Mangwenya: An epitome of African beauty

Standard Style
There is no doubt that Afro-jazz songstress Diana Samkange is a full package armed with a silky voice and head-turning looks associated with celebrities.

There is no doubt that Afro-jazz songstress Diana Samkange is a full package armed with a silky voice and head-turning looks associated with celebrities.

By Abigail Matsikidze

The dreadlocked songbird seems destined to add an eccentric African fashion sense to her list of attractive traits.

“Being cultured is my character, the way l dresses, playing mbira and l’m confident that l have a part to preserve our identity as African people and l believe my music is an icon of African cultural heritage,” she told The Standard Style last week.

Last year she was quoted saying her music offers spiritual therapy as she asserted herself as a gifted spiritist with a responsibility to touch people’s lives through music.

Samukange aka Mangwenya appears ready to stay resolute as an ambassador of African tradition through her appearance.

After dumping R’n’B, Samkange adopted “mature traditional music”, with a blending of mbira, which she claims inspired her to represent Zimbabwean culture.

“As models in the public domain, our duty is to appreciate, protect and preserve our identity and it is sort of a responsibility to keep on teaching our children about our culture, so l do it through music,” she said.

Mangwenya said the root of an identity crisis locally was the erosion of cultural practices and lack of originality.

“Our duty is to safeguard our historical way of life and l believe we all have the power to impart a positive attitude towards our culture,” she said.