The Sunday Mail
The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ)’s silence on its findings on incidences of violence that characterised Zim dancehall Sting 2014 has exposed the arts body as a toothless bulldog. Most people thought a probe team with a three-week lifespan that was put in place on November 13, 2014 following incidences of violence would by now have long come up with deterrent measures to curb violence within Zim dancehall (and the arts industry in general) but that has not been the case.
Violence continues to be the order of the day. Rather it has become fashionable!
Instead of striking fear and fostering discipline among artistes, the investigation seems to have driven artistes on a violence overdrive ostensibly to test the probe team’s effectiveness.
Zim dancehall for the greater part of last year made headlines mostly for the wrong reasons.
Both artistes and fans were caught off-side with regards to inciting violence at various gigs. But it is the performers’ conduct that music critics argue has often provoked violence.
The height of Zim dancehall violence was witnessed during the Sting 2014 clash when rival dancehall artistes Soul Musaka aka Soul Jah Love and Seh Calaz, real name Tawanda Mumanyi, instead of artistically clashing ended physically squaring off.
The scene triggered massive violence among fans and several people were injured while the venue itself was vandalised.
Two months after the ugly incident, one of the culprits, Soul Jah Love, seems to be unrepentant, he is stopping at nothing and continues to propagate violence through his uncouth actions. But who can blame him?
He got away with this rowdy behaviour last year and has gotten away with several already in the new year.
In an interview last week, Catherine Mthombeni, the NACZ communications and marketing officer, was unsure when the document, if at all it will be released, would come out.
“A report will soon be released when the processes being conducted are concluded. Everything pertaining to the incident (Sting 2014) has been put to perspective and we should be having something anytime from now,” said Mthombeni.
But as the nation continues to wait for a verdict, violence continues to spread unabated.
Controversial chanter Lady Squanda, to date continues to publicly threaten fellow chanters Ninja Lipsy and Bounty Lisa with unspecified gross action should they bump into each other.
With no action from the NACZ, disgruntled fans have taken it upon themselves to deliver justice to perceived wrong-doers. And Soul Jah Love aka “Chibaba” is proving to be the major victim.
He is uncharacteristically being booed off stage since Star FM’s Dancehall Remedy session second anniversary celebrations that were held late last year. And sometime this month during Killer T’s birthday bash, Zim dancehall fans threw missiles at him following his mulish behaviour that saw him disrupt Freeman’s slot.
However, the change of fortune has resulted in the artiste becoming even more violent both on and off stage. Chibaba and his crew; a week or so ago manhandled an elderly security detail at a supermarket in Greendale for referring to the chanter as “younger”.
Zim dancehall aficionados argue that failure by the NACZ to promptly address challenges in the genre is further promoting violent behaviour. They challenge the arts body to come up with regulations that make acts of violence on and off the stage punishable.
One is pardoned for assuming fist fights are an important part of the genre. Both the artistes and fans seem to find pleasure in “exchanging blows” than perfecting their lyrical content which leaves a lot to be desired.
“These mischievous acts should never be allowed to flourish. I don’t think it’s proper for the regulatory body (NACZ) to spend months trying to pass a verdict on incidences that threaten peaceful flow of the arts industry.
“Imagine they are still to pass verdict on an incident that happened in 2014 (November) when we have fresh problems in 2015 that also need attention. We are just going to end up with a backlog of cases,” said a dancehall advocate Grasten Chipangula.
Last year Prof Fred Zindi organised a workshop themed “No To Violence” in a bid to bring to halt violence practices within Zim dancehall.
But during the workshop it became clear that without proper regulation the artistes are not willing to disengage from sadism, at least not anytime soon. They (artistes) consider brutality a crucial ingredient of success in the genre just like it is in Jamaica.
Other previous violence acts that have been recorded in Zim dancehall involve Quonfused and Seh Calaz that fought twice over women with the first incident being at the Harare Gardens. Killer T aka Chairman has also been involved in a scuffle with foul-mouthed chanter Platinum Prince.
