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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
IT was a moment to remember on Thursday afternoon as six members from the well-travelled Imbube group, Black Umfolosi took to the stage at the Bulawayo Arts Festival (Baf) opening ceremony and wowed guests who included President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice-President, Dr Constantino Chiwenga with their Unity hit-track.

The rough division from soprano, alto, tenor and bass was felt as the group interchanged and mixed two songs, Little Psalm and Unity which hyped the fans.

Unity, a track released in 1987 was the major highlight of the performance as it left the audience in awe of the song’s lyrics that unite different cultures found across the country.

With Sotja Moyo leading on the vocals alongside Thomecki Dube on tenor, Austin Chisare and Thomec Jnr Dube both on bass, Mthokozisi Moyo on alto and Luzibo Moyo on soprano, the Unity track showed its prowess 34 years after being produced by Bothwell Nyamondera at Gramma Records.

Vice-President Chiwenga, from the moment the song was introduced, was seen clapping his hands until Black Umfolosi left the stage.
Saturday Leisure caught up with the group after their performance and they said they were over the moon after getting recognition and endorsement from the country’s top leaders. They were also humbled to have raised the Bulawayo creative sector flag high.

“It’s been a while since we performed live on stage, let alone before a live audience. It’s always humbling and an honour to perform before people from high offices. To see His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde ED dancing along to our song was fulfilling, to say the least.

“Not to be outplayed was VP Chiwenga who showed great appreciation of all that was being performed on stage. It was truly an honour for us,” said a satisfied Sotja Moyo.

He said the performance of the song was inspired by the fact that this year’s Baf had united artistes countrywide by giving them a platform to showcase their talent.

“Unity was the mantra at the Bulawayo Arts Festival this year, something that was laid bare by the organisers of the event and artistes. Nobuntu performing alongside iLuba Lemvelo and Nkwali in a collaborative piece during the opening ceremony was a sign of great unity that should be commended.

“As Black Umfolosi, we also came in handy with our surprisingly monumental Unity song. The song had the effect that we intended to reach as it comes from the heart. Its effect could not be hidden from the listener, hence we opted to perform this track. It’s a simple, but yet, classic song of all times.”

Moyo said he vividly remembers performing the track at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) in the early 90s before several dignitaries including the former late president Robert Mugabe and the late former Vice-President Joshua Nkomo where they received a standing ovation.

“The journey has been long. I cannot easily point out a moment I remember as greater than others. What I can say is that we have moments we performed before great politicians, students, congregants and royalties and all these offered great moments in their diverse special ways.

“We’ve done big festivals in big and small cities all around the world which makes our journey in the arts scene a special one. This is an experience we cherish and give thanks to God for as we live,” he said.

Turning to their arts career which is faced with a bleak future as the group is not able to travel to different continents performing like they used to before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Moyo said these were tough times.

“We haven’t been rehearsing for a while since the coronavirus pandemic hit. For the Baf event, we rehearsed for a couple of days. Back then, we’d rehearse from Monday to Friday at our arts centre in Entumbane but now, we don’t have a clear rehearsal schedule.

“This pandemic has hit us hard as our tour to the USA and Canada that was meant to commence this month was cancelled. We however look forward to having things normalise so we may go back to our normal touring schedule both nationally and internationally.”

While commending the Baf team for a job well done in successfully staging the event, Moyo pleaded with Government to consider fully reopening the arts sector.

“I’d like to congratulate the Baf team for their well-organised festival and for getting so much support from the general public and authorities. Hopefully, this will pave way for the reopening of the arts industry as we need that.

“Life without art activities can be full of stress and boredom,” he added. — @mthabisi_mthire.