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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls-based award-winning praise poet, Obert Dube has joined hundreds of South Africans who have stood in support of former South African President Jacob Zuma who was recently sentenced to 15 months in jail for contempt of court.

The 2020 Pan African Poet of the year said as a Pan-Africanist, he will not sit and fold hands when Africans are being persecuted for being African.

In solidarity with Zuma, he has penned a poem titled Yekani Umsholozi (Leave Zuma alone) that has since gone viral.

“I was inspired (to pen the poem) by events happening in South Africa. I noticed that our weakness as Africans is that we see bad things happening, but we can’t talk about them. No-one is above the law yes, but everyone, regardless of race should be treated fairly and equally.

Kulesandla sendwangu (something is wrong here),” said Dube.

In the poem, Dube digs deeper into the bag of history highlighting injustices that have happened to Africans with perpetrators in some cases going scot-free.

He said nothing separates Africans despite the borders. “We’re one family as Africans. I’m a Pan-Africanist and such unconstitutional issues affect us all,” he said.

The poem that has hit the right chord has seen Dube being contacted by people such as South Africa’s Mbongeni Ngema and Mzwakhe Mbuli who are renowned singers-cum-poets.

True to his talent as poet, Dube has endeared many across the African continent for contextualising his poetry based on events happening in the motherland. Two years ago, he won the hearts of cross-border transporters (omalayitsha) after he composed an ode heaping praises on them for their hard work as they shuttle to and from South Africa daily.

As the poem reached the ears of omalayitsha, they loved it and many invited the poet to Bulawayo and South Africa to meet and assist him with his arts business.

Dube boasts of a National Arts Merit Award, Bulawayo Arts Award and two other awards from Swaziland and South Africa where his poetry has been received with much appreciation. He also runs the Obert Dube Foundation Trust through which he has been doing humanitarian work with the hope to change lives. Last year, he paid school fees for 289 kids in Matabeleland North before extending his charity work to Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces. -@ncubeleon.