SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean hip-hop and RnB star Hillary “Hillzy” Chipunza (pictured) clinched the Best Artiste, Duo in African RnB and soul gong for his song TV Room which features Garry Mapanzure at the All Africa Music Awards (Afrima) on Saturday.
The Muroora hitmaker had been nominated with some of the best artistes in Africa, among them South Africa’s Nasty C and Nigeria’s Davido.
In an interview with NewsDay Life &Style, Hillzy acknowledged his fans for standing with and voting for him to scoop the award.
“My fans you are the best. I asked who you would want me to collaborate with and you chose my boy Garry and we did as you said, now the rest is history,” he said.
“I appreciate the votes and plays especially on load shedding times and with pricey data bundles these days. I am thankful and cannot wait to give back whatever I can.”
Hillzy has had a good year so far, with most of his songs being played on some of Africa’s biggest television channels and his latest single, Who Sent You was on number one spot on Trace Africa last week.
He also had a successful tour alongside Mapanzure which saw them perform in different places across the country that included Harare, Mutare, Chinhoyi and Masvingo.
The singer said he was working on his extended play to be released in the first quarter of next year on a date yet to be announced.
Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) consumer services manager Nobert Matarutse has disclosed that the use of gas for domestic cooking has increased to 50 million kilogrammes up from 28 million kilogrammes as of last year due to power outages facing the country.
He made the remarks at the weekend at a domestic consumer education awareness workshop in the eastern border city, where Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Association partnered Zera.
Zera’s outreach programme was meant to enlighten the community on safe use of energy.
The meeting was also meant to appreciate the problems that residents are facing.
“… the use of gas as of December 31, 2018 gas was at 28 million kilogrammes. We are expecting the use of gas to shoot to 50 million kilogrammes this year,” he said.
“If you compare with 2018, things were normal. Currently, you are aware that we are facing challenges. There has been a huge spike in the use of gas in the country “ Matarutse said.
He said the regulatory authority was concerned about the safety of domestic gas users.
“What we expect, for a start, is people need to buy gases from reputable suppliers because we value your safety first. We want our consumers to make sure that their gas cylinders are observed from time to time. Consumer security is critical to us. We want them to use gas without destroying property and not being killed,” he said.
“Given our outreach programmes, we can actually see there is a gap in terms of what we expect users to do in-terms of precautions to take, but wherever we have gone, we have some positive changes in terms of appreciation of the safe use of gas,” he said.
FORMER Health deputy minister Edwin Muguti has lost his bid to challenge a High Court order compelling him to pay R252 546 and $28 000 to a local couple after he negligently conducted an operation which led to several medical complications.
The court also slapped him with costs on a higher scale.
The patient, Patricia Singizi, and her husband Samuel Singizi, filed a lawsuit against Muguti sometime in 2016, citing Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Health and Child Care ministry and Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe (MDPCZ) as respondents.
On November 23, 2018, High Court judge Justice Phildah Muzofa delivered a determination in the couple’s favour, saying Muguti’s negligence had caused the couple to lose thousands of dollars in an attempt to rectify his mistake and, therefore, was liable to pay.
Muguti then filed an application for rescission of judgment, but did not pursue the matter, prompting the couple to once again approach the court seeking dismissal of Muguti’s matter for want of prosecution.
The matter was then heard by Justice Helena Charewa on November 8, 2019 and she ruled in the couple’s favour.
“Whereupon after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that: Application for dismissal of case for want of prosecution be and is hereby granted; first respondent (Edwin Muguti)’s court application for recession of default judgment in HC72/19 be and is hereby dismissed and first respondent be and is hereby ordered to pay costs of suit on a higher scale of legal practitioner and client,” Justice Charewa ruled.
Three years ago, Justice Muzofa ordered Muguti to pay the couple R252 546 being compensation for all expenses incurred and to be incurred by them as a result of his negligence, US$1 200 for travelling expenses to and from South Africa, US$630 for Patricia’s future travelling expenses, US$20 000 for pain and suffering and US$6 000 for the couple’s loss of earnings.
According to the judgment, on September 14, 2015, Patricia was admitted to Ward B8 at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, where she was diagnosed with chronic cholecystitis due to gall bladder stones.
The court heard that she had abdominal pain for three months and Muguti, with the assistance of other medical personnel, conducted laparoscopic cholecystectomy on her.
She was discharged from the hospital, but a week later, she returned due to abdominal swelling.
The court heard that the diagnosis was that she had a bile leak and was told by Muguti that the hospital had no facility to remedy the condition and could only get assistance in South Africa.
HARVEST Music Choir is set to record a live DVD of its second 27-track album titled At the Altar on December 13 at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Hall 4 in Bulawayo.
The project comes on the backdrop of the group’s debut album called Genesis.
In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style recently, choir director Sukoluhle Luphahla said the 64-member choir brought together artistes from Zimbabwe and South Africa, giving it a cross-cultural touch.
“At the recoding there will be ex Joyous Celebration choir member and lead singer Hlengiwe Ntombela from South Africa featuring in one of the songs titled Muponesi and Takesure Zamar Ncube who also featured in three songs on the album,” she said.
Luphahla said bringing these artistes together blended different genres and created good music.
“Having these budding musicians has made the album holistic and caters for various audiences. The songs are in different genres and languages.
Most songs that will be on the DVD are composed and produced by Harvest House International Church musicians with a few public domain songs,” she said.
Luphahla said the visionaries behind the project, Bishop Colin Nyathi and Sarah Nyathi believe that the project will uplift the body of Christ as music plays a pivotal role as an evangelistic tool that can bring lost souls to the saving God.
“We trust and believe that our music will minister to many, bring us all to one place where we seek the face of God and also give praise unto his name at a place of divine exchange, at the altar,” she said.
“Harvest music has been in development mode since the founding of the ministry. The heart of the bishop is always to raise musicians who could up the game and cause original Harvest House music to be sung all around the world.
A POLICEMAN stationed at the Southern Region Transtech in Bulawayo has been arrested after savagely stabbing his two children following a dispute with his wife on Sunday.
According to police sources, Constable Daniel Arutura (42) stabbed his two children several times at their home in Pumula high-density suburb, resulting in them being admitted at United Bulawayo Hospitals, with one in intensive care.
Police sources said Arutura later handed himself to the police following the savage attack.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.
“Yes, we are investigating a case of a police officer who stabbed his two children,’” he said.
The case was recorded at Pumula Police Station under RRB 4062207.
Police sources said Arutura and his wife, Fungai Miringani (35), were on separation for almost a year.
“Arutura was employed by Home Affairs as a police officer. Miringani had the custody of the two children (both aged six),” police said.
“On November 24, Arutura visited Miringani while drunk. He wanted to see his children and started quarrelling with her, which resulted in a fight. Arutura took a kitchen knife intending to stab Miringani, who escaped, leaving him with the children.”
Police sources said in a fit of rage, Arutura stabbed his children several times all over the body, leaving them for dead before handing himself over to the police.
Miringani returned home and found the children unconscious. She then took them to United Bulawayo Hospital for medical treatment. Arutura is reportedly locked up at the Pumula Police Station assisting with investigations.
LOCAL author, motivational speaker and television personality Blessmore Mandevhana (pictured) is set to launch his fifth book titled Transformational Leader, today where politician, Temba Mliswa is expected to grace the event at Batanai Gardens in Harare.
The author, who recently established a college, Beyond Today Academy, which offer lessons on public speaking, writing skills for authors and entrepreneurial studies, told NewsDay Life &Style that the book is meant to help people in leadership positions.
“This book is going to help people who are in leadership positions, and seeks to make people not to be transactional leaders, but transformational leaders,” he said.
Mandevhana says the book also seeks to address the leadership crisis in the political field as many political leaders are just after the benefits that come with the posts, hence calls for Christians to take up leadership roles.
“Power can be an extremely destructive thing in any context, but in the service of religion, it is downright diabolical, money can buy access to influential political positions and in our rapidly changing and even more complex world, we are now suffering a crisis of true leadership skills,” he said.
“When we are convinced that what we are doing is identical to the kingdom of God, we can take leadership posts and see the growing of transformational and bold leaders in the politics, market places and the business world.”
Mandevhana says his desire to teach people new things was a strong motivation that made him to start writing, a passion that he developed at a tender age.
Mandevhana has four books to date namely; God is the answer 1 & 2, Secrets of Entrepreneurs and Tetrad of Positive Affirmation.
The book launch will also be graced by radio personalities and business enthusiasts among them Fungai Mtisi and McDonald Gurira.
THE road was long enough as it stood, but the stretch is getting longer by the passage of every minute. The incontrovertible truth is that Zimbabwe will not be achieving any economic or political stability anytime soon. When the now late former President Robert Mugabe met his degrading exit from power, national hope was astoundingly higher.
At the time his resignation was confirmed, there was pandemonium and virtually every speaker and car radio reverberated with the near-anthem song Kutonga Kwaro in the euphoric anticipation of a new era.
Mugabe had alienated Zimbabwe from the rest of the world. Zimbabwe ceased to be recognised as belonging to the family of nations about two decades earlier. Mugabe would gleefully lampoon other world leaders and made Zimbabwe his personal property as encapsulated by the infamous “so, Blair keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe,” rant.
As the clock ticked further and Mugabe continued with his old ways of crushing dissent and ridiculing other world leaders, something happened to Zimbabweans. They had been fed on a perennial ZBC diet that all the anguish being endured in Zimbabwe then, was a culmination of incessant calls by Morgan Tsvangirayi’s MDC for Western powers, particularly Britain and the United States to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. But, as time marched on, Zimbabweans began to see the true face behind their suffering. From the missing $15 billion diamond revenue to the gigantic malfeasance in parastatals, Zimbabweans steadily began to see through the lie of sanctions causing havoc in Zimbabwe.
Now, to add to the milking dry of the State coffers by the Mugabe-led government was the heavy handedness of State apparatus against perceived government critics. The culture of abductions went on unbridled. The disappearance of Itai Dzamara will forever remain an egg on the gone Mugabe government. The torture of opposition activists and police brutality that was synonymous with his rule was to further make Zimbabwe an unofficial pariah State.
What was worse was that Mugabe never cared an inch over the repercussions of his continued skirmishes with the European Union and US. The man continued to see and blame sanctions, but could not see how his conduct was a purveyor for sanctions. Everyone else was wrong except himself. It didn’t make things any better; the isolation by the international community became worse. The scorn on Zimbabwe became more pronounced and right up to his dethronement, Mugabe had made Zimbabwe a nation cut off from the rest.
It was for this reason that Mugabe’s departure from power temporarily suspended enmity among political groups. Zimbabwe had found its feet again, or so we thought. The coming into power of his ex-deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa ushered hope for Zimbabwe; here was the man who would build bridges and lead the road to international acceptance, so we thought.
There was no doubt at all that Zimbabwe needed an urgent return to the family of nations after decades of being quarantined by other countries. Among a cocktail of things that had to transform sooner than later was political tolerance. The thing with political tolerance is that, unlike economics, there isn’t much that is required but respect and adherence to constitutionalism.
In particular, respect for freedoms provided for in the Constitution and an appreciation that we can’t all think alike. No one hoped to see the army or the police chasing defenceless citizens armed with rifles. The world never envisaged a situation where abductions and rare crimes like treason would continue in a democratic nation.
But alas, we were all wrong. The road to international acceptance for Zimbabwe just got longer. It crushes hope, it crushes the spirit and it deflates to the core.
The current government is not making things any better. Like I said before, it doesn’t require foreign aid or capital injection for a government to uphold the rule of law. It doesn’t call for millions for a government to tolerate dissent. It is exactly here that the road to recovery is still miles away. The images seen of police brutalising women, elderly citizens and passersby as MDC leader Nelson Chamisa sought to address his supporters is living testament that Zimbabwe won’t be considered a state with respect of the rule of law any time soon. The violence perpetrated upon these unarmed citizens is a classic example of “legal” violence. No person has a right to batter another as we saw, but these were men on a State-sponsored mission of bludgeoning bona fide citizens of a country.
The irony of it all is the continued clamour for re-engagement. The government continues in its efforts to make itself deserving of a seat at the family of nations table. To the contrary, the truth is that no sane country would re-engage a government that unleashes terror on its own citizens. It’s a sheer waste of time and resources. The call of sanctions is quite misplaced.
The sanctions mantra that we continue to be fed on through State media is way off the mark. The real sanctions consist in political repression, corruption and looting of the national fiscus. Zimbabwe desperately needs a new way of looking at things. The path to recovery is still a pipe dream.
NOT so long ago, we heard from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya that there was a cartel of 10 individuals operating in Zimbabwe which controlled the southern African nation’s foreign currency market. These, we presume, very rich and powerful people control US$11 billion and half the country’s deposits. It then comes as a major shock to hear that government now wants to gain control of this money by targeting cross-border traders.
“… we are all aware that most of the people buy money on the parallel market and they go to buy goods outside the country. But when you are coming back, before you declare the goods, you have to first declare the official source of the foreign currency.
The moment you declare goods, in the event that you are not able to declare the official source of foreign currency, you forfeit whatever you have to the State. So this will deal with black market operations,” Finance deputy minister Clemence Chiduwa told the nation last week.
It really boggles the mind to try and understand what exactly government is hoping to achieve by this move when it knows exactly who has the foreign currency.
The real foreign currency is not on the streets, but in plush homes in the leafy suburbs and in offshore stashes, which government failed to raid many times before. What is also perplexing is that it appears as if Chiduwa is suggesting that those people dealing in forex on the parallel market are somehow stealing the money from government.
Has government bothered to even find out the source of the money on the black market? Has government failed to rein in the 10 cartels that control all those billions of dollars, now that it has decided to raid hapless individuals trying to make ends meet under very difficult economic circumstances?
Or is government now targeting the small cross-border trader because it has failed to raise enough foreign currency through exports and duties on imports? What is happening to the foreign currency being raised by government, anyway? There is no bank in this land that is currently giving out foreign currency to its clients and so what is the rationale in government of raiding cross-border traders?
Is it then not more prudent for government to tighten control on what it owns, which is the land and resources such as gold, platinum, chrome and diamonds. The world over, Zimbabwe is famous for its wholesome food and horticulture products which can easily raise enormous amounts of foreign currency.
Need we keep reminding government that the land and minerals are very low-hanging fruits that can easily boost Zimbabwe’s foreign currency reserves; not the pittance United States dollars that are currently exchanging hands on the streets whose source is largely diaspora remittances.
The foreign currency black market can only be controlled once the country is productive and able to earn enough forex to supply banks which would ultimately lead to individuals being able to walk into their banks where they are given travellers cheques or foreign currency.
Once this happens, there would be no need for anyone to sell money on the streets. Unfortunately, the country’s systems are leaking like a sieve to a point that even if it raids the cross-border traders government will raise peanuts.
It would be a real shame if government decided to implement this measure because it would be tantamount to robbing the hapless citizens who are currently trying to escape the extortionary prices being charged by companies and individuals by crossing the borders to buy basics at lower prices.
Government is simply barking up the wrong tree and putting the cart before the horse, so to speak.
THE Midlands State University (MSU) has successfully translated the country’s Constitution into sign language in a development that is going to impact positively on schools for people with speech and hearing impairments.
This is the first time that the country’s supreme law has been made available in sign language.
Speaking at the university’s 20th graduation ceremony, where President Emmerson Mnangagwa capped 3 149 graduands on Friday, MSU vice-chancellor Victor Muzvidziwa said the translated Constitution has been packaged in DVDs.
“Your Excellency and chancellor, you may also recall that in my speech at the 2018 graduation ceremony, I announced the establishment of the MSU language institute. The institute has made milestones. Cognisant that sign language is one of Zimbabwe’s 16 languages recognised in the Constitution, the language institute has since produced sign language DVDs of the Zimbabwe Constitution,” he said.
Muzvidziwa also highlighted that the department which produced the sign language Constitution has made other major achievements.
“… it (Midlands State University language institute) has forged international partnerships with Sonke Gender Justice, a South African-based NGO (non-governmental organisations) for which they have translated advocacy documents. The institute has also started the first phase of training all Premier Service Medical Industries Fund staff in sign language competence,” he said.
Muzvidziwa also revealed that the MSU has re-branded.
“The 2018 national critical skills audit showed that we had a critical skills deficit in engineering and technology, natural and applied sciences, agriculture, medical and health sciences,” Muzvidziwa said .
“We are immensely proud of the university’s response to the skills audit through curriculum renewal. The university has since re-branded and expanded the mandate of its mining and mineral processing engineering faculty to become the faculty of engineering and geo sciences now, now offering a wide range of disciplines in engineering, including energy and fuel sciences.”
“We take pride that the MSU has made digital fluency, innovation and entrepreneurship priorities. Our disciplines in the humanities and social sciences have also embraced digital technologies, especially with the social media and the new trends in communication as well augmented reality in the performing arts.”
The MSU moved 25 places up on the Webometrics university ranking systems from position 175 to 150, Muzvidziwa revealed.
A LOCAL civic society organisation is fund-raising to eradicate cases of tuberculosis (TB) among artisanal miners in the Matabeleland region.
Rehabilitation and Prevention of Tuberculosis (RAPT) director, Ellen Ndimande told Southern Eye last Thursday that they will fundraise for their operations in the city.
“We are a tuberculosis-fighting organisation formed in 1954, working in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to eradicate cases of TB in the southern region. We are appealing to members of the public to support us in this noble cause by donating in cash and kind,’’ he said.
“Our region is a high TB burdened area due to an influx of artisanal miners, who are living in poor conditions. TB is associated with dust and these people live in places where there is no proper ventilation. They live in shacks and in some cases they live in pigsties, especially those operating at Hope Fountain area. The miners live in large numbers such that if one of them is infected, the entire group can be affected.”
Ndimande could not be drawn into revealing the number of miners affected in the region, indicating that they will host a fundraising dinner on November 29, whose proceeds would go towards the TB fight.
RAPT programmes officer, Fred Mutswairo said they were also targeting children and the elderly in the programme.
