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Zanele Manhenga and Duduzile Sibanda

Kusile Madlela Showbiz Reporter
Two talented Bulawayo songbirds, Zanele Manhenga and Duduzile Sibanda have come together to create a platform – Umuz’ Wentombi to discover and promote untapped talent among female artistes.Manhenga, an up-and-coming Afro Pop musician who is also Dudu Manhenga’s younger sister said they wanted women to be recognised in the male dominated music industry.

“It’s really tough to get people’s attention as a female artiste. We came up with this idea in January as we wanted to provide a space where female artistes could come together and showcase their different talents to a wider audience,” Manhenga said.

“Most show promoters are reluctant to give female artistes a chance to headline their events, something we want to fight against. The talent of an individual should be enough to convince people to pay respect where it’s due.”

Added Manhenga: “We’re looking forward to female artistes using Umuz’ Wentombi as a gateway to a world where they will call the shots without anyone judging them outside the context of talent.”

She said the Indaba Book Café had offered its facilities for free in order to support Umuz’ Wentombi’s initiative. Through networking on social media sites, the two musicians invite other up-and-coming musicians to participate at their platform which has been hosting shows at the café monthly since April.

Manhenga said the reception from the public had been encouraging. On Wednesday evening, Umuz’ Wentombi hosted Nobuntu – an all female acapella from Bulawayo. The group gave patrons a good performance as it left them clamouring for more.

One of the Nobuntu band members, Joyline Sibanda said they were grateful for the platform they had been given by Umuz’ Wentombi and were willing to perform there again.

“We were satisfied with the attendance and the warm welcome that we got from the audience on Wednesday. As a performer, you can never be sure of the crowd’s reaction, so all you do is go out there and sing. It was very refreshing to have people from our own city cheering and appreciating our music,” Sibanda said.

“It was a sign that if more work is put in, things will work out. We’ll definitely be performing at Umuz’ Wentombi in the near future because what they’re doing here is great for us as women and we’re in full support of the objective.”

Sibanda said such platforms would help build the Nobuntu brand.

“We’ve been together for more than two years and we’re slowly building a following which we hope to keep. We’re working on an album which will be released later on in the year and more details will be finalised in due course,’ she said.

Kimba and Robin Brooks are the Indaba Book Café proprietors.

“When Dudu and Zanele came to us with their proposal, we didn’t think twice as we loved the idea. We decided to offer them our venue free of charge as our way of giving back to the Bulawayo community. The work they’re doing is beneficial to the arts industry and we had to be a part of it,” said Kimba.

“It’s common knowledge that women aren’t being given as much attention as men and that’s something that we’re trying to change. We’re going to use Umuz’ Wentombi as a platform to promote female talent on stage.”