The beef between Alick Macheso and the late Tongai Moyo was often linked to women.
Report by Godwin Muzari
The grapevine had it that the two musicians, who rose to fame in the same period and squared up for fans, were constantly at loggerheads because they were dating the same women.
Although many theories were crafted to explain the well-publicised “Sungura Cold War”, it is widely believed that the musicians clashed because of girlfriends.
There was talk of a lady in the United Kingdom who sent the musicians similar T-shirts. It was said that the two artists met in Mozambique wearing the T-shirts and after a discussion of suspicions, both realised that their benefactor was the same woman.
While some of these stories were hard to verify, I had the privilege of befriending one of the women who was said to be at the centre of the clash.
The lady, who worked in a bank, did not hide her enthusiasm for dating both musicians.
One afternoon in 2006, I sat with her at the then Sidewalk Restaurant (which collapsed about two years later) along First Street, and she showed me stunning messages from both musicians.
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I had the musicians’ mobile numbers and it was easy to confirm that the messages were truly coming from our sungura icons.
In good faith and pride that she was in love with celebrities, she showed me the explicit messages. Incidentally, one of the musicians phoned her while we sat there and asked to see her later that day. She was more than willing to reveal many other issues, including personal characters of the musicians.
What was more surprising was that both musicians knew that they were dating the same lady. She told me of how she came under serious attack from one member from the musician’s camp for cross-dating their boss.
The lady also told me about many other women with whom she competed for the musicians’ attention. She mentioned them by names and revealed their tricks to waylay the musicians, thereby boasting that she was smarter and had outpaced most of them.
She also revealed how the same women stalked other musicians besides Macheso and Moyo.
Her confessions revealed how some ladies that regularly attend music shows would be after more than stage entertainment.
I remembered her story recently after realising how a small group of well-to-do ladies are frequenting various shows with an apparent intent to lure musicians.
