The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya
SO last week Sandra Ndebele got trending on social media all because she had appeared at a rally in Gweru and while giving a speech appeared to endorse the current President of the country, Comrade ED Mnangagwa in the coming national elections.
Most of the tweets and Facebook posts seemed against her appearance at the rally, especially her “ED pfee” slogan. One or two activists from the region even went on to suggest that she had sold out. Hogwash! If you ask me. Last year Madlela Skhobokhobo experienced the same attacks on the same platforms when he performed at a Zanu-PF interface rally during the Mugabe era. This was in Tsholotsho. Many people called the artiste a sell-out — which was very unfair and again hogwash.
What I found very funny were people who are not even into the arts asking who Sandra Ndebele was representing and how she had been chosen to represent artistes at the Gweru rally. Let artistes ask those questions — and as far as artistes are concerned Sandra is a leader in the sector who had every right to be at the rally and tabling the sector’s challenges to the President.
Let’s be honest. Local artistes have very few chances to address the President of the country, especially on issues affecting the sector. I strongly believe Sandra Ndebele got a rare chance and she used it to her best of ability. She truly represented. She was articulate enough and narrowed the sector challenges to the most important one — absence of a national arts policy to guide the development of arts in this country. For how long have we been waiting for the national arts policy? I think since the days of Andrew Langa, if not longer. It would have been better if the noise on social media was about how she failed to articulate the real issues (unfortunately she did) but the hullabaloo became more about what was she doing at a Zanu-PF rally. Wait a minute. I thought Sandra Ndebele was a grown-up woman capable of making decisions on her own. Besides how many artistes out there would refuse a chance to go and interface with the President of the country? I know I would jump at the same opportunity if it came my way.
For those questioning Sandra Ndebele’s “ED pfee” slogan my question to them is simple. What did you expect her to say keeping in mind that it was a rally called obviously to drum up support for Zanu-PF and Cde ED Mnangagwa? Did you expect her to stand up and sing opposition songs on the day? Do you think Zanu-PF would put someone they don’t trust on their podium so as to embarrass their leader? I don’t think so. To be fair to her we all know she has performed at many national galas and a couple of rallies and her appearance at the Gweru rally was no surprise at all, especially for those that have truly been following her career.
And help me understand this. Why is it that when Harare artistes the likes of Jah Prayzah and others attend rallies, perform and even bootlick at these rallies no one spends hours and hours on social media berating them on their actions? But if Bulawayo artistes attend one or two rallies suddenly they are sell-outs and guns come out blazing in an attempt to destroy them. (And those who shoot are not strangers). I think many of us from this region are guilty of assumptions. We are always assuming that everyone from this region, artistes included, is anti-Zanu-PF. I strongly believe we must accord the very freedom of choice and association many of us are always crying for in this region to our artistes. Let’s let them be, they are individuals and have every right to choose what they stand for and who they want to stand with. Let us not forget that every artiste is a political being and that it is their right to be so. Let’s stop prescribing what they should be and should not be. But more importantly Sandra Ndebele was at the rally to pass a message to the President. The message was simple. The country has been and continues to wait for a national cultural policy.
