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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
Artistes in Victoria Falls are counting their losses following the abrupt suspension of tourism activities and closure of hotels as a result of Covid-19 and the 21-day lockdown.

Musicians, traditional dance groups, poets and artists in the resort town rely largely on tourists whom they entertain almost on a daily basis and sell their wares to.

The lockdown which is now in its second week came almost a month after the artistes were already out of business as the tourism industry, which was already recording few international arrivals, had already gone on lockdown due to the effects of coronavirus, a pandemic that continues to kill thousands daily.

Artistes said the closure of the tourism industry presents immense challenges to the arts sector in Victoria Falls.

Nama award-winning poet, Obert Dube said he has lost out on a lot of gigs because of Covid-19. Other than shows in Victoria Falls, he had gigs lined up outside the country which were also cancelled.

“I had five events lined up in South Africa and all of them were cancelled. Imagine the money I spent preparing for those shows as I was supposed to leave the country last month.

“I make more money from the sale of CDs at public shows in the resort town and this lockdown means I’m down to zero,” said Dube.

He advised artistes to include a clause on natural disasters when they draw up contracts with clients so as to protect themselves.

“Art is a source of employment for many artistes and here in Victoria Falls, it is dependent on tourism. Some of my clients had paid deposits and I’m happy that somebody advised me to include a clause that protects me from reimbursing clients in case of natural disasters.

“I can’t imagine what I’d have done with this coronavirus induced cancellation,” he said.

Dube who is paying school fees for close to 100 vulnerable pupils at about 30 schools across Matabeleland North province as a way of giving back to the community said the pandemic would affect his social responsibility programmes as he will not be able to pay school fees for his beneficiaries.

Fadzai Chizema, a member of Inkume Arts traditional dance group said they have also lost out on revenue as all their plans have been shattered because of Covid-19.

“People are out of jobs and that means we’re stuck as well. Some clients and organisations had not paid us for performances we did and we can’t expect them to do so any time soon because of this lockdown.

“All our hopes now lie in health authorities coming up with treatment so that this virus ends and people go back to work,” Chizema said.

Kholwani Tshuma of Vuka Mthwakazi group said: “We work with tourists and we’ve been left grounded by the closure of tourism activities.”

Tshuma added that they could have used this period to perfect their skills but cannot do so as everyone has been advised to self-isolate for three weeks.

“We can’t meet to rehearse or go for any show as we’re all on lockdown and there’re no clients.”

Victoria Falls Artists Assembly chairperson Ndabezinhle Sibanda said this is a tough time for artistes.

“Artistes cannot stage performances now as hotels have shut down and there’re no conferences. Everyone is just seated at home and we can only hope that this ends soon,” said Sibanda who leads Ubuntu Bomuntu imbube group.

He said some artistes had expressed interest in recording awareness songs to help educate people about the virus but they could not do so as they are now holed up in their homes and cannot go to studios.

“The artistes really wanted to record songs and videos on Corona but sadly could not do so as they fear to violate social distancing and self-isolation regulations,” Sibanda said.

Since the end of last month, all leisure places have closed in Victoria Falls in line with Government’s call for people to observe social distancing. As such, people have resorted to buying alcohol at supermarkets and drinking from their homes.

The Rainforest has also been closed. – @ncubeleon