndux Jnr, only remembers a strict man who wanted things done by the book. As a musician, he has realised that his father’s shadow will always stalk him. The colourful dancer, Themba “Boyoyo” Mathe remembers a tight fisted boss who had trouble parting with a penny.    Sunday Life spoke to these three people at length and tried to unravel the life of the legend.

Sikhangezile Ncube (sister)

He was born Nduna Malaba in Kezi in Malaba under Chief Malaba. That’s where he was born. When he was 22 or 23, I wasn’t born at this time, he went to went to live with our maternal grandfather. He only came back when he was a grown men and was about to leave for Botswana. That’s where he went to work. I think this was around 1971. He worked there until 1979.

When he was in Botswana that’s when he started doing music but he was not really doing it professionally. He was just doing it to entertain people wherever he could. Then he came back and he formed a band that he called the Stone Sound Band. The band name came from the person that was sponsoring him at the time and I’m not sure how long he stayed with that band name.

He then changed the band name to the one he wanted which was the Tahangana Band. That’s the name that he stuck to from 1982 up to his death.

Most people don’t know that he attended a primary school in Kezi but never went to secondary school. This was because of the war and because he was older when the war ended he did not get a chance to go to school again.

He was very helpful. Everyone could turn to him. He was someone who was very helpful to his community both in the rural areas where we come from and here in the urban areas.

He made us royalty. Wherever I go, if I mention my surname people ask if I’m Ndux’s sister their treatment of me changes. It doesn’t matter whether I’m Nkayi and Filabusi. I’m appreciated the same way. He elevated us as a family.

Our parents did not want him to become musicians. Some of the herdsmen and elders felt that he was a bad influence in the area because other young children were going to follow the path that he had chosen. They didn’t understand what he was trying to achieve. It was only after he had released albums like Bafundiseni that people began to warm up to him. They even started to let him play in schools which he had never thought was possible.

Themba “Boyoyo” Mathe

I met him when I was working on one of the buses in my home area. On that particular day I was not working, I attended one of his shows and because I liked dancing, I just jumped on stage and started doing my thing. He liked what he saw and asked me to quit my job and start dancing for him.

Actually on the day he asked me to come and sleep at his house. In a matter of weeks I was his road master and I was in his band for about three to four years.

The one thing that I remember about him is that he had a very short temper. He would lose it when things did not go his way.

So you always had to be careful on how you conducted yourself around him.

He was also very tight with money. He was someone who had a hard time paying the people who worked for him. It was always a struggle to get money from him although in the end he would eventually pay. Despite all that he left a strong legacy and even after his death we continued to use his instruments before the man who founded Mokis Connection came and stole them.

One of our most memorable shows was when we went to Tshelanyemba amidst rumours that he had died. When he stepped on stage the whole place erupted and I will never forget the looks on people’s faces as this “ghost” performed for them.

Ndux Jnr (Son)

He died when I was in Grade 7 and the one thing I recall about him was that although he was open, he was also strict. The things that he talked about in his music are the things that he wanted to teach us in life as his children.

I might not have played with him but I used to love the radio. I loved music and so whenever he came for shows in Kezi he would bring me up to the stage and introduce me to the audience and say this is my boy who will take over when he grows up.

Even though I lost interest when I grew up that calling came back to me later on life. In 2002 when I was in college I started writing the songs on my mind. If something is in your blood I guess you do that. So during holidays I would then work with a man called Modias Chauke and he was someone that used to work with my father. He would tell me what to do and what I needed to do to fine tune my sound. But I only started recording professionally when I joined the army in 2005.

A lot of the band members had left to join Mokis Connection. I had a hard time getting instruments. My first album had been successful but I had no instruments for live shows. My father’s instruments had been sold off because no one thought that they would be used ever again. They thought no one would emerge to use them.

He made the fan base but the problem is that people love to compare me with the legend. They forget that I’m my own man.

So even when I compose my own songs I put his old songs so that I don’t lose my way.

We were affected emotionally when he died but our family is united. So whatever challenges arise we put hands together and that even goes today. So although I was very young when he passed away I had a lot of support and I did not feel the impact that much.

We never struggled financially. His things were in order and they still are so all that we can do is maintain them. The Nkulumane is house there and he had livestock. We’re just taking care of it.

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Some members of Mokoomba

Bruce Ndlovu
WHILE they continue their travels abroad, Victoria Falls fusion band Mokoomba believe that there has been an increase in tourist visitors to the resort town since the country changed leadership in November last year.

The globe-trotting band is currently on a tour of the United Kingdom and while there they will also get a chance to walk away with a gong at this year’s Songlines Music Awards that will be held at the Electric Brixton on 20 October.

In an interview during their current tour, the band said that they had seen a noticeable influx of tourists in their hometown ever since the change of guard in Government in November last year after Operation Restore Legacy.

“Yes, there has been a marked increase in visitors to the Victoria Falls since last November, when the country’s leadership changed. The Victoria Falls itself is the main attraction but there are plenty of other exciting activities and national parks, that are close and are doing great work not only for wildlife tourism but conservation as well,” the group told the publication.

In the same interview, the group said they were proud of the strides they had taken over the last decade, they had their eyes on winning the much coveted Grammy award in future.

“We are humbled by the journey that we are taking and our hope is to do a few collaborations with other artistes that will challenge is to grow and also introduce us to new audiences. We are working on a new album at present and we hope it will be better than the previous one, maybe win us a Grammy,” the group said.