BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

JAZZ crooner and Green ambassador Dereck Mpofu’s decision to engage the services of raunchy dancer and singer Beverly “Bev” Sibanda on his latest song Chimbozvizunza and its accompanying video have been met with mixed reactions from his fans.

In the video, which also features musician Baba Harare, Bev is seen doing her sexually charged dances.In response to some of the criticism on social media, where the video has been circulating, Mpofu hit back at his critics, saying the song was a dance track for club consumption and should be seen in that context.

“The reality is mentioning that you like me on Facebook without investing back into the music, does not propel my career further, especially people who could actually support by attending shows and buying our music. In fact, it has stunted my growth,” he said in response to a Facebook user who had questioned his decision to engage Bev.

Mpofu said he has spent the better part of his career creating patriotic, nation-building music and dropping just one bum-shaking song for clubbers should not be the basis for judging his music career.

Another user described Mpofu’s move as a bubble-gum approach to music, which could be disastrous as it could push away stakeholders such as corporates.

“While some of us have been following with admiration your music, these latest developments are a clear departure for the artiste that we known.“While life is all about making choices, this road that you have decided to take will lead to nowhere fast,” he said.

Others, however, applauded Mpofu for his gamble.“I feel my opinion and that of many others is irrelevant when it comes to growing your career and making difficult decisions. Whatever happens from here, whether good or bad you will learn from and grow,” said Christine Chitongo.

“Dereck Mpofu can tap into whatever pleasantries that tickle his soul for he is his own person and he is allowed to live his life as he pleases, just like we all are.”
Samantha-Lee Barker added: “Knowing him or following his career journey does not buy you any rights to his decision making.”

The post Swords out for Mpofu over Bev appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

NewsDay

Yokohama — If this was the end, as The Beast (pictured) hinted it would be, then it was a perfect sign-off. Ten years after making his name by dismantling the Lions’ scrum, he repeated the feat against England to reach a glorious career peak.

His real name is Tendai Mtawarira, but South Africa’s iconic prop is known by the nickname which was entirely appropriate on Saturday. England had no answer to his formidable power.
Poor Dan Cole was subjected to a brutal ordeal, just as Phil Vickery had been in Durban in 2009. Back then, the Lions were destroyed in the set-piece battle, setting the tone for a series defeat. This time, England’s demise came about in much the same way. The Springboks’ third World Cup triumph was built in the scrum.

For Eddie Jones’ team, The Beast was tormentor-in-chief. At the age of 34, the loosehead rose to this grand occasion. It was his finest hour. When he was asked if it was the end of his Test career, he said: “I’ll probably be thinking about my future in the next few days. I’ll probably make an announcement then.”What a way to go, as the hero of this upset victory — this final mismatch.

Mtawarira was asked how he would have responded if he had been told beforehand that South Africa would win five scrum penalties before half-time. His reply was: “I would have said, ‘That’s too good to be true’.”

But it was true. He made it true. When the victors emerged from their changing room to discuss what they had done, it was The Beast who was most in demand. He was only on the field for 44 minutes, but his contribution was decisive.

“Rugby is built around the set-piece and our scrum went well tonight,” he said. It was quite some under-statement. “It’s something we’ve put a lot of focus on in the last couple of months and as a team we’ve made a lot of improvements.

“It was good to get a few good penalties up front and get the scoreboard ticking. The English have a great pack so they didn’t make it easy, but we managed to get the ascendancy we wanted.

“Our set-piece is a vital part of our game. It wins us penalties and it gives our whole team energy. Before the game, I was thinking that I wanted to scrum the best I’ve ever scrummed and give my team energy and inspire the guys around me.”

He did just that. The Beast emulated what he did in 2009. His work had the hallmarks of what Andrew Sheridan did to the Wallabies in Marseille in the 2007 quarter-final.

It is rare for scrums at Test level to produce such comprehensive outcomes. This was in that rare category. There were clues before kick-off that the Boks’ No 1 meant business.

When the South African anthem was played, the players in green belted it out with gusto. The cameras captured Mtawarira as he finished singing, eyes bulging and a look of focused intensity on his face. He was ready to wreak havoc, which is just what he did.

This was a glorious peak at the end of what has been a glittering career. He has now played 117 Tests and none will have given him more pleasure. He began his Test career just after the Boks won the 2007 World Cup, so all the years of hard graft since have been a quest to emulate that epic feat.

When the medals were handed out, none of the champions deserved one more.“It is amazing to be world champions,” he said.“’For my whole career, I’ve been working towards this. I’ve had a few tough lessons and great accomplishments, but every lesson I’ve had led to tonight and ultimately, I’m very proud of myself.”

On Saturday in Yokohama, The Beast was handing out the lessons and securing his greatest accomplishment. In the coming days, he is likely to announce his Test retirement. If he does, it will mean he has finished on the ultimate high.
— DailyMail

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BY CHELSEA MUSAFARE

ASPIRING designer Tadiwa Chimhowa is set to hold a solo three-day academic art exhibition on November 11-13 at Harare’s Netone headquarters under the theme: A New Dawn.

“The general definition of new is to recreate, to bring something fresh, unseen and unheard. Dawn is a day’s break which symbolises the start of a fresh day with fresh activities,” he said.

Chimhowa said she was inspired by everyday challenges, which she used to give new life to objects deemed useless.The Creative Art and Industrial Design student at Chinhoyi University of Technology said everything started with a design.

She said the exhibition, meant to usher her into the real world of design, was part of the practicals for her programme.The exhibition will bring together artworks of the different courses done since the beginning of my degree programme.

The designer said she exposed to various areas of art which helped inspire the artworks that are to be revealed in this exhibition.

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BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has hit out to insurers who are not remitting insurance commission tax collected from freelance agents.In a statement published last week, Zimra said there were also insurers who are collecting commissions from unregistered short-term insurers.

“The commissioner-general of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has noted that some insurers are not withholding and remitting Insurance Commission Tax from freelance insurance agencies.

It has also been noted that there are insurance brokers and agents receiving commission from short-term insurers who are not registered for tax,” Zimra said.

“Freelance insurance agents are insurance agents or brokers who are not registered employees, of the insurer they transact with, for the purposes of collecting PAYE (Pay As You Earn),” Zimra clarified.

Zimra said the tax rate should be 20% of the commission collected by the insurers.“Insurers are required to withhold insurance commission tax from the commission paid to the agents or brokers. The insurance commission tax is calculated at the rate of 20%.

“For example, insurer VYT Ltd pays commission to a freelance agent Mr BD Hama of $1 000. The insurer is required to withhold 20% of $1 000 which is $200,” Zimra warned.

Zimra said the tax should then be remitted to Zimra by the 10th of the next month and that a REV5 Return from Withdrawal Taxes form must be completed and submitted to Zimra on the same date.

“A certificate should be issued to the agent or broker showing the name, address and BP Number of the insurer, commission paid and the tax withheld,” Zimra said.

Zimra also added that freelance brokers and agents were obliged to pay the commissioner general insurance commission tax in a situation whereby the insurer did not withhold or recover the tax as per request and register for tax purposes to get a business partner number.

Freelance brokers are also required by Zimra to submit income tax returns for each year of assessment by the due date advised by the commissioner in a public notice.

“Freelance brokers or agents are obliged to pay the commissioner-general insurance commission tax in instances where the insurer has not withheld or recovered the tax from him in the manner outlined under the obligations of the insurer.

“The freelance agent or broker should register for tax purposes and get a Business Partner number. He should submit the income tax returns for each year of assessment by the due date as maybe advised by the commissioner in the public notice,” Zimra said.

Zimra added that short-term insurers and life insurers who were registered in terms of the Insurance Act were exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT) on the insurance business they supply.

“Insurers registered in terms of the Insurance Act are exempt from VAT on the insurance business they supply. This applies to both the short term insurers and life insurers.

Freelance insurance brokers and agents are required to register for VAT and to charge VAT for the agency or brokerage service they render. A freelance agent or broker is required to register for vat where the value of their commission earned from short-term insurance is $60 000 or more in any period of 12 months. Once registered, the agent or broker must charge VAT on commission charged to short term insurers,” Zimra said.

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BY STEPHEN CHADENGA

A TOP economist has said corruption was the biggest economic sanction obstructing the country’s development and urged government to introspect on its commitment to tackle graft.
Senior researcher at the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe, Prosper Chitambara, made the remarks in Gweru on Friday last week during a discussion with local journalists.

“Corruption is the biggest sanction in Zimbabwe and if we are to go back, you will realise that between 1980 and 2013, the country lost close to $50 billion through corruption,” he said.

“Corruption has increased the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe by 20%. Most of our problems are internal and not external and we continue blaming others for our (economic) failures. We cannot economically develop.”

Government has been accused of being half-hearted in dealing with corruption in the public and private sectors, a situation that has exacerbated the outflow of critical financial resources necessary to resuscitate the ailing economy.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, however, maintains that sanctions imposed by the West are stifling economic growth.But Chitambara said any country had potential to grow even under sanctions provided it advocates for macro-economic policies that speak to socio-economic rights of its citizens.“Our economic challenges are largely self-inflicted,” he said.
Chitambara said Zimbabwe could use its relations with friendly countries to bust sanctions, but those countries could not even trust the government because of its poor record of fiscal discipline.

“We lack financial credibility as a country. We last received financial support from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 1998 because of our problems of settling external debts,” he said.

“Even the Chinese and Russians (whom Zimbabwe consider friendly) can’t trust us with their money.”

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By DARLINGTON MWASHITA

MATABELELAND Cultural Awards Trust last week hosted a successful cultural awards event at Amakhosi Township Square in Bulawayo to honour individuals and groups that made significant contributions to the preservation of culture.

The Umthwentwe Cultural expo came at a time the trust is preparing for the cultural expo expected to be held in Bulawayo early next year.

The trust’s chief executive Philani Ncube told NewsDay Life & Style that the event was graced by film directors, actors and authors who represented different cultures.

“We had 17 different categories of culture and I would like to thank those who supported the event,” he said.The cultural awards, were graced by Botswana traditional group, Dikgosi, which provided entertainment.

The trust promised to host the expo exhibition next year.“We are inviting exhibitors to come and showcase their cultural products and these include traditional dishes, traditional dances. Also those who can make traditional artifacts such as mats and especially local languages authors must come and revel their works,” he said.

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BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

United Nations (UN) resident co-ordinator in Zimbabwe, Maria Ribeiro has encouraged government to make use of the country’s available human capital to reduce the high unemployment and develop the economy.

Speaking at the Launch of the Atlas Convention in Harare last week, she said government should assist and encourage young innovators to make use of their creativity for economic development.

The Atlas Convention is an integrated national-technology and economic transformation initiative that brings together government, private sector and academia to drive innovation with a global perspective that will help Zimbabwe attain world class industry standards.

“There is a very high unemployment rate in the country particularly among the young people and it is no longer like many other countries where going to university guarantees you a job afterwards.

“So the government should make a commitment to engage with those young people so that they can find and make innovative contributions to the development of the country and be able to sustain their families,” Ribeiro said.

“Let us encourage the young people to be ambassadors of innovation and creativity, for the development and improvement of Zimbabwe’s economy,” she added.

Ribeiro urged government to sponsor research programmes for young people to come up with practical solutions to the economic problems which the country is facing.

“Countries have problems and we all know that. Zimbabwe has several problems from climate change, drought, but they also come from the economic situation due to a legacy of economic policies which perhaps have not yielded the kind of economy that we have all wished.

“We see the challenges in terms of the high unemployment rate, the health service and the food security in the past two years due to the climatic shocks like El Nino, Cyclone Idai,”
“So, we would very much encourage the innovators to look at these challenges and find out how practically they can solve these problems. The government should support research on practical innovations that can help solve these challenges, particularly in the health sector and food security,”

She also added that government should be transparent in the use of its vast resources.“Zimbabwe has many resources like minerals, its agricultural tradition and it is also a very beautiful country that attracts many tourists and it should make good use of them for the development of the economy through creativity and innovation.

“However, the government should be transparency in the use of these resources in a most sustainable way possible and in an inclusive way,” she said.

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BY VENERANDA LANGA

PARLIAMENT has recommended that the struggling State broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) must be supported through the fiscus and that it must be paid for outside coverage of national events at a rate of $102 000 per event by Treasury.

The recommendation was made by the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Prince Dubeko Sibanda on Saturday last week in Victoria Falls during the 2020 pre-budget seminar.ZBC has often covered live State and Zanu PF events amid reports that such coverages were not paid for.

“ZBC must be a grant-aided institution and must be supported by the fiscus so that it effectively plays its role as a public broadcaster,” Sibanda said.

“The corporation humbly requested other government departments and ministries to pay ZBC for broadcasting services invoiced and rendered, and a budgetary allocation for coverage of national events may be made available on a cost recovery basis of $102 000 per event through Treasury.

“Currently, ZBC is owed over US$16 million for services provided to other government departments and ministries,” he said.

Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said she had discussed with Finance minister Mthuli Ncube about the problems at the State broadcaster, including salary arrears.

Sibanda added that whenever Parliament proceedings are screened live on ZTV, it must also have a budget to pay the State broadcaster $102 000 per session for it to be viable so that journalists there get paid a decent salary.

Additionally, the Information and Media committee report said US$2,2 million ($33 million) is needed to purchase a fleet of 60 cars and 13 mini buses for the State broadcaster.

“These vehicles are required for content generation for the 24-hour news channel and the proposed five additional TV channels and 13 mini buses for content generation crew and licence collection operation for the digitisation programme. Two high definition OB (ouside broadcasting) vans are needed to enhance content gathering processes so that they change quality of programming on the single television channel currently running,” Sibanda said.

The committee said a preliminary report by the African Union Election Observer Mission noted that there was need for the State broadcaster to guarantee equal access to all political parties and contestants during elections so that there is balanced reporting and a pluralistic media.

“However, these recommendations were not implemented. The media environment still remains largely polarised. Additionally, Zimbabwe’s public institutions are still far from fulfilling their roles as holders of information that should be released upon request and in the public interests. This risks the Zimbabwe is open for business mantra as business invests and thrives in an environment where relevant information is readily available,” Sibanda said.

The committee said there was need for changes in legislation, technological advancements that will match with the fast evolving digital technology and the need to deal with uncertainties brought by cyber security threats and the welfare of journalists and viability of media houses at a time inflation is fast eroding capital and incomes.

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BY VENERANDA LANGA

LEGAL think-tank Veritas says that all prisoners, even those incarcerated for the most heinous crimes, have constitutional rights to be treated by a medical practitioner of their choice as well as rights to an inquest to find out the causes of their deaths should they so die in prison.

In their latest Bill Watch online publication, Veritas said even the recent tragic death of vendor, Hilton Tamangani at Harare Remand Prison cells on October 18 after allegedly being beaten up by the police must go through a public inquest so that the causes of his death are exposed.

“Whatever the cause of Tamangani’s death, the events surrounding it show a deplorable disregard for his constitutional rights as a prisoner,” the Veritas report read.

“Section 50(5) (c) of the Constitution provides that anyone who is detained has the right to communicate with, and be visited by, their relatives, their chosen religious counsellor, their chosen lawyer and their chosen medical practitioner.

“The right to be visited by all these people is important, but it is particularly important for prisoners to be allowed to see their medical practitioners, as Tamangani’s case so tragically demonstrates.”

The legal think-tank said when prisoners are in custody, it means that the State is responsible for ensuring their health and wellbeing.

“If medical facilities in prisons are inadequate – and it is notorious that they are basic at best and rudimentary or non-existent at worst – then the prison authorities must take prisoners to hospitals outside their prisons or allow them to receive care and treatment from their own medical practitioners,” the report read.

The think-tank’s statement also comes at a time Parliament is in the process of crafting the Coroner’s Office Bill which will provide for the establishment of the Coroner’s Office, responsible for investigating all deaths that come about as a result of unnatural causes.

“The office will be responsible for carrying out through independent investigations into deaths in hospitals, prisons, police cells and any other places that are not due to natural causes. The office will further investigate into circumstances surrounding unnatural deaths like homicide, infanticide, suicides and accidents,” the Coroners Bill read.

Veritas said prisoners, as human beings, can also be in poor health, so they need their own medical practitioners to treat them not prison doctors.

“Prisoners who claim they have been assaulted by the police or prison authorities may need to be examined by their own doctors in order to establish their claims. Above all, prison authorities must remember that prisoners have rights. Prisoners are deprived of much of their freedom of movement – they cannot leave their prison whenever they want to – and they may be deprived of other rights and freedoms so far as it is necessary to prevent them escaping and to maintain discipline in prisons,” Veritas noted.

“But apart from that they have all the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed them by 50(5)(c) of the Constitution. Even prisoners who have been found guilty of the most heinous crimes remain human beings entitled to their basic human rights. And it must be remembered that Tamangani was an awaiting trial prisoner who had not been tried for, let alone found guilty of, any crime at all,” Veritas added.

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