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CHIWENGA, THE KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR?

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General Chiwenga is not ambitious. Social media has constructed narratives to portray him as such, but he is not. Who remembers 2019, when Chiwenga returned from China on a Chinese jet, looking sharp and pronouncing his Rs clearly? Professor Jonathan Moyo commented that all was not well in ZANU PF, noting that no government official was there to receive him except his family. Moyo predicted this signaled an imminent clash between ED and Chiwenga. Six years later, nothing has happened. Yet, social media narratives about a rift between Chiwenga and ED continue to be peddled. I have struggled to believe these rumors about an ED-Chiwenga rift, partly because we have waited six years for the escalation Moyo predicted would happen “soon,” but it never did. Also, Chiwenga doesn’t strike me as ambitious. This doesn’t mean Chiwenga doesn’t want to be president—who wouldn’t, as vice president? But Chiwenga is naively patient, waiting for his turn to ascend to the throne after ED. Until rec...
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NDINI MUKUDZEI, PRODUCT OF SOUL SEARCHING AND SELF DISCOVERY

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  With Ndini Mukudzei, Jah Prayzah has introduced himself. Sounds unfair, right, for an artist who has been in the game since 2007, won numerous awards and most importantly, has won the hearts of many. I have been wondering too. In fact torn between whether Jah Prayzah is  reintroducing himself or reminding us who is. It downed on me, Eureka style, that he is neither reintroducing himself nor reminding us who is. He is introducing himself.  Ndini Mukudzei is not just an album. It is a statement. Both a personal and musical one. It is an identity confirmation that, you may have known me since Rudo Nerunyararo in 2007 as Jah Prayzah, but, “I am Mukudzei. But, also, it is an affirmation, rather than a claim, that musically, I am King of the traditional sound. Ndini Mukudzei is a confirmation of one who has discovered himself after years of soul searching, jumping from one sound to another, to finally find his place of comfort, the traditional sound! Jah Prayzah is an experim...
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Pyramid scheme politics: High hopes, low returns and the frustration.

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Why the country is failing to move away from Nelson Chamisa It is going to be difficult for us as a country to move away from Nelson Chamisa. He is charismatic. He is the man of the moment even when he is currently not in the arena. That’s how influential he is. Forget about the other guys currently leading the CCC or any other opposition leader for that matter. They are ‘villains’ in the Zimbabwean story.  It is disingenuous to think that Chamisa suddenly becomes a nobody in our politics because he resigned from the CCC, his brainchild.  First of all, we  should come to terms with the fact that,  whilst he resigned from the CCC, he did not resign from politics, he is just on a political sabbatical.  This is clear in his speeches.  This is where it gets interesting because our relationship with Chamisa as a country is complex and has a history: We entered into a political relationship with him which in hindsight has proven to be a toxic one . This is typica...
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Questions, hope and determination in Nomzamo Dube’s Milk, Bile and Honey

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The genesis of the Zimbabwean diaspora, which has become more pronounced in recent years can be traced back to as early as 1980, when white Rhodesians, perceived to be paranoid then, left the country for fear of persecution from black administration. This was despite the reconciliation mood of the time. Paranoia from white Rhodesians made sense then in the face of an overwhelmingly black majority government. But how does one explain the flight of fellow black Zimbabweans who left the country a few years after independence when the country still prided itself as the breadbasket of Africa? Surely, in a country with a vibrant economy coupled with the independence euphoria of the time, one is expected to sing “there is no place like home”. But what happens when that song becomes nothing but just a cliché? Poetry lovers would tell you it is at moments like these that the only convincing explanation comes from poets like Warsan Shire. In the poem Home, Shire writes: “No one leaves home unt...
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Twitter gives women a fighting chance

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TWITTER activism in the form of hashtag campaigns has gained momentum in giving a voice to women fighting gender-based violence (GBV). In South Africa, the phenomenon began in 2017 with the #MenAreTrash campaign sparked by the murder of 22-year-old Karabo Mokwena by her boyfriend, Sandile Mantsoe. That campaign gave rise to more campaigns such as #MeToo , #NameYourRapist and #AmINext. On July 19, South African twitter woke up to yet another movement against GBV: the #SueUsAll campaign, a response to DJ Fresh’s court order stopping Ntsiki Mazwai from levelling rape allegations against him on social media. The emergence of #SueUsAll is as alarming as it is confusing. Mazwai, the one the court order was sought against, is not the victim. Rather, she is a third party, who through the #NameYourRapist campaign of 2019 is spreading allegations of rape on behalf of Penny Lebyane, DJ Fresh’s ex-girlfriend. More than a pursuit of the golden rule of law that one is innocent until proven guilty, t...
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Remembering Solomon Mahlangu

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     It's time to hail South African Youths Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was only 22 when he died for freedom. On that fateful day in Pretoria, April 6, 1979, apartheid took Solomon's life. However, apartheid could not stop the inspiration the young man left in the hearts of many South Africans, particularly the youth.  Today, the youth of South Africa remember the brave words Mahlangu left before facing the gallows, "Tell my people that I love them and that they must continue the fight, my blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom, Aluta continua".  Mahlangu's last words are not just a sign of bravery, neither are they a result of impetuous youthfulness, they are a reflection of passion emanating from a level of political consciousness that compelled him to engage in the affairs of the country. As South Africa joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Youth Day on August 12 under the theme Youth Engagement for Global Act...
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Gender-based violence in the epoch of Covid-19: South Africa’s shadow pandemic

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“Over the past few weeks, no fewer than 21 women and children have been murdered”. ON JUNE 17 the president appeared on our screens from the Union Buildings as usual. We were all waiting to hear what he would say. Since the national lockdown started on March 26, President Cyril Ramaphosa has been a regular on our screens, updating the nation on the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Unlike many of his Covid-19 speeches, the June 17 one was different. “Fellow South Africans”, his catchphrase, was missing. I was one of the millions glued to the screen to listen to the president. Twenty-two minutes into his speech, I saw his face cringe. This was unlike him. I had, since the lockdown, seen the president as a concerned yet resolute man. I had seen him carry the burden of Covid-19 on his shoulders, yet when speaking, he would speak hope to the nation. But on June 17 I saw him flinch. How can a man remain resolute when he has two pandemics to talk about in one speech? The pre...
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