The year 1989 will for a long time be fondly remembered by many music lovers in Zimbabwe as “the year of the Khiama Boys”.

That was when the group released its lifetime hit song, Mabhauwa, which took the country by storm.
Mabhauwa marked a watershed in the history of Zimbabwean music not only because of the way the song dominated the country’s airwaves for a good two years before giving way to Leonard Dembo’s  Chitekete in 1991, but also because it  marked the arrival onto the Zimbabwean music scene of an immensely talented song writer and vocalist, Fanuel  “System” Tazvida.

For the ten years that followed, Tazvida was to become a permanent feature on the local entertainment scene with a long chain of rich, mind tickling, simple but socially conscious and unique musical compositions, which he christened Smoko (simple music of Kanindo origin).

While Mabhauwa announced Tazvida’s arrival, his timeless classics such as Anodyiwa Haataure and Kaserura Ndizvo somewhat defined him as an original, humorous and streetwise artiste.

“Contrary to the public perception that System was disorganised and hopeless, my husband was a very reserved, intelligent and organised person,” says the late musician’s widow Babra Mabuyaye Tazvida.

One of the surviving Chazezesa Challengers (System’ s backing band) member, Lee Roy Lunga, also concurred with Mai Tazvida’s assessment of her late husband and described the late hit maker as a very understanding and benevolent person.

“I owe everything that I have in life to System,” he said. The years 1989 and 1999 are significant for marking the beginning and end of System Tazvida’s musical career, but for the late musician’s widow, the decade has a completely different meaning and significance.

“I met my husband in Birchenough Bridge when he was still with the Khiama Boys and we got married in 1989. He took me to Chitungwiza where we stayed together until he died on 4 February 1999,” she says in a voice openly betraying her emotions.

The couple had no children together by the time System died.
As is the norm in showbiz, where outsiders get to celebrate the achievements of the main actor in a movie or the lead singer in a band with no one paying attention to the “crew behind the scenes”, a lot of the late System Tazvida’s fans will be surprised to discover that the late musician’s wife also played a part in the musician’s musical career.

“He used to write down lyrics of his new songs on pieces of paper and would sometimes leave them lying around in the house and I would transcribe those lyrics into a book.

“It was that song book that he would later use for his rehearsals and sometimes recording sessions. I could actually predict hits from his forthcoming albums before the material was even recorded from just listening in to his rehearsals,” she said proudly.

Mai Tazvida will forever remember the day her husband passed away because, on that day, she lost more than just a husband.

“He was the best thing that ever happened in my life. I particularly treasured the way he used to consult me whenever he faced tricky situations in his life. I miss him every day.”

Zvinondishungurudza Mumwoyo, off the album Wadenha Mago, happens to be her all-time favourite from all her late husband’s compositions.

“I can literally feel his presence whenever I listen to that song,” she says with a resigned look in her eyes.
Tazvida’s widow says she has now turned to cross-border trading and knitting to supplement the royalties she’s receiving from her late husband’s recording stable.

The royalties have, however, been adversely affected by piracy.

Thank you for the music — widow

Mai Tazvida is, however, thankful for her late husband’s wisdom and foresight, particularly with regards to the material investments that he made during his short career.

“At least my husband left me with a roof over my head,” she says referring to the couple’s Chitungwiza home. The musician also left behind a fleet of cars and a residential stand in Gokwe.

“Of course life is no longer the same, but I am surviving,” she says in response to a question on how she has been surviving since her husband’s death before proceeding to dismiss thoughts of getting married again.

By Nicholas Mukarakate

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