ACTING on his promise to uplift local showbiz by supporting new talent, TeeMak Promotions Chief executive officer, Tawona “TeeMak” Chipunza has added a new member to his label, RnB artiste Takudzwa “Takue” Ncube .

BY PRECIOUS CHIDA

This brings to two the number of artistes under TeeMak Promotions following the unveiling of dancehall star Enzo Ishall in January.

A few weeks ago, the label made a call on their Facebook page for people to nominate and help him pick out fresh talent that he could support with his vast resources which saw Takue’s star shining the brightest and caught their eye.

Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style yesterday, TeeMak said they wanted to support the musician with the potential to be the next Zimbabwean big star.

“Takue who already has a single out on YouTube titled My Lover is raw talent TeeMak would like to work with. We were looking for someone with a unique style and voice, but yet versatile and I think Takue fits that mould,” said TeeMak.

“He is talented, young and ambitious and we think with the right support, we can unearth another gem from Zimbabwe.”

Takue who is the voice behind the YouTube soundtrack Baba NaMai Bb – Life after Divorce, a story by Thomas Chizhanje, said he was excited to join TeeMak.

“This is a big opportunity for me and I am looking forward to putting in the hard work to repay the faith TeeMak Promotions have shown in me,” he said.

“Music is something that I love with all my heart, it’s more than just a passion, it’s my life and as musicians, we lack the necessary financial backing to take our art to the same levels as our regional and international peers and with this deal, I’m sure that’s going to change.”

Takue will begin his new relationship with TeeMak Promotions with the release in March of a single accompanied by a video.

Other projects by Takue will be released during the course of the year.

The two parties are expected to officially sign the agreement later this month.

THERE are fears that villagers in Mangwe district, Plumtree, have lost their homesteads and livestock after their major dam burst its wall on Wednesday morning due to incessant rains pounding the area.

BY RICHARD MUPONDE

Reports indicate that the dam, which has served the community for more than 40 years, gave in to the pressure of runoff water as rains have been pounding the area since last Friday.

Fakanye Dam, which holds water all-year round, supported an irrigation scheme and livestock rearing for the over 200 households and its collapse has left villagers staring hunger.

A villager, Ruth Mpofu, said they feared that homesteads downstream could have been swept away, but the area was currently inaccessible.

“Although the dam was a bit far from where we live since we are upstream, we fear that it could have caused a lot of damage downstream where there are some homesteads. Our whole livelihood has been destroyed by the floods. We don’t know where to begin since this dam which was our source of livelihood is gone,” Mpofu said.

She said the rumbling waters washed away their irrigation projects and suspected that livestock which was grazing near the dam could have been washed away too.

“All we worked for has gone in a flash. We also suspect that livestock was washed away while at the grazing area. It’s only the area is still inaccessible and villagers are still in shock and afraid to investigate,” she said.

Contacted for comment, Mangwe Rural District Council chief executive officer Bongani Ngwenya confirmed the incident.

“I have heard about the disaster, but we are still to go there. We are still to get more information about the collateral damage caused,” Ngwenya said.

The disaster came in the wake of floods in Binga which killed one and left over 30 families marooned. The civil protection unit was again caught unprepared with Cabinet on Wednesday revealing that the Air Force of Zimbabwe had not yet rescued 11 people who were perched on tree tops.

Rains, which fell over the weekend into Monday, also caused severe destruction of infrastructure in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts, Manicaland province.

PROSPECT Resources, which is developing a lithium mine at Goromonzi, north east of Harare, reports that it has discovered a “significant” presence of caesium, a rare mineral used for various purposes such as hydraulic drills and GPS technology.

The company says the discovery was made after soil samples were taken from the Prospect’s Shabaash claim during a satellite exploration and ground sterilisation programme.

Shabaash consists of a block of three mining claims, covering some 50 hectares located some 3km west of the planned Arcadia pit. The company now plans a trenching programme, which would confirm the scale and grade of the deposits.

“Although no statements as to the dimension and grade of the mineralisation can be made until it is followed up by trenching and/or drilling; the presence of pollucite is highly encouraging.

“In December 2019, a small number (61) of stored pulps were selected for re-assay for caesium.

These were selected from samples which had previously returned Lithium anomalies.

“These pulps were re-assayed successfully at UIS Analytical Services in Centurion, South Africa,” Prospect said on Tuesday.

The identified caesium is found within pollucite, a high value rare mineral that forms in lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite systems.

“Global supply is very constrained,” the company adds. “The primary use of caesium is in caesium formate brine used in high temperature/high pressure oil and gas drilling.”

Prospect expects to bring the Arcadia lithium mine to production this year.

Most of the world’s reserves of pollucite are located in Canada. The United States is the world’s biggest consumer of caesium and gets all its supplies from Canada.

Zimbabwe has at least 60 proven minerals, according to estimates by the Ministry of Mines.
However, years of low investment in exploration means the country has no updated data on the scale of its mineral potential.

In November, British firm Rainbow Rare Earths, listed on the London Stock Exchange, acquired 10 claims in Zimbabwe.

The acquisition could give the company access to rare earths elements, a group of minerals used in everything from LCD TVs to batteries and defence technology. — newZWire

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

In a tragic incident, two pupils died on the spot in Vumba, while the other died on the way to Mutare Provincial Hospital when a driver of a pirate taxi lost control of his vehicle, veered off the road and hit the trio who were on their way to school.

Manicaland deputy police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Luxson Chananda said the accident happened last Friday at the 28km peg along the Mutare-Vumba Road.

He identified the deceased as Micayler Mapuranga, Kelvin Mwanase and Raymond Matondo.

Chananda said Kanganwai Sombreiro (39) of Mountain Lodge was driving a grey Toyota Wish belonging to Paul Mumhazhi, of Nyamunokoza village Chief Mutasa, along the Mutare-Vumba Road towards Leopard Rock with six passengers on board.

He said Sombreiro lost control of the vehicle and it veered off the road to the right before hitting the three pupils, killing two of them on the spot.

Chananda said the driver and the six passengers, sustained minor injuries and were taken to Mutare General Hospital, where they were treated and discharged.

The driver has been arrested for culpable homicide.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has embarked on an infrastructure development project which will ensure that the marginalised and under-serviced communities in the country are able to access information communication technologies (ICT) and telecommunication services.

The Passive Telecommunications Infrastructure Project, which is supported by the Universal Services Fund (USF), has enabled the construction of 20 telecommunication sites which will cater for under-serviced areas in the remotest parts of the country.

Currently, members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information Communication Technology are on a fact-finding mission in different parts of the country to find out if telecommunication companies are sharing infrastructure.

Passive infrastructure refers to non-active facilities provided at a telecommunications site to support the provision of ICT services to the surrounding areas, for example, solar power, towers, diesel engine generators, power back-up batteries, access roads and perimeter fences.

Speaking on behalf of the director-general Gift Machengete, Potraz spokesperson George Manyaya said the passive infrastructure connectivity project would contribute to the turnaround of the economy.

“The projects were funded through the Universal Services Fund, which is aimed at promoting universal access and improving standards of life,” he said.

“Accordingly, we are working towards bridging the digital divide as testified by the increase in the country’s mobile and internet penetration rates. This also enables infrastructure sharing by operators as we provide the infrastructure and operators share the facility.”

Manyaya said after completion of the project, the infrastructure is assigned to a licensed telecommunications operator for operation and maintenance purposes.

“However, all operators are obliged to share the passive telecommunications infrastructure site facilities,” Manyaya said.

To date, USF has funded and constructed 15 shared passive mobile telecommunications base station sites in Midlands, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Manicaland, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central provinces.

Meanwhile, Sikelela Nleya, the headmaster of Mangubo Primary School in Maitengwe, Plumtree, commented the USF for setting up a base station a few metres away from the school.

He said the school bought 11 computers to set up a computer laboratory to take advantage of Maitengwe Base Station and appealed to authorities to connect power to the institution.
Potraz programmes manager Mavis Maunganidze said the USF was prioritising connectivity to marginalised communities in the country.

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi has implored the new magistrates who were sworn in yesterday not to give in to pressure from outside or within to preserve their integrity.

“Whatever you do today, you have been appointed and it is an onerous task before you. You may be young, but you must carry it with integrity and with a high level of professionalism.

That is a must. You must never compromise at all and at the end of the day, your integrity is what remains,” Hodzi said.

“There might be temptations, there might be pressures, but you must steadfastly refuse those. Never give in to those. Your chief magistrate and I and other members of the judicial service will be working hard to improve your working conditions.”

Hodzi’s impassioned appeal comes a day after he sensationally claimed that the Judiciary has been captured by cartels that are bleeding dry the country’s economy.

Acting chief magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi, who swore in the 16 new magistrates, urged them to be professional and have integrity.

He said the addition of magistrates would be a welcome relief to the staff complement.

“We urge you to be professional and to always uphold integrity that is required for a judicial officer. A judicial officer without integrity is not a judicial officer at all,” Mutevedzi said, adding that the new magistrates would be deployed outside Harare and would bring the number of magistrates countrywide to 235.

A ONE-STOP border post that will fast-track trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe will be fully operational at Beitbridge in 2024, according to South African Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

The crossing is one of Africa’s busiest land borders, with about 25 000 people and 500 trucks passing through daily. However, delays and congestion mean it can take as long as four days to receive clearance from customs officials, according to a Global Economic Governance report. A one-stop border would harmonise customs clearance procedures between the two countries.

“We all know the frustration of travellers when they go through Beitbridge: the long queues, the long waiting times, the congestion,” Motsoaledi said in an interview. “Now, the one-stop border post is going to do away with all that because it involves massive infrastructural changes, not just operational changes.”

The upgrade is one of four projects that President Cyril Ramaphosa last week said the government would fast-track to facilitate greater regional and continental trade, after the country assumed the chairmanship of the African Union.

Construction will include a building for immigration officials and separate traffic lanes for commercial, private and public vehicles as well as a pedestrian pathway. The minister didn’t provide a cost estimate for the project as private companies would bear the costs.

The appointment of an international consulting firm is imminent and five consortia — SPG-CHEC JV, Border Post Consortium, Fast Post SA, Hlanganani Consortium and CSCEC Imbani Consortium — are on the short-list to undertake the project that will include a 20-year concession for the winning bidder to cover the costs, Motsoaledi said.

Similar projects are also planned at South Africa’s borders with eSwatini, Mozambique, Lesotho and Botswana, he said.
— Bloomberg