SA-based promoter sees potential in locals

Joel Tsvakwi, Sunday life correspondent
AS the call for Zimbabweans living in the diaspora to invest back home gets louder, one South Africa-based Zimbabwean music promoter is considering returning home to transform the showbiz industry.

Polite Nkomo who runs PKY July Promotions, which is now popularly known as Underground Promotions, is assessing how best he can invest his wealth of experience in the Zimbabwean showbiz industry.

The Plumtree-born and bred promoter revealed that he will use the Martin Ndolwane show slated for 6 May at Amphitheatre to ascertain how he can venture into the industry. Chief among his mission is to conscientise local artistes on the value chain of the music industry.

Nkomo, who believes has much to offer the local music industry from what he has learnt in South Africa, shared his experiences with Sunday Life in an interview recently.

Artistes he has promoted include Sungura King Aleck Macheso, Nicholas Zacharia, Martin Sibanda and Gift Amuli, among others.

“Underground was introduced after I decided to quit the entertainment industry, due to some misfortunes related to the industry. Then I was managing artistes, recording, promoting, publishing and marketing them. I felt I wasn’t being appreciated and I decided to quit because I was investing lots of money on artistes, who then painted me as a bad person at the end of the day. But with the passion I have for the industry I could not stay and decided to make a comeback but now only as a promoter,” he said.

Nkomo added: “At first I did not want people to know that it was me organising the gigs, as I wanted to prove a point that I can do it successfully. I decided to create an unknown name — Underground — because I wanted to operate stealthily. The gigs which I did became successful, as a result the same artistes that used to badmouth me realised it, appreciated me and came to apologise.”

His agency — Underground — has since become popular and has for the past year has been hosting successful events for both South African and Zimbabwean artistes.