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Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Correspondent

TWIN sisters, Taboka Patience, and Tariro Sibongile Nleya have launched Nkalanga Dumbu, a brand that aims to recover and promote lost Kalanga culture, language, and dress.

The sisters, who are singers from Joyful Praise Choir and T&T Official Kalanga Gospel group, said the brand, which focuses on clothing, will expand into talk shows and the restaurant business in the future in order to promote the aforementioned cause.

Taboka Nleya,

Taboka, a Skyz Metro FM host said the Nkalanga Dumbu brand is a representation of being a proud Kalanga.

“Nkalanga Dumbu is a general label and brand meaning ‘A real Kalanga hybrid’ or ‘I am truly Kalanga’. It’s a verbal expression used by the Kalanga people to express their true identity in confidence and boldness. This is a vision that was placed in my twin sister and I’s hearts to unpack our long-forgotten and lost culture and identity of the Kalanga people.

“We seek to revive it for those who might have lost it along the way. We basically want to resuscitate our language and culture,” she said.

“The idea has always been there since 2020, however, we introduced it to the public on March 25 this year. We cannot deny that procrastination really ate up our time as we were going back and forth until we decided to just take a bold step to just start,” Taboka said.

She said they decided to share the logo on social media platforms and they were amazed by how people reacted to the brand.

“We started by sharing the logo on our statuses (WhatsApp) and on social media platforms. The reactions and interest from people were amazing, it encouraged us to go for it. The response has been overwhelming to us and we cannot wait for our culture and tribe to finally attain its recognition.

“We know it’s not going to be an easy journey, but we’ll do our level best as Kalanga people.”

She said their aim is to promote their culture, especially to the younger generation that is coming up.

“In all honesty, we’ve grown to love our language and appreciate it wholeheartedly. The goal is to teach people various Kalanga words, proverbs, popular sayings, history, dishes (menu), dressing, dances, totems, culture, hairstyles, songs, and many more. 

Tariro Nleya

“We’re currently working towards officially launching Nkalanga Dumbu in March next year. The launch will include documentaries as well as various interviews in relation to our culture. In the near future, we hope to accomplish a talk show, clothing line, and restaurant just to mention a few. All these will seek to promote the Kalanga ways of life,” she said.

For now, the duo has printed t-shirts with the Nkalanga Dumbu logo which they are selling in Bulawayo and Matabeleland South among other areas. – @SeehYvonne