Is it Madiba who spoke to the effect that it is neither our weaknesses and frailties that frighten us, but we are scared of our boundless capacities and the fierce potential that abounds in each and every one of us?
MATHABELAZITHA/THE ANVIL BY ZIFISO MASIYE
When, on September 29, 2018, Skyz Metro FM invited Bulawayo to come up and celebrate the local radio station’s second anniversary, I was in the house. Some real s…t hit the fan, bro, and one could hardly mistake that deep feeling of rare, raw and real joy of the people! Palpable, it was.
The rapturous, unison crowd mojo and proud defiance that accompanied a unique, captivating and somewhat nostalgic sense of social renewal, absolutely enveloped the show and reverberated as much on the tarmac dance-floor as it did off the symbolic walls of City Hall. The brilliant, seamless repertoire of artiste ensembles and acts, the sheer Gqom! the rocking crowd-mood and stage sync, the intrinsic, jaw-dropping talent-brewed-in-a-Ndebele-pot, the whole electric “utmostphere”, dressed and undersigned in that obvious, yet unwritten Matebele vibe, seemed to freeze the moment in time!
For hours in a chilly September night, the woes of the currency circus and the fumble and tumble of ED’s government were forgotten. For hours, in that chilly September night, it wasn’t true that Bulawayo lacks talent; it wasn’t true that, somehow, isiNdebele is harder for the palate musicians to work with; neither was it apparent that our people are some lazy, grumpy lot of perennial moaners and laggards, waiting to be fed ideas, chunks and song from a pot of Northeners.
My friend calls it “the vision thing”. You cannot quite put your finger on it and describe it appropriately yet you cannot miss its unmistakable vibe and aura in the air above the city and its environs. “Umcimbi Wabantu” almost captured and summarised that “something-is-in-the-air” spirit that Jeys Marabini conjures up in his routine warrior chant, “Uyawuz’ umoya!”
Those amongst us that grew up on a vibrant menu of that spicy cauldron of celebratory Ndebele rituals, customs and culture were reminded of flashes of the diverse and deeply embedded talents around ingquzu, isitshinga, amayila, isitshikitsha, amabhiza…that were replete in Ndebele society and that accompanied the very frequent and regular wanton celebration of life. Relics of our rich culture museum of song, dress and dance, so expertly embellished with youthful exuberance and refreshed into modernised fads and concoctions of fancy music genres got a whole King of amaNdebele, Bulelani, rocking, “skanking” and “selfing” and yes, “voshoiing!”
For long decades, the natural talents of the people of Matabeleland would seem to have been decidedly archived and conveniently forgotten. Evidence in the work of Skyz Metro and the crowning episodes of Umcimbi Wabantu would suggest that, that Thingii is alive and kicking and that the archives may be rising from their slumber.
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It was symbolic and most refreshing at many levels to see, in sincerely jubilant spirit, the free mingling, dancing and prancing of ordinarily reticent, bona fide community personalities, your Amalima’s Nic Nyathi, ZFU’s Donald Khumalo, city director Dictor Khumalo, Dudu Sikhosana, Dr Nqobizitha Dube, WILD’s Samu Khumalo, Sihlangu Dlodlo etc, among hundreds of other eminent persons dance well into the wee hours of the morrow.
Not sure of the math, but that crowd was not just huge. It was a very well cultured, happily wild and responsive crowd. And, until some motherless numbskull decided, of their malicious volition, “ukunqamula umjingo abantwana besadlala…. ” it was, by all accounts, a very disciplined crowd. (Am not even paying any attention to that dimwitted act of cowardice) Umcimbi wabantu brought out beautiful Bulawayo and shored up the limitless possibilities of creating and sustaining our own home brew of fun and laughter. The show demonstrated that, beyond the scope of music and art per se, the possibilities for everyday citizens, when left to their own devices, to get down with it and do their own thing and do it well!
Halalla SkyZ Metro!
Crowd control and the organisation of the show was great. The stage work and lighting (while it was there!) was superb.
Without doubt, some real work went into the planning, resourcing and co-ordination of Umcimbi Wabantu and the corporate networks and partnership must have done their sterling bit. What you and I were served on stage would have been the final product of gruelling backroom conflicts among that great Team Skyz. Suffice to say Big Up to Qhubani Moyo and his management team.
One could write a book about the usual star attractions in the line-up, the scintillating, timeless Soul Brothers and their mesmering dance routines, the evergreen Jeys Marabini, the crazy King of the Mic, Sikhonjwa, and other accomplished acts. I won’t!
For what really grabbed hold of the heart at Umcimbi Wabantu are two things: what happens when you gag, suffocate and frustrate talent of any people and what happens when you lift the lid on a people’s talents and allow the limitless capacity of the young a channel to out and flourish unfettered.
The performances of GDA Fire, Mimie, Mjox, Novuyo, Cue Movement and all the emerging genius and unsung heroes of modern times truly shocked me and, I’m sure, many more. It all reaffirmed my conviction and belief in the fountains of talent treasure that lie untapped in the hinterlands and cultural belly of Matabeleland. There were a million Mlindos that rang in mine and many ears from the Skyz Metro revelation as our stumbled knock-kneed from that great night.
Thanks for the treat and congratulations, Skyz MetroFM.
Zii Masiye ([email protected]) writes elsewhere on social media as Balancing Rocks.
