Chronicle Editor
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
The Midlands Provincial Arts and Culture Officer, Reward Shockson has condemned attacks on artists while performing on stage saying his ministry was deeply concerned with the continued attacks which are going unabated.
This follows disturbing scenes during Bob Nyabinde’s birthday celebrations at The Lit Club in Kwekwe recently where musician Bantuman I was attacked during his performance forcing him to leave the stage in a huff.
Bantuman-I, real name Tawanda Jumo, had to scurry for cover after the hooligans followed him backstage with an intention to inflict more pain for yet to be known reasons.
Shockson said the move should be condemned with the utmost disgust it deserves.
“The ministry cannot remain silent when such incidents are happening. We wish to see our artistes doing their job peacefully and we condone attacking artiste whether on stage or otherwise,” he said.
Shockson said his ministry was engaging law enforcement agencies to bring the hooligans to book.
“I have engaged law enforcement agencies in Kwekwe and they are carrying out investigations into the matter. We cannot let such a thing happen and expose our artistes to such danger. Who knows if the artist is tracked and attacked?” he said.
He said the ministry was in a drive to create arts hubs and culture centres among other arts facilities in order to ensure that artistes operate in safe environments and to promote the development of the arts sector.
Shockson said workshops and awareness campaigns will be conducted so that artists know their rights.
He said an artist who feels threatened or will have been attacked should not hesitate to approach the ministry for assistance. He added that so bad is the situation that some artists were now afraid of performing in Kwekwe due to the violent nature of show-goers.
In December 2018, Winky-D was attacked as he was about to get onto the stage at King Solomon’s Hotel. As a result, the musician vowed to never perform in the mining town again.
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