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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Reporter

Vusa Mangena, a renowned gospel artiste, recently faced a setback when his launch of the album, Khayalami, was cancelled due to some issues with the venue owners. However, Mangena has now come up with a plan to make it up for his fans. He has announced that he will be hosting a free concert to compensate his fans who had paid for the cancelled show.

The initial gig had been slated for November 4, at Word of Life Auditorium but was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

In an interview, Mangena explained that on the day of the show, he arrived at the Word of Life Auditorium, only to be informed that he could not host the event. He said he was given numerous reasons including that there was an outstanding balance for hiring the venue.

“When we got there (Word of Life Auditorium) at 6AM to set up the equipment with the team, we were told we couldn’t do so. We tried calling the owners of the venue, but they were not answering our calls,” said Mangena.

Efforts to get a comment from one Reverend Sibanda who Mangena dealt with in booking the venue were fruitless as he did not respond to questions sent to him.

However, Mangena and his team are now working on organising a free show to accommodate fans who were looking forward to the album launch. He hopes to hold the concert in December this year at a venue to be advised and is determined to deliver an exceptional performance that will make up for the disappointment.

Meanwhile, Mangena has been nominated for the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards (BAA) in the Outstanding Gospel Artiste/Act category. He is up against some tough competition including Pastor Barak, Everton Mlalazi and Snowy.

“This is my first BAA nomination and I am therefore very excited. I guess I have what it takes to win the award,” said Mangena. — @mthabisi_mthire