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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent 

SKYZ Metro FM’s Umcimbi Wabantu concert which was scheduled for next Saturday has been postponed to next month because of logistical challenges.

The concert taking place at the Large City Hall car park will now be held on September 7 and will serve as the radio station’s third anniversary celebration. It will feature South Africa’s Dr Malinga and local acts, Madlela Skhobokhobo, Clement Magwaza, Novuyo Seagirl, Asaph, Zinjaziyamluma, Ndux Jnr, Knowledge Nkiwane, Cal_Vin, Msiz’Kay, Lee McHoney, Hwabaraty, Lorraine Stot, Sam Music, MJ Sings, Chipman, Sinazo and Gaz’elimnyama. 

Commenting on the postponement, the station’s manager, Godwin Phiri, said: “We had a few logistical issues which made it necessary for us to shift the dates to September 7. This is the final date for our third anniversary and everything, in terms of logistics, should be done then.”

He said they invited Dr Malinga to come and perform at the celebrations after a poll where listeners were asked to vote for the artiste they wanted from the neighbouring country. 

“We gave our listeners a list of SA artistes and asked them to choose which one they’d want to perform at the celebrations. The most popular on that list was Dr Malinga,” said Phiri.

The local acts, Phiri said, were chosen based on their popularity over the year. 

“The local artistes were chosen based on their popularity over the past 12 months. As such, it’s a mixture of seasoned and emerging artistes.”

The last two celebrations were graced by kwaito don, Professor, and the Soul Brothers. During the first celebration, singer Sandra Ndebele, with the help of Skyz Metro FM, organised a collaboration with Professor that birthed the house hit Lizwile. This time around, Phiri said they have not received any request from artistes to collaborate with Dr Malinga. Last year, there was a power outage that disrupted the Soul Brothers’ performance and for this year, Phiri said they were fully prepared as the show will be running on a generator.

“The whole event will be run on generator and Zesa will be our backup plan. We want to have greater control over the power supply to run the show,” he said.